The Wooden Churches of the East

So school is out and the road was calling. So I rented a car, (Toyota's European version of a cross between a minivan and an SUV), and braved the Slovak drivers to see what the rest of this country looks like.

I knew going in that the Eastern half of Slovakia has higher unemployment, more Roma's (or gypsies as the locals call them, usually with great distaste), poor public access and no highways. That said, there is no easy way to visit the odd and unique sites that make Slovakia so wonderful. Hence, the car, which is quite interesting when you can't read the street signs and warning signs (Pozor!) create more questions than caution. Not to mention that passing all of the trucks, tractors and horse drawn carts carrying hay, at 100 km/hr, usually on small, twisty roads, just added to the adventure.

Honestly, though, there is no other way to get there. Take for example, the wooden churches. There are maybe 40 of these churches still in the small villages, and more that have been preserved in skanzen (outdoor museums of old buildings). The earliest ones are from the 16th century and many are still used today for services and weddings. The people from this area are Rusyns, who have Ukrainian roots but their own language, culture and religion, hence the churches.

To see the church, you must first go to the local pub, (where you can’t drink if you’re driving because Slovakia has zero tolerance), introduce yourself in your best Slovak, and ask where the churches caretaker lives. Doing your best to follow their directions, you wander the streets until you come to the appropriate house (you hope), and ask for a tour of the church, again in your best Slovak. On the two visits at which I was successful, an older man would clean up from whatever task he was working on in the house or shop, grab the key, then walk with you down to the church. One had an alarm, one had chicken wire holding the fence closed. He turns on the lights and lets you wander, stare and gape while he patiently waits.

Inside, you are in a truly unique building, filled with paintings and sculptures. It is truly impressive that something this beautiful is accessible by just asking.

For more pictures, go to karenclapp.smugmug.com

Beer, the Foreign Minister and Me

My new home in Trencin has a lot of things to offer. Of course there is the castle which overlooks the town and unlimited people watching, since we are the fashion capital of Slovakia. But perhaps the greatest event of the year is the Kukanova Desina.

Held annually in June, the Kukanova Desina is a pub crawl which leads you all around town with nothing but an airphoto map, directions in Slovak, and 150 drunk people to follow. You drink a beer in each of the ten designated pubs, get a stamp, and if you're standing at the end, you get a lovely diploma.

Did I mention you start at 9am and don't finish until about seven at night? When I say all over town, I mean it. It's a march. And with good reason, I was told by a reliable sourse (who is well versed in history, Slovak culture, and this event, where he is a regular), that the event is in honor of a Slovak folk hero, really the Don Quiote of the region, a soldier named Kukan that was too peaceful and lazy to fight, so he wandered from town to town, looking for the army, but always staying at the pubs.

My sourse was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eduard Kukan (no relation to the soldier Kukan) who I had the priveledge of drinking two beers with (two different pubs, afterall). Now if you are like me you would just be happy to speak to someone in English, and when he told me his job title I wasn't so impressed, or perhaps just a little buzzed, until he told me that his counterpart in the USA is Condolisa Rice, and then it doesn't matter how buzzed you are, you get it. So I got it.

He's a great man, and we talked all about Slovakia and America, drinking laws, Swahili, and the rain. Then he had to take a call from Croatia, (I've been there), and then a call that a suicide bomber in Iraq killed some people down the road from the Slovak embassy. Hmmmm, I guess I had nothing else to say after that. Work calls, the rain fell, and he and his friends took a shortcut (skipping three pubs, but being who he is I'm sure he still got the diploma), and then back to work.

Well, if anyone wants to drink a beer with Mr. Kukan, be in Trencin the first Saturday after June 1, and bring your walking shoes. I'll join you.