Spectacular Slovakia

How does a fun-loving American and her family celebrate Halloween in Slovakia? With a strobe light dance party, indoor trick-or-treating and some pumpkin carving of course! Experience a multicultural Halloween by proxy on this week’s episode of Spectacular Slovakia.

Photo: TASR

Presenter: Anna Fay

Anna and Peter will travel back in time, to the year of 1907, this week. Back then, people in the settlement of Černová, nowadays a borough of Ružomberok, demanded their native, Andrej Hlinka, consecrate their new church. Little did they know bloodshed would occur instead. Listen to the latest episode about the Černová Tragedy to find out more.

Photo: TASR

Sources: Historická Revue (history magazine), Tragédia v Černovej a slovenská spoločnosť - The Černová Tragedy and Slovak Society (book by R. Holec, 1997), Černová 1907 (book by R. Letz, 2017)

Mountaineer Ľubomír Mäkký of the hiking.sk website joins Peter in this week’s Spectacular Slovakia episode to explain why it is worth walking up to mountain huts in the High Tatras. Learn more about some cosy mountain huts and must-do (and manageable)hikes in the mountains on this week's episode.

Photo: Chata pri Zelenom plese/Hut by the Green Lake (TASR)

Anna and Peter are inviting you to their listening party on this week’s Spectacular Slovakia. They will reveal just how many Slovak folk songs there are, but most importantly, they will play a few folk songs with whimsical lyrics. Can you help them fix a furnace that fell apart?

A list of folk groups featured in the podcast by YouTube: Heľpan, Hradišťanka, Hromnica, Ištvánci, and Darinka & Milan Stingray.

Photo: TASR

Peter and Anna talk about Martin Benka, a Slovak painter, in this week's Spectacular Slovakia. Join them on their quest to learn more about his life, paintings, and why he is important to the country's history. They will also tell you where to go to see his artwork and why he loved Amsterdam.

This week, Spectacular Slovakia spotlights the art of storytelling, a verbal craft typical for Slovak regions like the Hont Region. You can listen to two stories popular in the area: ‘The Bull on the Tower‘ and ‘How a Gypsy Prayed’. Aside from storytelling, you will also learn where the Hont Region, also called Poiplie, lies and what it has to offer.

Presenters: Anna Fay, Peter Dlhopolec

Cardiffian Mike Valek, based in the Slovak town of Piešťany, compares and contrasts Slovakia and Wales on this episode of Spectacular Slovakia. He even mentions Owain Glyndŵr! Wait, who?

Photo: Pixabay

Snippets: Gwyneth Angharad (YouTube), Dinogad's Smock (YouTube)

Presenter: Peter Dlhopolec

American Hannah Falchuk taught English at a grammar school in Revúca, one of the Gemer Region centres. Listen to the latest episode to find out where to head out for a trip in the region and why to fall in love with this corner of Slovakia, despite some drawbacks.

Photo: Slavošovce Tunnel by TASR

Presenter: Peter Dlhopolec

Expat Talley Sjoberg Varney has lived in five different countries and travelled quite a lot as a child with her parents, too. Working as a school counsellor in Slovakia, T. S. Varney talks about mental health and how to cope with culture shock. Listen to “shoulds” and “should nots” when it comes to lifting your spirits.

Presenter: Anna Fay

Picture: Unsplash

This week, we’ll dive into the history of Slovakia as we discuss the 1944 Slovak National Uprising (SNP). He might not be Slovak, but James Thomson is a history devotee and knows enough to introduce us to this period of Slovak history. We’ll also tell you where to visit to discover more about the uprising.

Presenter: Peter Dlhopolec

Photo: TASR