Last Day - Slovak Food, Slovak Police, Slovak Booze and Slovak Stones

Okay so you may be wondering what they have in common?  They all relate to the lat day of our trip.

We left early in the morning for Litmanova where supposedly all of the Rusinak's came from.  It is also the place where the Virgin Mary appeared to two young girls for five years.  We hiked up to the top of Mount Zvor and witnessed the end of a daily Liturgy held there.  I also was able to see the exact spot where the Virgin appeared.  It has been documented by Slovak church authorities and is now in Rome's hands.

Afterwards we went into the village of Litmanova and spoke with two Rusinak families.  The second one, a man names Vasil, looked eerily like my grandfather though we could not make any connections.

We had lunch at a famous salas and ate far more than we should.  On the way  home we stopped at a garden store so that Nina could buy her cousin some flowers.  Since I am on a mission to find a stork for my yard we inquired about that and were told that we could find them at a flea market just over the border in Poland...so guess where we went?  And yes, I finally, after several trips, have found my stork!!!

We then headed back to Bardejov and Nina was busy chatting away and neglected to slow down in one of the villages.  Just as I told her to slow down....guess who was picked up on the radar?  Our tour guide Michal did his best to reduce her ticket to over half of what it should have been.

We drove to Smilno but sadly, Nina's cousin Helena was not there.  We then headed back to the villages to drop off some last minute gifts.  Of course everyone wanted us to come back into their houses which we could not do.  We visited with Fr Jan and his family for a little bit and then went to Stebnik to visit with my cousin Stefan Rusinak.  We had a wonderful time and it was hard to say goodbye to them as we had so little time.  As we drove into the village they were raising the Maypole.  What a sight!

We arrived home our second night in a row at a halfway decent hour and began to try and figure out how we were going to pack everything.  Our families here are incredibly gracious and we are coming home with far more gifts than we brought.

As we were revisiting the day we heard a popping noise coming from the window.  What on earth? Then a second one!  Now I was becoming worried about the rental car and if some hoodlums were trying to do some damage to it.  I peered slowly out the window and who should appear but our next door neighbor Miro who joked that in the age of the internet he had to resort to throwing stones to get our attention!  He was heading off to work his trucking gig and wanted to say goodbye before we left.

Once again, our trip is coming to an end and there never seems to be enough time.  We have really crammed a lot into this trip and being back here feels so much like home...the people here are truly incredible humble people.

No photos tonite...just too tired!  Will catch up later.  Tomorrow we have a few last minute things to do before we depart for Kosice and our flight out on Saturday.

Labowa, Krynica and Svidnik

Yesterday we made our way back to Poland for a visit to the village of Labowa.  My DNA matches several people from this village so I was anxious to see it, the cemetery and the church there and perhaps make some sort of connection.

Natalia Halecka and Damian Nowak met us at the church.  Natalia's parents are tour guides for Lemkos in Poland and Damian is her fiance.  They had helped Nina in the past when we visited Ozenna.

The church is quite stunning, old (built in 1794) but has been abandoned for quite some time and in poor condition.

The cemetery isn't in any better shape either.

Here are a few interior shots of the church.

We left Labowa with a wonderful gift from Damian...old maps of the village and listing of inhabitants.  From the names it sounds like a lot of the same names in the Cleveland and Campbell, Ohio area.

We then stopped in Krynica for lunch and a quick preview of this quaint Rusyn city.  It is also home to the Nikifor Museum.  Nikifor was a famous Lemko artist who lived there.  He was quite poor and sold his paintings for food, clothing and shelter.  They are now a very much sought after commodity.  the museum featured a lot of his personal photographs, many paintings and his personal effects. 

Our next stop was in Svidnik to visit with Nina's second cousin Maria, her daughter Angela and granddaughter Klarka.  But before we stopped there we needed to make a Tesco run as now with the addition of the kroj we needed another suitcase to get everything home!

We had a lovely visit with Nina's other relatives.  But the best surprise of all was that Klarka was going to be coming to the US as an exchange student this coming fall!  Even more surprising was the fact that the company she is working through is located in downtown Minneapolis and it appears that most likely she will be placed in a school somewhere in Minnesota!  We were all very excited for her.

They said their tearful goodbyes and we returned to the pension at a halfway decent time.  A good night's sleep and tomorrow we are off to Litmanova where supposedly the Rusinak people are from.

I am having more technical difficulties posting photos...will try again tomorrow.

Post Nitra

We stayed in a lovely hotel in Nitra on the central square.  In the morning we had a little bit of time so we walked around for a bit on the way up to the castle.  Nitra is a lovely town and we will definitely be going back there in the future to spend more time exploring the city.

