Visit Slovakia

Andy Warhol’s Slovak origins

Mike — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:48:15 +0000

In case you didn’t know, Andy Warhol’s roots can be traced back to Eastern Slovakia’s village of Mikováˆ (at that time part of Austro-Hungarian Empire). Although Andy Warhol was born already in Pittsburgh, Pensylvania, his parents were Ruthenian immigrants from this small village in today’s Slovakia. Andy Warhol’s two younger brothers – John and Paul – were born in Slovakia.

To remember Andy Warhol’s Slovak origins, The Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art was opened in the Slovak town of Medzilaborce on September 1, 1991 primarily on the initiative of Andy Warhol’s brother John. It was the first Andy Warhol’s museum in the world and at that time (and it might be still true today) it was the only museum of its kind in Europe.

The Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art (www.andywarhol.sk)

The Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art in Medzilaborce consists of three permanent expositions of Andy Warhol’s works and precious artefacts about his origins (acquired or borrowed from his relatives and acquaintances). To see pictures from the museum, click hereˆ.

Should you need accommodation in the vicinity, search for Medzilaborce at Booking.comˆ.

Further reading:

Five-star Sheraton soon to be opened in Bratislava

Mike — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:38:32 +0000

Sheraton will soon add Slovakia to the list of their five-star hotel locations. Sheraton Bratislava will welcome its first guests on February 24, 2010. It will be located right on the bank of river Danube, inside a new development by Ballymore Properties. Sheraton in Bratislava will include 186 rooms and 23 suites, Business Centre with 7 meeting spaces and 800 meter squared spa center with a swimming pool.

Bratislava is the Capital of Slovakia. The Sheraton Bratislava hotel will form part of Euroveaˆ – new development by Irish company Ballymore Properties, which will include premium apartments, office spaces and Central Europe’s most sophisticated retail mall. The hotel will be situated right in front of the new building of Slovak National Theatre.

Book cheap hotels in Bratislava.

Another Twin City Liner

Mike — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:07:57 +0000

As of May 1, 2008, another Twin City Liner will be deployed on the Bratislava – Vienna route (for route information click hereˆ). The company operating these boats has come to this decision due to the large number of passengers interested in river connection between these two nearest located capitals in European Union. Starting May 1 (anniversary of Slovakia’s accession to the EU), Twin City Liner will be connecting Bratislava with Vienna four times a day, departing from Bratislava at 10:30am, 2:30pm, 6:30pm and 10:30pm. Regular adult fare is €26 (€16 in the morning).

Read also From Vienna to Bratislava with Twin City Liner on this blog.

Aquacity – “watery” paradise in Poprad, High Tatras

Mike — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 09:23:14 +0000

When you travel to High Tatras mountain range, make sure not to miss the Aquacity thermal parkˆ. Located at the foot of the mountains in the city of Poprad, Aquacity is a great place for enjoying a relaxing time after a day of hiking, skiing or sightseeing. Just recently Aquacity has been voted the World’s Leading Green Resortˆ, receiving a World Travel Awardˆ.

Aquacity all-year resort has a lot to offer to anyone – kids, parents, youth, or elderly. Built over a thermal spring, with the thermal water rising from the depth of 1 400 meters (4,590 ft), it is a popular destiantion equipped with all sorts of indoor and outdoor pools, slides, flumes, play areas for kids, saunas and steam rooms, bars, cafes, restaurants and hotels. Aquacity is opened until 10pm everyday, with a laser showˆ at the Blue Sapphire pool at 9pm.

Finally a professional commercial of a Slovak resort :)

Aquacity has been voted the World’s Leading Green Resort in 2007, receiving a prestigious World Travel Award (see Aquacity video at WTA websiteˆ). So how green Aquacity really is? The resort is virtually self-powered, making use of the thermal water and solar power. For example, the thermal water provides hot water for every hotel bathroom at the resort, and it even prevents the outdoor parking lots to freeze in winter. Compared to resorts burning fossil fuels, Aquacity produces 27 tonnes less carbon every year, saving millions of euros in conventional energy costs, which is then reflected in lower holiday prices.

In 2008, Aquacity will start with the construction of a giant new pool with salt water and artificial waves of up to 2 meters (6.5 ft) in height. With dimensions of 100 x 36 meters (328 x 118 ft), it will be the biggest pool in Slovakia, and probably even in the whole of Europe. A pool with the exact same dimensions existed in Poprad already in 1936. According to Jan Telensky, majority owner of Aquacity Poprad, “the pool will be the center of nightlife”. Next to the pool there will be a palm garden and various restaurants.

There are so many things to do in Aquacity Poprad, that it is virtually impossible to describe it in a single blog post. Therefore I would recommend you to visit the resort’s comprehensive website available in 6 different languages (with a high-quality English version in my opinion, well done there). Just click on www.aquacity.skˆ!

