New Friends! Beata & her Family

We were so lucky that Beata found me on the internet and decided to send a message looking for her mother's family in the US! That was the start of our trip! She was the reason all of the Valachovic cousins got to meet each other! She found Ferdinand and Gusta.

On the Friday after we arrived in Bratislava, Beata and her parents Eva and Pavol Bedesco, invited us to spend the day in their village, Horne Saliby. We piled into two cars and drove from our hotel to Beata's home. It was drizzling or raining during our whole trip--and it continued for an hour or two.

We were greeted royally and sat down to eat. The food was superb and the company was outstanding. After the meal, we gathered in the living room (of course, took some pictures) and got to know each other better. There was the usual situation with the language--Ferdinand and Beata translated for the others, Beata and I talked quietly explaining and asking questions, everyone pantomiming. I hope our hosts enjoyed it as much as we did. Coping with the two languages just made it more fun for me.

Eva and Pavol are both retired art teachers. He taught woodworking as well. Eva does exquisite needlework, and was kind enough to give a crocheted doily to each family. Beata follows in their footsteps and does a little of everything--she showed us several pieces of her work. Gorgeous! She is also a gardener, and even though we were there early in October, we could see that she put her heart into her garden.

Suddenly someone looked out the window and saw that the rain had stopped. A rainbow! The perfect symbol for our day together.

Later in the afternoon, we walked through the village to the confectionery shop. You can imagine what we found there. Even though we thought we'd never eat again when we left the table earlier, each of us carefully chose a goodie. And they were good!

As we walked back toward the house, Beata asked us if we'd like to see her church--the church where she is the organist. Of course, we did! Someone came to unlock the door and we went into a lovely, elegant church. With a beautiful pipe organ. Then came the gift. Beata asked if we would like her to "give a little concert." Again, of course. And, she said, she would sing also. She began to play, and then her voice came through. We were entranced. She has the voice of an angel! Tears ran down Larry's cheeks! She sang several hymns in Slovak and some in English. One that we all recognized was A Mighty Fortress is our God so we sang also. I assured her than I would send the English words.


The day couldn't have been better. I hope Beata, Eva and Pavol realize how happy they made us!

More Family Matters: Dinner with Gusta

Gusta's Church

On our Sunday in Bratislava, Gusta invited us to attend a Mass at his church and for dinner following the service. Of course, we were happy to go! He asked us what we'd like to eat, and Dee listed several dishes she remembered her grandmother making--and Gusta pronounced them possibilities, but told us he was serving roast goose. (We were a little confused because Frdsh translated it as toast goose, but once we got the translation straightened out, it was fine.) Goose is served at festive occasions in Slovakia, so we were honored.

Gusta asked a member of his congregation to pick us up at the hotel and take us to the church. It was a wonderful service. Even though we spoke no Slovak, We could follow easily. The church was bright, light and airy and the many young families attended. It was a standing room only crowd.

After the service, we moved to Gusta's apartment in the church complex to find dinner in the works and other guests waiting. He had invited some English-speaking members of the parish, so Ferdinand did not have to bear the entire burden of translation. This dinner was to be the pattern for others we attended. First the slivovitz (a strong plum brandy), then the wine, then the dinner of soup, roast goose (Wonderful!!), red cabbage, dumplings (those are dumplings in the pic, not French or Italian bread) . . . and on and on. Then dessert, which included several of the things Dee had mentioned. Then the fruit. All accompanied by wines, beer, and other offerings of drink. We developed a litany which went bukty, šisky, drobne, strudel . . . They were all there and all wonderful!

At dinner were five Valachovic second cousins:

1. Augustin Drška (Gusta)
2. Rodney Girard
   
3. Larry Valcovic (did I mention that Larry's father changed the spelling of his surname?)
4. Dee Girard Brown
5. Ferdinand Hesek

Shortly after dinner, a sixth second cousin arrived. She was Kornelia (Nellie) Barto with her husband Martin. Nellie and Martin are involved in the film industry. I didn't find out exactly how they're involved, but I'd like to know. Martin spoke excellent English, which I'm sure Ferdinand appreciated, as the other speakers of English had left at that point. They are a delightful couple and we enjoyed them very much. Of course, at the arrival of new guests, food was returned to the table and we had bukty, šisky, drobne, strudel . . . and, of course, wine and pivo (beer).

At 6 (or at 18, as they would say there--they're on a 24 hour clock), Gusta had another Mass, so we said good-bye to him and left to visit Ferdinand's daughter Katarina. More about that in the next post.