Off we headed back towards Bardejov.  It was a little dreary, colder and a bit of rain fell but nothing that would have held up our drive back.  We found a pension/restaurant that Nina had discovered earlier but they were not open.

In case you haven't figured it out yet...Bocorka means witch.  Nina thought it would be the perfect place for us!

Since we couldn't have our lunch there we made another stop along the way to a roadside restaurant where I finally had my Bryndzove Halushky.  It only took nine days!!!

We then headed back to Klenov where Nina met four new cousins!  They were wonderful people and the two ladies had both done quite a bit of research on the Miklus family and much of what they had confirmed Nina's research.  Here is a photo of one of the woman's ancestral chart.

Nina inquired if the village had a particular kroj (folk costume) and one of the women brought out three of them, all very formal looking and made of brocade.  They had belonged to her mother.  Then in an unexpected moment she offered one to Nina.  Needless to say we were both overwhelmed!  Nina chose one that is a dark burgundy color that was worn at her cousin's mother's wedding after the Redovy (traditional dollar dance that I spoke of in an earlier post).  

They ventured into the attic to find some of the headpieces, shoes, broom and other wonderful antique artifacts and she gave Nina a beautifully embroidered blouse.

Here is a photo of Nina with all of the cousins.

After this wonderful meeting we left to return to Bardejov.  Not having had dinner we ventured into the square and had a pizza and wine at Gurman Restaurant.  Walking back to the pension we rounded the corner and ran into Miro and Eva Mihalcin.  They live next to the pension but Miro is a truck driver and is gone usually two weeks at a time so it is rare for us to see him.  He has always been very helpful to us in our trips here and we visited a while on the corner before retiring for the evening.

Klenov and Nitra

Slavo met us for an early breakfast and then we were off to Klenov to do more research on Nina’s grandmother’s side of the family.  After visiting with the clerk in the office she put us in touch with some family members from Presov and Kosice who will join us in Klenov again tomorrow.  A quick trip up to the cemetery and we were off to drive again.  This time we were headed to Nitra in western Slovakia near Bratislava.  Nina as a second cousin living there that she has never met. 

We met Ivan Mihalik and his daughter and granddaughter over dinner in Nitra, a wonderful city.  Through our dinner conversations we came to find out about Nina’s relatives and also that I am most likely related to him as well.  We are hoping to meet with him again on our next visit.

We are back to Klenov tomorrow for hopefully more connections on Nina's grandmother's side of the family.  Until then...

The Morning After

We slept in until 10:00 and had our breakfast at the hotel.  We headed back to the village of Tichy Potok to visit with Monika Heldakova who had been an exchange student with Greg and Karen Kokosh-Doten.  We had a lovely visit with her and her parents.  Todd was able to taste some of the local wine while there.  After our visit with the Heldak’s we saw Lubica’s new pension that she is building in Tichy Potok.  A few (I am using that term very loosely) shots of Slivovice later and we were on our way to Presov to have dinner at Viktoria’s Restaurant in Presov.  The restaurant is owned by Viktor Krusko who is related to some of our parishioners at our church in Minneapolis.

We had another lovely dinner and some wonderful conversation with Viktor and his wife Jarka.  We stopped in his pub next to the restaurant.  By the time we were finished they declared it too late for us to take Todd to Kosice where he was spending the night before leaving to come back to the US.  Viktor and Jarka kindly offered to take Todd to Kosice so that we could head back to Bardejov.  What a relief that was!

If you want to see these photos you will need to check with Todd as they are on his phone!

Oce back in Bardejov around 9:30 Slavo Mlynar came to meet us.  He is a young man from Stebnik and a relative of a mutual acquaintance.  One nightcap and we were off to the end of a whirlwind two days.

Svadba (Wedding)

My apologies for not posting sooner…but you will read why a little later on in the blog.

We woke up to a beautiful sunny day.  We walked part way around the lake to view the mountains behind our hotel.  On our way back to the hotel we stopped at one of the lovely adjacent ponds and discovered many large frogs.  There were lots of sounds coming from the pond as we figured out it was mating season for them!

We left the Tatras for our drive to Lipany where our foreign exchange student’s sister, Veronika, was to be married later that day.  It was a beautiful drive as we followed Google Maps on my phone.  We came upon the Spis Castle which I believe is the largest castle in Europe and the scene of the move Braveheart.  It is a spectacular sight to say the least.

At that point Google Maps had us head north towards Lipany.  Their was a sign at the beginning of the road but of course it was in Slovak so we could not read it.  There was also a barricade but it was only part way across the road.  It had a sign which we later found out meant “forbidden entry,”  Turns out we were on a private logging road.  It serpentine back and forth as we climbed the mountain.  As we approached the top it was evident the reason for the “forbidden entry” sign…the road had washed out.  But they were in the middle of repairs and fortunately we were able to squeeze through.  The road afforded us spectacular views of the valleys and the Tatras off in the distance.

