Thumbnail image for Dolny Kubin – A jewel in Orava
    By May 10, 2009

    The afternoon of May 1st was spent in Dolny Kubin, which is an absolutely delightful town in Orava, in Northern Slovakia. Set in a valley and with stunning views of the mountains from every part of town, Dolny Kubin is a great example of a Slovak town that has undergone ...

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    Thumbnail image for Trampolining and Tobogganing in Donovaly Slovakia
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    The morning of Day Four of our holiday was spent in the ski resort of Donovaly. It was May 1st, a bank holiday in Slovakia, and the start of Donovaly’s summer season. Obviously, the main season here is during the winter, but in recent years Park Snow Donovaly has put ...

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    Thumbnail image for Bojnice Zoo and Bojnice Castle
    By May 9, 2009

    Today’s trip was the first of two that the kids had really been looking forward to. Bojnice is a wonderful little town, west of Banska Bystrica, which is famous for both its fairytale castle and zoo. The town also boasts a falconry, Slovakia’s oldest tree and a Spa, but it ...

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    Thumbnail image for Kremnica and the Centre of Europe
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    Day 2 of our holiday was spent in the delightful town of Kremnica, famous for its Mint, which has been minting coins since the fourteenth century. There are a number of interesting museums to visit in the town, which do a splendid job of showcasing Kremnica’s history. The town is ...

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    Thumbnail image for Banska Bystrica in Central Slovakia
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    Banska Bystrica (pronounced Banska Bistrica) is a central Slovak town, which was to be our base for the first half of our trip around Central Slovakia. It has one of the most attractive main squares in all of Slovakia and we were fortunate enough to be staying at the Hotel ...

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    Thumbnail image for Central Slovakia Trip
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    I recently spent some time travelling around Central Slovakia with family and friends, which some of you may have followed on Twitter (you can follow Heart of Europe on Twitter here). There now follows a series of posts based around that Central Slovakia Trip: Banska Bystrica | Kremnica | Bojnice ...

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    Thumbnail image for Great Night Monday (Easter Monday)
    By April 12, 2009

    On Easter Monday, in Slovakia, boys from the village would pour water over the girls and in Western Slovakia the boys would also whip the girls with thin willow branches. If the girls wanted to stay beautiful, healthy and full of life throughout the year, they would have to gracefully ...

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    On Easter Sunday, in Slovakia, all the food that had been prepared the day before was taken to church to be blessed. The blessed food was then eaten at lunchtime. Crumbs from the meal were then mixed with seeds to help crops grow and also used for healing purposes. The ...

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    By April 11, 2009

    In the past, White Saturday, another important day in the Slovakia Easter, was the day when the villagers would take the opportunity to light fires and burn everything old and harmful. This tradition was known as the “burning of Judas”. It was also thought that looking at the embers of ...

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    By April 10, 2009

    The villagers believed that Great Friday was the day when warlocks and witches would come out. Legend had it that the witches would come and ruin gardens and steal the milk from cows. Meanwhile, warlocks were supposed to stroll around the village, causing harm to any people that they met. ...

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