Prague Metro

The Prague metro system is relatively new, clean and easy to figure out. If you are familiar with the Metro in Washington DC, they are much the same, except that I never had to stand on a train! If the Metro was crowded, as it usually was, someone always offered me a seat!

We bought 3-day passes and rode frequently, during the day and at night.

Mystery!

As I said, we visited a street fair in Kuty. One of the first things I saw was the group at the left. It was kind of surprising, but who knows? The music was faintly familiar--kind of a soft pipes type.

As I got closer, I saw that they were selling a CD. And I saw that I had a CD by the same group! The name of the group was Wayra. And I had bought the CD at a street fair here, in the US--probably in Annapolis. Now I was confused. Did the travel a lot? A copy-cat group? A group like Ringling Brothers or the Cirque du Soleil with red and blue (and maybe purple and green) arms to enable more performances?

I googled and found their website. Sent them an email. I hope they'll respond so I'll have an answer to the mystery!

Descendant Chart

Today I'm posting some old family pictures. This chart is to make it easier for the family to see the relationships. Non-family members, skip the chart if you wish..

Descendant List of Jozef VALACHOVIC - 22 Oct 2007

---

1-Jozef VALACHOVIC (abt 1852-18 May 1926)
+Alžbeta POLLAK (abt 1856-10 Oct 1926)
. . .2-Rozália (Rose) VALACHOVICOVA (22 Nov 1878-2 Nov 1964)
. . . +Michal POLLAK (22 Aug 1868-22 Feb 1955)
. . . . . 3-Ladislav P. (Latzie) POLLAK (1900-1948)
. . . . . +Marie GRANETZ (-)
. . . . . 3-William (Bill) POLLAK (18 Jul 1902-24 Jan 1957)
. . . . . +Rose SOKOL (20 Jan 1908-)
. . . . . . . .4-William (Panda/Bill) POLLAK Jr. (17 Jul 1935-)
. . . . . 3-Mildred E. (Millie) POLLAK (22 Jan 1912-21 Feb 2005)
. . .2-Kliment VALACHOVIC (1880-1882)
. . .2-Ondrej VALACHOVIC (10 Nov 1882-24 Feb 1962)
. . . +Helena VALACHOVICOVA (27 Feb 1884-31 Oct 1961)
. . . . . 3-Jozef K. VALACHOVIC (-)
. . . . . +Vilma [VALACHOVIC] (-)
. . . . . . . .4-Stanislav (Slavka) VALACHOVIC (-)
. . . . . . . .4-Konstantine VALACHOVIC (-)
. . . . . 3-Anton VALACHOVIC (-)
. . . . . 3-Helena VALACHOVICOVA (-)
. . . . . 3-Ján K. VALACHOVIC (18 May 1911-14 Aug 1975)
. . . . . +Anna (Anka) [VALACHOVIC] (22 Jan 1922-)
. . . . . . . .4-Ján VALACHOVIC (-)
. . . . . . . .4-Zita VALACHOVICOVA (-)
. . . . . 3-Maria (Marka) VALACHOVICOVA (13 Apr 1914-10 May 1985)
. . . . . +Jozef DRŠKA (4 Jan 1912-24 Apr 1996)
. . . . . . . .4-Father Augustin (Gusta) DRŠKA (1939-)
. . . . . . . .4-Emil DRŠKA (1942-1944)
. . . . . . . .4-Štefánia (Stefka) DRŠKAOVA (1946-)
. . . . . . . .4-Veronika (Vierka) DRŠKAOVA (1948-)
. . . . . 3-Ferdinand VALACHOVIC (4 Nov 1924-20 Apr 1936)
. . .2-Lorenc Kuty VALACHOVIC (10 Aug 1885-Aug 1967)
. . . +Helen SMRTIC (29 Sep 1883-Oct 1961)
. . . . . 3-Florence Erma VALACHOVIC (23 Nov 1909-3 Mar 1996)
. . . . . +Eugene Stanislaus GIRARD (16 Feb 1911-Nov 1963)
. . . . . . . .4-Delores Helene (Dee) GIRARD (10 Oct 1934-)
. . . . . . . .4-Rodney Eugene (Rod) GIRARD (5 Jul 1936-)
. . . . . +William (Bill) WOODS (5 Dec 1912-5 Nov 1994)
. . . . . 3-Elizabeth H. Smrtic VALACHOVIC (8 Oct 1912-8 Jun 2002)
. . . . . +Henry S. (Hank) SKADRA Jr. (1906-)
. . . . . . . .4-Gordon Henry SKADRA (16 Jan 1933-25 Jan 1976)
. . . . . . . .4-Helen P. SKADRA (8 Oct 1937-22 Jun 1998)
. . . . . . . .4-Milton (Skip) SKADRA (12 May 1939-)
