FALL 2022 SLOVAKIA (again): Banska Bystrica & Trencin

Chilly weather and continuous rain dogs this trip, especially in Banska and a couple of places are removed from the itinerary.  Seeking sunshine and warmer climes is becoming a priority.

We are happy to be back in Slovakia where the people are friendly, the food is creative, and the prices are reasonable.

BANSKA BYSTRICA

Banska Bystrica on the Hron River is surrounded by three mountain ranges.  It gained considerable wealth in the 15th and 16th centuries from copper mining.  Later as mining waned it became an industrial center and today tourism is its economic driver. 

Copper Mining Museum

Banska Bystrica is one of the gateways to the Low Tatra Mountains which are a magnet in the winter for skiers and in the warmer months for hikers.

It is in the geographic center of Slovakia and is known throughout Europe for the pivotal role it played in starting the Slovak National Uprising (Slovenske narodne poystanie - or SNP) in the summer of 1944 against German occupiers of Slovak territories.

Today the SNP museum in Banska serves many functions in relation to the anti-fascist, liberation struggle of that time: research, documentation, education, information and archival.

Because of the foul weather, we end up not venturing too far.  Just getting to the lovely SNP Square at the center of town virtually guarantees we get soaked either going or coming.  There are some lovely modern shopping malls we can duck into on the way for a respite.

Many beautiful buildings surround the square and are on side streets off the square.  It's a lovely place to sit in a cafe and let the world go by.

Passing by a theatre one day we saw a sign for Puppet Theater, so go in to enquire.  It is near the end of the twenty-third festival which takes place every two years.  UNESCO recognizes puppet theatre in both Czechia and Slovakia as not just a popular form of folk entertainment but a way of putting out a vision of the world and of teaching moral values.  Much of the keeping of the tradition is by non-profit groups.

The goal of the festival is to engage children from toddlers to teens in art, imagination, discussion and play through puppetry.  Daily workshops exist for various age groups.  The festival has an agenda to get puppetry and theatre into the school system to become part of children's everyday education and experience.  

There is an opportunity for children and parents to participate together so that parents see the value of puppetry and shows for adults that are purely entertainment.  The one show left on the schedule for adults conflicts with our other plans.  We were also told that it might be a bit hard for us to follow as it was in the Slovak language.  

Random photos Banska Bystrica

Typical Soviet-era apartments.  We stayed in a similar one across the way.  Fall colours.

TRENCIN 

A three-hour bus ride from Banska Bystrica delivers us to Trencin.  From the bus/train station, it's a short walk through a lovely park to Centro, past a little Skoda car museum, and beyond where our apartment lies.

The vast eleventh century Trencin Castle on a cliff above the city can be seen from miles away and seems to envelop everyone in a protective hug.  It takes a good day to explore its grounds and buildings.  On the way down one stops at the Executioner's house museum. 

The next two photos are looking down from Mathew's tower.

The castle is lovely at night.

The castle is beloved as it is prominent in several pieces of art, including in our accommodation.  Below is street art depicting the castle.

We stopped at the Executioner's Home on the way down from the castle.  Built in1580, it was in use in the seventeenth century as a prison on the ground floor, where people were routinely tortured, and the upper floors were where the executioner lived.

Our photos focus more on the living quarters than on the executioner's tools, of which there were many.

3-story house

It seems like a dainty bed for a man with such a cruel job

His enormous grooming kit.  The phrase "dressed to kill" comes to mind.

A tiny sample of torture devices

On the way to the grocery store one day, we passed a childcare center and couldn't resist the artwork on the building.

In 1380, Louis I Great granted Trencin the right to brew its own beer, and the rest is history.  One of our favourite places to stop for refreshments is the Lanius brewery right in Centro.  Their restaurant serves tasty food at reasonable prices.  This little place has the capacity to have ten different varieties of craft beer at one time.  It prides itself on every step of the process being manual labour.

It's situated in a building from 1649 with remodelling that has stayed true to its medieval roots.

Walking from Centro to our apartment we pass a shop.  Two people inside the empty building are busy painting murals on the walls.  Paul couldn't resist and we went in.  Luke and Catja are Slovak artists.  They welcomed us and over the next three days we stopped by at some point in the day to mark their progress, chat, drink some wine and enjoy each other's company.  Lovely people.  Excellent artists.

We only have photos of the work in progress for the skateboard shop, having to move on before completion.

Each has his/her own FB page that can be found here: Luke and Catja.  Hoping we will see at least one if not both, in Mexico one day, where street art is really appreciated.

On another day we decided to walk along the dikes of the Vah River.  It would be wonderful to have a bicycle here as you can go forever.  Fall colours abound, as does nature.  

We are amazed at all the sports/fitness opportunities here.  Everything from outdoor equipment to various courts to huge playing fields.  Wonderful.  In addition, there are lounging chairs placed by the river for quiet contemplation.  There is an area where people have floating homes/cottages.

 The beautiful Hotel Elizabeth in Centro is known for its Roman inscription done in 179/180.  Walking into the hotel, the staff point us to where we needed to go.  A camera doesn't pick it up well.  The translation is: "To the victory of emperors, dedicated by 855 soldiers of II Legion of an army stationed in Laugaricia.  Made to order of Marcus Valerieus Maximianus, a legate of the Second Auxillary legion."

Below is the elegant Hotel Elizabeth

RANDOM PHOTOS TRENCIN

Once again, we enjoyed everything about Slovakia.  It's time to move on to the Czech Republic and Prague.

