President Wilson and Wilsonova Street
Posted by Margarete on Aug 03
It all started with my curiosity over a street name I saw in Nitra: Wilsonova ulica.
In the Slovak language ova is one of the suffixes added to the end of a street name. This ending is added because the word “street” is a noun and the name is the adjective form describing the street. For example, Bernolákova ulica is Bernolák Street, and in this case named after Anton Bernolák, first codifier of the Slovak language. Other examples are Einsteinova or Kopernikova streets.
What are the best castles to visit in Slovakia? Which ones are must see? Are you going to Slovakia soon and want to know what amazing castles should you see along your trip? Or have you recently returned from Slovakia and have something to recommend? What about you native Slovaks out there? Is there a fascinating castle or ruin somewhere hidden in the countryside that most people don’t know about?
Back in April I had the unique opportunity to speak at the Slovak Embassy in Washington DC. I was invited by the 
Many people—including a lot of Americans—don’t know that Czechoslovakia has ceased to exist. Since most adults learn their basic geography in elementary school and have had little reason to revisit geography lessons after that, for my fellow Americans I would say most have a vague idea that there is a country called Czechoslovakia but don’t know how it relates to the Czech and Slovak Republics.
Bratislava castle is in the midst of a reconstruction project and according to an 
There is a very interesting exhibit on display at the Slovak National Gallery called “How Did We Live?”. The exhibit has a collection of photographs from Slovakia in the 20th century and addresses the question of how Slovaks lived in the past 100 years. In addition to photographs and postcards there are more than 2000 items exhibited to help the visitor feel the “soul of the times”. The goal of the presentation is to take the visitor through a fascinating historical journey through Slovakia in the 20th century.
Almost everyone knows that if you say the word “football” in Europe, people will think you are referring to soccer. There are a lot of passionate soccer fans in Europe, and Slovakia too, though I would say ice hockey is the sport that lies closest to people’s hearts in Slovakia. Even though American football is popular in the US, it’s not that popular abroad. Still, if you’re a fan of American football like I am, look for it while you are abroad and you will likely find it being played somewhere.
These last few years there’s been a lot of chatter about the film Bathory, the story of 
Recently I read an article in the 
Sometimes you have to be a kid to find cartoons and animation amusing. And sometimes, creators have the ability to make something that entertains both children and adults. To me this is a rare talent.
Slavín is the name of a memorial in Bratislava, located on a hill close to the city center. It was opened in 1960 and is a memorial and cemetery of the Soviet soldiers that died while fighting to liberate the city from the Axis units, mainly made up of Germans, in April 1945.
I’ve always loved decorated Easter eggs. Usually at home in California my mom would buy one of those egg coloring kits where you dropped tablets into a glass of vinegar, or something like that, and once we colored the eggs a solid color, we’d put stickers on them or draw a design with crayons. That’s great fun for kids. But later on I learned that painting and decorating eggs could be an art form.
Because people are often curious about what is necessary for teaching in “Eastern Europe”, I thought I’d share my knowledge and own experience with teaching in Slovakia.
Vianočka is a common yeast bread in Slovakia. It is a braided bread, slightly sweet, and eaten often at breakfast time. Vianočka is available in just about any grocery store in Slovakia. It is so common in fact, that I’ve never seen or heard of any Slovak baking it at home. Why would you bake a basic bread if you could just pick up a loaf at your local market?
If you spend time with Slovaks, sooner or later you will gain first-hand experience with tvrdý alkohol – hard alcohol. Typically, it could be connected with a toast on a special occasion, or some type of home-made schnapps could be on hand as a drink of choice of people you are spending time with.
As an English teacher in Slovakia at the university level, I sometimes had the opportunity to work with students on their thesis work or projects. By chance I worked in the Department of Architecture at the Technical University in Bratislava. Though usually my input to students never went beyond the assistance of academic writing, I appreciated that I was none the less exposed to a range of works regarding architecture.
Euro currency adoption in Slovakia is slated for January 2009. The currency adoption is by no means guaranteed and there is still the possibility of a postponement, but as the date approaches and benchmarks continue to be met along the way, it looks as if in one year’s time Slovaks will have a new currency in their pockets.