. . . . . . . .4-Charles (Chuck) SKADRA (12 Sep 1940-)
. . . . . . . .4-Carol SKADRA (25 Dec 1942-)
. . . . . . . .4-Gloria SKADRA (28 Sep 1944-)
. . . . . . . .4-David SKADRA (5 Mar 1946-abt 1970)
. . . . . . . .4-Henry SKADRA (23 Mar 1948-)
. . . . . 3-Richard Charles (Dick) VALACHOVIC (4 Nov 1916-9 May 2004)
. . . . . +Doris Stewart COX (16 Dec 1918-25 Mar 1975)
. . . . . . . .4-Lawrence Richard (Larry) VALCOVIC (12 Jan 1936-)
. . . . . . . .4-Dorothy Louise (Dot) BAKER (23 Nov 1941-)
. . . . . +Eleanor Preble JONES (14 Nov 1926-)
. . . . . . . .4-David Preble VALCOVIC (27 Aug 1951-)
. . . . . . . .4-Donald Keith (Don) VALCOVIC (23 Feb 1954-)
. . . . . . . .4-Clark Berkes VALCOVIC (6 Jul 1956-)
. . . . . 3-Julia VALACHOVIC (3 Mar 1920-)
. . . . . +Arnold (Arnie) HENRY (-)
. . . . . . . .4-Arnold (Arnie) HENRY (7 Oct 1944-)
. . . . . . . .4-Pamela (Pam) HENRY (12 Feb 1950-)
. . .2-Justína VALACHOVIC (1888-1895)
. . .2-Sebastian VALACHOVIC (1890-1896)
. . .2-Alžbeta VALACHOVICOVA (20 Nov 1892-29 Jul 1973)
. . . +Ferdinand VALACHOVIC (30 May 1891-Jan 1972)
. . . . . 3-Stefan VALACHOVIC (13 Nov 1911-3 Jul 1998)
. . . . . +Rozalia (Roska) KUBOVICOVA (7 Jul 1918-10 Jan 1989)
. . . . . . . .4-Frantisek VALACHOVIC (-)
. . . . . . . .4-Vilka VALACHOVICOVA (-)
. . . . . . . .4-Marka VALACHOVICOVA (-)
. . . . . 3-František VALACHOVIC (25 Jan 1915-)
. . . . . +Aneshka TRUBIROHOVA (-)
. . . . . . . .4-Eva VALACHOVICOVA (-)
. . . . . . . .4-Maria (Marka) VALACHOVIC (30 May 1945-)
. . . . . . . .4-Ladislav (Lacka) VALACHOVIC (14 Apr 1947-)
. . . . . . . .4-Kornelia (Nellie) VALACHOVICOVA (30 Aug 1952-)
. . . . . . . .4-Pavol (Palka) VALACHOVIC (25 Feb 1955-)
. . . . . 3-Genoveva VALACHOVICOVA (20 Jul 1917-12 Jan 2007)
. . . . . +Augustin (Gusta) HESEK (10 Sep 1911-20 Apr 2000)
. . . . . . . .4-Dr. Ferdinand HESEK (1938-)
. . . . . . . .4-Agnesa HESEK (13 Sep 1940-30 Jul 1955)
. . . . . . . .4-Margita HESEKOVA (1943-)
. . . . . . . .4-Maria HESEKOVA (1947-)
. . . . . . . .4-Jozef HESEK (1951-)
. . . . . . . .4-Augustine HESEK (1956-1956)
. . . . . . . .4-Pavol HESEK (1957-)
. . . . . 3-Anton VALACHOVIC (-)
. . . . . +Olga MATHAROVA (-)
. . . . . . . .4-Yarka VALACHOVICOVA (-)
. . .2-Anthony Francis (Tony) VALACHOVIC (20 Jan 1895-12 Sep 1974)
. . . +Louise Sarah HLADIK (17 Sep 1897-14 Nov 1967)
. . . . . 3-Bernadine Mary (Betty) VALACHOVIC (9 Oct 1917-18 Oct 1998)
. . . . . +Mario (Mark) COMINOLE (16 Nov 1919-)
. . . . . . . .4-John COMINOLE (1946-1946)
. . . . . . . .4-Martha Jeanne (Marty) COMINOLE (25 Jul 1947-)
. . . . . . . .4-Mark Guy (Buzz) COMINOLE (17 Sep 1948-)
. . . . . . . .4-Laurie Louise COMINOLE (7 Sep 1950-)
. . . . . 3-Paul Thomas (Pauly) VALACHOVIC (29 Jul 1921-)
. . . . . +Madelyn Kathryn CROMER (7 Feb 1925-5 Jan 2007)
. . . . . . . .4-Thomas Mark (Tommy) VALACHOVIC (1 Feb 1946-)
. . . . . . . .4-Kathryn Ellen (Kate) VALACHOVIC (11 Nov 1947-)
. . . . . . . .4-Paul Edward VALACHOVIC (28 Sep 1955-)
. . . . . 3-Jeanne Louise (Jeanie) VALACHOVIC (21 Oct 1927-)
. . . . . +William Allison CARPENTER (12 Aug 1922-4 Nov 1977)
. . . . . . . .4-Allison Lynn CARPENTER (28 Jun 1952-)
. . . . . . . .4-Paul Anthony CARPENTER (31 Jul 1953-)
. . . . . . . .4-William Fred (Billy) CARPENTER (31 Oct 1955-25 Jun 1970)
. . . . . . . .4-John Francis CARPENTER (13 Jan 1962-)
. . . . . . . .4-Sara Jeanne CARPENTER (15 Mar 1964-)
. . .2-Florence VALACHOVICOVA (1899-1908)

