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 . . .