We finally made it to Lipany, checked into our hotel, changed our clothes and left for the wedding.

The ceremony was in a fairly new Greek Catholic church with a beautiful choir.  The bride looked stunning as did our student, Ivana.

After the ceremony we met Lubica Dzuganova, a friend and the mayor of the bride’s village.  She and her friend Igor transported us to the reception in a nearby village that could handle he 200 plus people invited to the wedding.  The setting was lovely.

The reception began with the traditional toast to the bride and groom followed by…of course…chicken soup…a traditional first course in any Slovak house or restarurant.  After this the main course, or so we thought, was served.  It was a chicken goulash, rice, two kinds of cabbage and a piece of chicken stuffed with some vegetables.  There were numerous pastries on the table.  Off to the side was a a beautiful display of fruit and two wedding cakes!

They had a live orchestra that began playing and serenading the tables.  They played a mix of Slovak/Rusyn and modern music.  Evidently the electrical system couldn’t handle the load and the lights kept going out!

A few hours later we were served another meal…this time it mashed potatoes with schnitzel…a full meal in itself!  Again more dancing and then the folk group from Lipany and Tichy Potok came to perform the Redovy.  The bride is escorted into the center dressed in her kroj (a native folk costume) and seated in the center.  They then remove her parta (the headdress worn by the young single women) and give a small head covering along with a babushka to signify that she was now a married woman.  A circle formed around her as we danced and took turns dancing with the bride after paying into her dowry.  Back home we refer to this as the Dollar Dance.

By this time the next course of food was presented, this time on a buffet table.  Knedle (dumplings), bread, sausages, pirohy, chicken and pork were the offerings.  Needless to say we were stuffed and didn’t stay for the last course!

All of this food was in addition to the many various types of alcohol on the table…bottles of wine, Becherovka, Vodka, Slivovice and more!

We finally left around 3:15 am and the party was still going strong!  So now you why I did not post that evening!

Down Time

We left Krakow this morning after a delightful breakfast on the square.  It was an almost three hour drive but quite pleasant traveling through many mountain passes and ski areas, resorts, etc.  The scenery was spectacular!  Since I was driving part way I don't have that many photos.

We arrived at the Patria Hotel in Strbske Pleso.  It is at one of the highest points in the Carpathian Mountains. Unfortunately the weather was not cooperative...it's cold and rainy.  The lake is still frozen over and there is snow...something we have not seen here before.  But it is a lovely hotel with a relaxing spa-like atmosphere.

Nina had a massage while Todd and I took a much needed nap.  We had a drink and an appetizer in the bar beforehand.  Dinner was a buffet with some schnitzel as well, compliments of Stefan who has been the waiter here since I have been coming.  After dinner we relaxed in the bar area with my favorite...Demjanovka.  We have a quick drive to Lipany tomorrow and then the wedding...can't wait!  It's going to be so very hard to leave this lovely place!!!

Not sure if I will post tomorrow evening as we will be in the midst of the wedding festivities...to e continued...

Lovely Cracow!

We left the pension this morning heading towards Cracow.  Todd wanted to see a wooden church so we took a slight detour on the way to the village of Jedlinka where we walked around the church and cemetery.  A very large tree had evidently fallen and damaged many of the tombstones...it was quite sad to see.  This is the church in Jedlinka.

On the way back from Jedlinka we had a wonderful view of the castle in Zborov.  My cousin, Vlado Kaminsky is the head of a group of volunteers that is restoring this castle.  It is a multi-year task...a labor of love for them.

A beautiful drive was ahead of us through the Carpathian Mountains.  Winding roads and hairpin turns, trees leafing out and forsythia in full bloom greeted us.

We stopped along the way for a lunch.  Suffice it to say that the portions in Poland are quite generous.  After a full meal we opted to share a dessert...we told our waitress, who spoke no English and we, who spoke no Polish, that we wanted one dessert with three forks.  She appeared to understand until she brought out three huge desserts...one for each of us.  Needless to say we didn't need dinner!

Arrive in Cracow we maneuvered the narrow streets and found our way to the hotel, dropped off Todd and the luggage and then parked the car.  After a few minutes to freshen up we made our way to the square, walked around for a bit, shopped in the Cloth Hall and had a drink at the Camelot.  We then took a leisurely stroll towards the palace...and ended up back on the square for a nightcap.  You see lots of interesting people and things while on the square...among them this evening was a group of rollerbladers...hundreds of them...complete with a police escort.  Followed by some sort of religious procession that no one seemed to know anything about.

Tomorrow we head to the beautiful Tatra Mountains for a relaxing day before the wedding.  Until then...