Family Matters

I'm back to blogging. The trip home was uneventful, if long. Arrived in Annapolis and my back developed major problems making it difficult for me to sit at the computer. I'm on the mend now and want to talk about a number of things I had to skim over while we were traveling.


Valachovics from both countries, taken during our trip to Kúty (more about Kúty later): Front row, l-r: Jean Girard, Magdalena Hesekova, Larry Valcovic, Beverly Valcovic, Dee Brown; 2nd row, l-r: Rod Girard, Pavol Hesek, Margita Jakubecova, Adriana Jakubecova, Maria Galkaova, Ferdinand Heske, Dick Brown (This was behind the home of Ferdinand's brother Pavol's home. Pavol was not there. Below is the descendant list for Ferdinand's family, starting with his father Augustin and mother Genoveva Valachovicova:

1-Augustin (Gusta) HESEK (10 Sep 1911-20 Apr 2000)
+Genoveva VALACHOVICOVA (20 Jul 1917-12 Jan 2007)
. . . . . 2-Dr. Ferdinand HESEK (1938-)
. . . . . +Helena MACEJKOVA (1939-)
. . . . . . . . . . 3-Katarina (Katka) HESEKOVA (30 Mar 1965-)
. . . . . . . . . . 3-Anna HESEKOVA (4 Aug 1975-)
. . . . . 2-Agnesa HESEK (13 Sep 1940-30 Jul 1955)
. . . . . 2-Margita HESEKOVA (1943-)
. . . . . +Jan JAKUBEC (-)
. . . . . . . . . . 3-Adriana JAKUBECOVA (-)
. . . . . 2-Maria HESEKOVA (1947-)
. . . . . +Milau GALKA (-)
. . . . . 2-Jozef HESEK (1951-)
. . . . . 2-Augustine HESEK (1956-1956)
. . . . . 2-Pavol HESEK (1957-)
. . . . . +Maria [HESEKOVA] (-)
. . . . . . . . . . 3-Pavol HESEK (abt 1981-)
. . . . . . . . . . 3-Magdalena HESEKOVA (abt 1983-)

Yesterday, I went back over the travel entries and added some pictures. Scroll backwards and take a look. There are a few links also.

Today, I'd like to introduce the American Valachovics to the Slovak Valachovics.
The evening we arrived, we were met in the hotel lobby by cousins Ferdinand Hesek and (Fr) Augustin (Gusta) Drška.


Ferdinand Hesek -Ferdinand is retired from his work which involved calculating air pollution from road traffic in an urban built-up area. He spent time in Los Angles working with colleagues on the problem. He has two daughters. He was most generous with his time, acting our guide during all the time we spent in Bratislava, making certain we met family and saw the sights in the city.

Augustin Drška - Gusta is a priest in a Catholic church in Bratislava. We were to see more of his kindness and delightful sense of humor on the Sunday that we were his guests for Mass and dinner.