To find nice accommodation in Poprad, visit Cheap Hotels in Poprad.

Slovakia – largest car producer in the world

Mike — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 09:18:22 +0000

The title may sound a little exaggerated, but the truth is that Slovakia really produces the largest number of cars per capita in the world. Even though car plants in Slovakia haven’t reached their maximum production capacity yet, they were able to produce more than 570,000 cars last year.

There are three major car producers in Slovakia: Volkswagen, PSA Peugeot-Citroën, and KIA. Volkswagen has been producing cars in Slovakia since 1991, and currently specializes in production of luxury SUVs (VW Touareg, Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne, and recently also Škoda Octavia). PSA Peugeot-Citroën chose Trnava, Slovakia for its new plant in 2003, followed by KIA which decided to start producing cars near Žilina, Slovakia a year later in 2004. Models produced by KIA include the new Cee’d, and Sportage, Peugeot produces the popular model 207.

In 2006, more than 295,000 cars were produced in Slovakia. In 2007 this number doubled to more than 570,000, which accounts for 106 cars produced per 1,000 inhabitants, and makes Slovakia the largest car producer per capita in the world. This number should even increase by 2009 when Peugeot and KIA reach their maximum production capacity (300,000+ cars/year). In 2009 the number of cars produced per 1,000 inhabitants should that way increase to 160.

Inspired by: Slovensko je v autách jednotkaˆ (Pravda, January 27^th, 2008)

Famous Slovaks around the world

Mike — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 13:35:09 +0000

In spite of being a small country, Slovakia has “produced” quite a few people that got famous all around the world, including inventors, scientists, sportsmen/sportswomen, diplomats, etc. In this post I would like to introduce you to some of them. Please take this post as a draft, I will keep on adding people in the future.

SPORTS

At the moment, Slovak sportsmen and sportswomen are probably the most famous representatives of their homecountry in the whole world. They do their job in different countries and in different sports. I am sure most of you have already heard about Marián Gáboríkˆ, Pavol Demitraˆ (both Minnesota Wild), Marián Hossaˆ (Atlanta Thrashers), Miroslav Šatanˆ (NY Islanders), Peter Budajˆ (Colorado Avalanche), Zdeno Cháraˆ (Captain of Boston Bruins), or Peter Šťastnýˆ (retired) – Slovak NHL players.

If you still don’t remember who these people are, please watch this video of Marián Gáborík scoring 5 (!) goals in the game of December 20, 2007 against NY Rangers:

If you are a tennis fan, you must have heard about Slovak most talented player Daniela Hantuchová. Just recently (January 24, 2008) she has reached her personal best when she played her way to the semifinals at Australian Open, where she was unfortunately defeated by Ana Ivanovic. Nevertheless, Daniela managed to win the first set 6:0.

This tall (181 cm / 5’11 1/4″) tennis player was best ranked 5th in singles WTA (January 2003). Currently she is world’s 8th best player. She’s never won a Grand Slam singles tournament, but she has all the Grand Slam trophies in doubles. Despite the fact that she is a resident of Monte Carlo, recently she has confirmed once again that she is proud to be Slovak. Further information can be found at dhantuchova.comˆ.

Slovakia entered Schengen Area!

Mike — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 23:10:46 +0000

We made it, we became an inseparable part of the European Union, we entered the Schengen areaˆ! No wonder that the biggest celebrations were at the Slovak-Austrian border, the only real part of the “Iron Curtainˆ” before 1989, and also the most guarded Slovak border in this era.

See the symbolic act of removing the border by the Slovak Prime Minister and the Austrian Chancellorˆ (SK, video, www.sme.sk)

Did you know? At least 400 citizens of the then Czechoslovakia, and around 600 border-guards died in the years 1948 to 1989 in escape attempts? Out of the 600 dead border-guards only 12 died in an encounter with the alleged “armed trespassers”, the rest of them committed suicide, stepped on a mine, died in a car crash or in other accident.
Inspired by: Že doňho strieľali, nám nepovedaliˆ (SME, 21.12.2007)

From Vienna to Bratislava with Twin City Liner

Mike — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 09:34:45 +0000

Passenger wishing to travel from Vienna to Bratislava and back by boat can use the Twin City Linerˆ, high-speed catamaran, which has been operating on this route since June 2006. The number of passengers has been rising ever since (88,000 between April 1st and August 31st, 2007), which made the company operating the Twin City Liner add another vessel. The new catamaran which will join the first one in service in 2008.

