The Foreigner's Guide to Slovakia

We’re back home in California after 7 weeks in Slovakia. We had a wonderful time, but of course it’s always nice to come back home.

We didn’t do much, really. Mostly it was visiting relatives (most of my husband’s immediate family of parents, grandparents, and aunt and uncle live within a few blocks next to each other), chatting, and eating a lot. I gained a few pounds but it was worth those second servings of duck with knedle and kapusta. Not to mention the countless slices of nut-roll koláč. I have no regrets.

I didn’t bring too many things home this time. I brought more medovniky to give as gifts. I hadn’t seen red ones before, like this one pictured. They are beautiful. And being that they are light weight and durable, I bought several with none cracking or getting destroyed along the journey.

The one thing I did want to find was a mug with my name on it. Since I first came to Slovakia back in 1989 and all through the subsequent years, I’d seen mugs in this older style with the name and a flower, in stores where you find housewares. I’d always look, hoping to find my name but never had. This last time when I was in the shop and saw the mugs, I was hoping to find even one name of someone I at least knew, to no avail. There was only a few duplicate mugs of “Jaroslav”. So I asked the shop assistant how to go about ordering some and ended up with ordering five mugs of relatives names, including my own. They came out beautifully and all five costed me 13 euros total. What a deal. I’m very pleased with these.

We did bring the palenka. The bottle was simply too heavy so it was poured into smaller bottles for easier transport.

And of course, I couldn’t have left without buying chocolate. Actually, my husband is responsible for this stash. Only a portion is pictured. It should last us at least half a year or more if we are careful.

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