We had a wonderful dinner that first night, even though Gusta spoke no English and Ferdsh's was rusty. We talked about family, using a genealogy chart Gusta had made and the pictures we had of Uncle Tony's visit to [then] Czechoslovakia when Gusta was ordained. That was in 1963, so everyone looked much different. We were thrilled, as the trip went on, to meet many of the people in the pictures!

Pavol & Maria Hesek - On Friday, we went to Kúty, the Valachovic home in Slovakia. There, Maria Hesekova and her children (not so little children!) Magda and Pavol (both college students) entertained us royally before we went out to visit the street fair and tour Kúty. Unfortunately, Pavol was working out of the country during our visit, so we didn't meet him.

Maria served a wonderful meal of goulash and a strudel to die for! We all thought we had tried outstanding strudels in the US, but Maria's was glorious and we had a new standard by which to measure.

Magda (whose field of study is IT) was kind enough to scan several old family pictures for me, including the photo at the right of Ferdinand Valachovic (1891-1972), husband of Aunt Elizabeth (in Slovak, Alžbeta, 1892-1973). I'm thrilled to death! Aunt Elizabeth's birth name was also Valachovicova. As soon as I get a grip on the naming convention, I'll add it. I still have one question that I have to ask Ferdsh to answer.

Some Thoughts in Prague

Yesterday we toured the center of Prague. The architecture is lovely, but not as old as I had expected (true of many places) because after the erection of Gothic and Baroque palaces, homes, other buildings, there came a time when the Renaissance style came into fashion, so many of the facades were reconstructed--or when an area was reconstructed, it was done in the Renaissance style. It's lovely, but not quite what I expected.

We took the Metro to the Wenceslas Statue in Wenceslas Square (myth: Wenceslas was never a king--a prince or a duke, but never a "Good King . . "). The Metro was easy--much like the Washington Metro and about the same age--built in the 1960s. Stations are clearly marked.

Another thought: I've found a possible career correcting English translations in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Next to our hotel, we have a Chinese restaurant with a sign that says Chinsky Pull Up. We're assuming that means carry-out, but haven't checked it out. Menus offer Chicken Gordon Blue. We meet these translations many times each day. I'd love to move through central Europe with a red pencil. Too much teacher in me? It's great fun to try to figure out what we'll be getting when we order.

Must cut this short. This is probably my last posting from Europe. We leave early tomorrow and my priorities are (in this order) a long shower with my own shower head (who thought this would become so important) and then to bed. After that, I'll look at pics and organize my thoughts to write more.

The Trip to Prague

Still no pictures. That won't happen until we get home. I guess that business people have no use for a graphics program and don't want to email photos home, so these computers in business centers have no graphics programs or slots for photo disks.

After we left Bratislava, we drove through the countryside in the Czech Republic, stopping at Telč (Telch) (pic above) and Čresky Bodejovice (Chesky Boo-da-veech). Both are lovely old towns. In Telč, the gothic chateau was destroyed and the lord of the manor sent for builders and craftsmen to rebuild it in the Renaissance style. When they finished, he said, "Just go ahead and finish the town in the same style," so all of the buildings have Renaissance facades on them. If you look carefully behind the roof line, you can see building backs that don't match. It looks like a Hollywood set. The fronts are decorated beautifully, many trompe-l'oeil works protraying old stone work. This restoration work was done centuries ago.

While staying in Čresky Bodejovice, we took a day-trip to Čresky Krumlov, a larger town surrounding a lovely castle. Along the same lines, when the castle was rebuilt after the Renaissance, they used the same technique, creating a Renaissance look for a Gothic castle. In the gorgeous chapel, the marble is applied with paint, a technique which cost them more than the original mable. I don't know if we'd have known the difference if we had not been told. They even painted cracks in the marble! On to Prague today.

We left Čresky Bodejovice this morning and drove to Prague. It was a nice drive, but thank heavens for our GPS! Across country is fine, but city driving is tough when you have to puzzle over the road signs. At home, we never give a thought to those international symbols on signs (like the pic of the airplane before the airport or the men and women on restrooms), but we've really appreciated them here! We look for them!

Houses in Slovakia and in the Czech Republic are almost always built using a technique like stucco. I've been interested in the process and taken a good number of pics of buildings in various stages of construction. There must be a good source of clay in the area because the under layer is made of a ceramic-sort of 3-D tile. Then the stucco layer is applied and a color layer on top. Mostly pleasant shades of yellow, but a lot of rose shades also. Wood seems to be used for decorative purposes only.