The Twin City Liner operates between the two nearest located EU capitals - Bratislava and Vienna. The river distance between these two cities is only some 60 km (38 mi), which accounts for an approx. 75 minutes long voyage. The landing stages of the Twin City Liner in Viennaˆ and Bratislavaˆ are centrally located, which makes the voyage even more pleasant. Currently the boat travels by the winter schedule, which means that every Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and on holidays it leaves Vienna at 10:00 am direction Bratislava, and in the evening it leaves Bratislava for Vienna at 7:00 pm. A single ticket for an adult will cost you €25 on Fridays, and €27 on weekends and holidays.

The Twin City Liner is operated by Central Danube Region Marketing & Development GmbH. It was introduced in June 2006. The vessel is a high-speed 33 meters long catamaran built in Norway with a maximum speed of 38 knots (70 kph/40 mph). It has a capacity of 106 passengers, attended to by 5 crew members. On board the Twin City Liner you can select from a wide range of delicious, freshly prepared petite dishes, snacks and drinks. Both currencies – euros and Slovak crowns – are accepted.

The company expects to carry more than 110,000 passengers in 2007. The constant increase in the number of passengers made the company buy another catamaran, which will start its service in 2008.

Further information about the schedule, prices, as well as a photo gallery can be found at the official website of the Twin City Linerˆ. If you have personal experience with the Twin City Liner, don’t hesitate to put them into comments.

To find nice accommodation in Vienna and/or Bratislava, please visit Cheap Hotels in Vienna or Cheap Hotels in Bratislava.

Inspired by: Twin City Liner využilo približne 88 000 pasažierovˆ (Bratislavské noviny, 25.9.2007) and Twin City Linerˆ

Slovakia enters Schengen (Updated 9/11/07)

Mike — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 12:34:23 +0000

On December 21, 2007 Slovakia will most probably enter the “Schengen areaˆ“, taking another important step towards the full integration into the European Unionˆ. The final decision will be taken by the EU Justice and Home Affairs Councilˆ on December 6th, 2007, following the debate in the European Parliamentˆ. According to Franco Frattiniˆ, the EU Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, all nine countries are well prepared for the accession on December 21st.

What will this mean for the tourist travelling to Slovakia? It will definitely make life easier for those who travel from another EU Member State. Being part of the “Schengen area” means single external border of the participating European countries, and at the same time no border controls between them. Once a tourist enters any of the participating countries, he can move and travel freely to any other Member State that has already implemented the Schengen Agreement.

For information about gaining entry to the “Schengen area” for other tourists, please refer to the article Schengen Zoneˆ at Wikipedia.

Updated 9/11/2007: The EU Justice and Home Affairs Council approved yesterday (8/11/07) the entrance of eight post-communist countries and Malta to the “Schengen area”. This decision still has to be formally accepted by the European Parliament. Slovakia and the other eight countries will thus “loose” their EU internal borders on December 21st. The controls at the airports will be canceled three months later in march 2008.

Wooden churches – cerkvi

Mike — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 10:24:53 +0000

Wooden churches, called by the locals “cerkvi”, can be found in the North East Slovakia. Most of them were built between 15th and 18th century, and in 1968 all twentyseven churches were declared national historical monument. They can be entered exclusively from the West, you can usually find them on a hill above a village, and they are all made of wood only. You wouldn’t find a single nail here, because it reminds of the crucification of Jesus.

These churches are used until today for services, even in the village of Príkraˆ with only 7 inhabitants. The only exception is the church in the village of Hunkovceˆ, which was transformed into an information center, and an exhibition place. All churches but one are Greek Catholic. These churches are interesting not only for their wooden architecture, usually work of anonymous folk authors, but also for the religious objects that decorate their interiors.

Every church is different, but they all have some common characteristic features. The interior is divided into three parts, symbolizing the Holy Trinity. These three parts are located on a West-East axis. Each part usually has its own tower, the highest of which is always above the entrance. On the top of each tower there is a hand-forged metal cross, decorated with religious symbols.

Most of the churches are located on a hill. The church of St. Lucasˆ in the village Tročany is located in the middle of the village, though. Some of its religious icons were lost during the Expo exhibition in Osaka, some extraordinary ones, painted on paper, supposedly ended up as cigarette paper for soldiers during the war.

Some of the churches were relocated to the indoor and outdoor museums in Košice, spa center in Bardejovˆ, Stará Ľubovňaˆ, Humennéˆ and Hradec Králové (CZ). One of the relocated churches was the one from the village of Kožuchovceˆ, built in 1741. First it was thoroughly documented, taken apart, and in 1927 carefully moved by trucks to the East Slovakian Museumˆ in Košice. The transportˆ (approx. 100 km / 63 mi) supposedly took over eight hours.

Further information about each church can be found at www.slovakia.travelˆ and www.muzeum.skˆ.
Inspired by: Cerkviˆ (Život, 33/2005)