SUMMER/FALL 2022. Part 4: BUDAPEST

Despite the question that is in the air now: Is Hungary the first dictatorship in the EU? We decide to visit while the question remains unanswered.  For reading on the topic, see this

QUEEN & BUDAPEST

The story goes that in 1986 Freddie Mercury and Queen came to Budapest to perform a concert before 70,000 people.  Pre-concert, the band took a cruise on the Danube and when passing Buda Castle, Freddie started joking about who owned it and if he could buy it.  This offended the Hungarians who witnessed it.

However, Freddie got himself a coach who taught him how to sing a Hungarian Folk Song in the Hungarian language.  When he sang this to the audience at the concert, he won their hearts. Here is the YouTube link.

Photo from a story 2022/07/27 about the 1986 concert in 'Hungary Today'.

We were in Budapest for six days ... and missed most of it.  Wow, it can rain there.  Eventually, one gets tired of being soaked and cold and enjoys the comfort of a room.  

The Pest side of the Danube is where many tourists stay and where many locals live.  The Buda side is for those in the upper-income brackets.  On the Pest side, like in other places in central Europe, an apartment rental proves to be a better deal than hostels or hotels, with all the comforts of home.  Partway through our stay, management gifts us with a bottle of white Hungarian wine.  

While a bit more spread out than some of the other cities we visited, we still walk everywhere.  As has become our custom, the first outing is with a free walking tour.  The meeting place is Saint Stephen's Basilica.

Saint Stephen is the patron saint not only of Hungary but also of bricklayers and stonemasons.  He is known for uniting the Carpathian basin, successfully repelling invaders to the Hungarian Kingdom, and spreading Christianity.

When he was canonized, his corpse was exhumed, and the story goes that his right arm was as fresh as the day he was buried.  The right arm was cut off so it could be preserved and venerated.  His fist remained in Budapest, the upper arm went to another place and the lower arm to Vienna.  Every year on St Stephen's Day, his now mummified right fist leads the parade.

Only one other person has been considered worthy enough to be buried in the basilica:  Hungary's famous football player, Ferenc Puskas.

The 96-meter-tall basilica spire is the same height as the parliament buildings to remind all that church and state are on equal footing and that one does not have authority over the other.

A Tribute to the Jewish People of Hungary

During WWI Hungary lost about seventy percent of its lands.  After the war, to recover some of those lands, the Hungarian leader began to align the country with Germany, the Nazis and the Axis Powers, eventually becoming a communist country and staying that way for about forty years.

In 1944 deportation of Jews from Hungary began in earnest. and in two months 437,000 people were sent to Auschwitz to be gassed.  Others in Budapest were simply rounded up in the dead of winter in the middle of the night and forcibly marched to the banks of the Danube.  

Here they were made to remove their valuable shoes which the militia could later sell.  The militia was running low on bullets, so they tied the people's hands together and shot every third or fourth person who dragged the living into the water as they fell.  Today this portion of the river is known as the Red Danube.

In 2005 a sculpture was placed on the banks of the Danube to remember this terrible time.  There are some flowers at the memorial, but many stones are placed in the shoes as a permanent marker of memory and legacy.  It was very moving to stand by the shoes on the riverbank while listening to the guide relate the events.

The guide points out a tiny bronze Kermit-the-frog statue.  Mihaly Kolodka who has been called a guerrilla sculptor has put up many different statues around the city and continues to do so.  Some are serious, and most are whimsical.  All are tiny.

A delightful visit is to the Great Market Hall.

The fruit and vegetables are beautiful.  The salami, sausages and other meats are something to behold.  The homemade and traditional clothing is exquisite and of such quality and the crafts are both traditional and amusing.  Here we buy paprika.  One pack is smokey, and the other is smokey and hot.  There are numerous other choices.  We can hardly wait to start cooking with it.

Many stores have an offering of Palinka.  This type of brandy is made from almost any type of fruit with a 40% alcohol content.  It's everywhere, but we don't really care for sweet drinks.

Wandering in the city one day a Lindt chocolate store lures us in.  Oh my.  My fave.

There are flavours in these balls of luxurious delight that we never see in North America.

Another day walking past the National Museum is a mannequin fashion show.  No information is available on it.  Perhaps it is fashion created from recycled materials.  They are so creative.  One sample is below and for the fashionistas, a link to the twenty-two or so other ones in my google photos album.

On another dark and cloudy day, we head across the river and attempt to see Buda Castle, a palace and castle complex of past Hungarian Kings.  Once there it begins to rain so heavily that we give up and get 'home' as fast as we can.

Today it houses three museums, the Budapest History Museum, the Hungarian National Gallery, and the National Széchényi Library.

Look here for photos of the exterior of Buda Castle.  

Below are photos taken through the rain from Buda Castle looking back at Pest.

And this is directly below the castle.

The Castle guards and horses look miserable in the rain.

High atop Gellert Hill in Budapest and seen from most places in the city is Liberty Statue.  As I understand it, it was first built to express appreciation for the Soviet liberation of Hungary from the Nazi forces.  Then as Soviet rule became more oppressive, the statue was not so well-liked.  Eventually, hard-won freedom came from communism.  So, the statue remained, but the meaning to the people and the inscriptions changed.

Sadly, that's all we managed to see of Budapest through downpours of rain that followed us to our next couple of locations.  Below are some random photos.

For assorted reasons known to Hungarian citizens, three American presidents have statues in Budapest: George Washington, Ronald Reagan (a bust and a full statue) and George H.W. Bush.  

Below is a small portion of the entrance to the famous New York Cafe that holds the title of the most beautiful cafe in the world.  Lineups were always long to get into it.  Check out this link to see it.  You'll be glad you did.

Now, back to Slovakia, our favourite country so far on this trip.