Anyway, we got to the hotel, and they had reservations for Dick and Dee, but not for the rest of us, so we went to lunch while the hotel got organized. Lunch at an Italian pizza place--much better than the Czech pizza place a few nights ago. Apparently no Czech restuarants open today. Who knows why. (These are really our only two lapses--we've eaten Czech and Slovak most of the time.) Anyway, we went back to the hotel and our little clerk (right) gave us all room keys and apologized for the problem. Larry and I went up to our room and found . . . . . . shoes, pajamas and fruit there. Somebody else's room. We went back to the desk and found no room at the inn. The upshot of the whole thing was that for tonight we're staying at another hotel and will go back to the first for the next three days. She threw in two small bottles of champagne. The substitute hotel is lovely. The clerk saved the day by finding us a room at the inn for the next few days!

Tonight we go to dinner and a folklore festival. We've been looking forward to this!

When I really have time, I'll tell about our night in the old winery with the gypsies.

Many New Relatives and a Visit to Kuty

This has been a wonderful week in Bratislava! The city is beautiful, the weather has been wonderful—well, there was that day at Hrad (Castle) Devin when it rained until we left—and the company has been outstanding! I will summarize the last few days here and add some pictures, but will have to wait until we get home to go into more detail.

There is a lot of construction and restoration going on in the city. They say that last year the population grew 10 per cent and the construction is trying to keep up with the growth. They have done a wonderful job in the Old Town of keeping the look and feel of antiquity, but if you get a peek behind an old door in an ancient building, you may see a very modern entry way leading into a bank.


Last Thursday, Ferdinand (Ferdish, pronounced Ferdish) and Beata took us to a castle which dated back to the 11th century (maybe earlier—I’m in memory mode). It stood through the centuries with various families and nobles occupying it. At some point in the nineteenth century, it became just an old castle—no modern touches, so the owners left it standing and built a “modern” castle elsewhere. At the time of World War II, the Germans occupied the empty castle, using it to store munitions and whatever. When they left, they exploded the castle. The City of Bratislava has spent the last fifty years restoring it, with most of the restoration done in the last ten years. What a job!

On Friday, we spent the day with Beata’s family who welcomed us like family. We spent a wonderful day eating and drinking and getting to know each other. It turned out that her mother had known Ferdish when he was a child! The connections grow and grow! Ferdish and Beata must have been exhausted keeping up with the language differences. Translations were going in every direction, including, “no, I think what he meant was . . . . So, English to Slovak, Slovak to English, English to English and Slovak to Slovak.

On Saturday, Ferdish took us to Kuty, the home of the Valachovic (VEL a ko vish) grandparents. We had a meal at cousin Paul’s home (Ferdish’s brother) which was wonderful and more than we could have wished. I’ll include more about Kuty in a later entry.

On Sunday, cousin (Father) Augustin Drska, also known as Gusta, invited us to a mass in his Slovak Catholic church. Even for us non-Catholics, the mass was familiar, though spoken in Slovak.

After the Mass, Gusta served dinner. This started, as meals have each time, with Slivovitz, then wine, offers of whiskey, and on and on. The roast goose was wonderful (served in pieces—not like a Thanksgiving turkey). It was accompanied by cabbage and dumplings, and followed by every kind of dessert you can imagine. Dee had mentioned several desserts her grandmother used to make, and Gusta offered some of each. Our standard for strudel has reached a new high after eating in Slovakia! Gust had invited several members of his church who spoke English, so the interpretation duties were shared.

After dinner, cousin Kornelia (Nellie) and her husband Martin came by. Martin speaks excellent English, so the talk got louder and more enthusiastic. More food, more drink, and then we left to visit Ferdish’s daughter Katerina and her family. Again, a warm welcome and wonderful food and drink. Since we were without a car, Nellie and Martin loaded some of us in their car, so the group was growing. Lenka, Ferdish’s granddaughter and daughter of Katerina and Marion just graduated from law school and was happily enjoying her leisure.

Today was a “free” day. We visited Old Town again, had lunch, and this evening we have been invited for dinner at a nearby winery by Nellie’s sister Marta and her family. Ferdish is glad that it is within walking distance of the hotel, so that he may join the toasting and drinking. Here in Slovakia, you do NOT drive after drinking. Restaurants all serve non-alcoholic beer for drivers.

More the next time I get a chance. As you see, I have access to photos now, so I’ve included them here and will add some to the last entry. Whoops! no pictures. The photos from my camera are too large to upload, and there is no graphics program. Maybe later . . .