A week in Hobbitovo

Last week I was in Slovakia on holidays. Yeah, Slovakia sounds quite a strange place for a Spaniard spending his holidays; I am sure that in some places I visited I was the only Spaniard in an area of 50 kilometres. The other way round, when a Slovak wants to refer to something unreachable and extremely bizarre, it uses the expression "Spanish village". So, we can say that the feeling is, in this case, mutual.The first thing that surprised me was the legacy of communism in the design of towns, cities and villages. Many parts of Slovakia are very hilly and covered by forests, with beautiful landscapes (like those in Canada or in Alaska). However, the communist regime had the need to plant a factory in every city in Slovakia. Under the same logic, all factories in Slovakia, regardless of what they produced, needed to have a huge chimney, if possible in front of a peak or a hill or a natural monument (probably with the aim of ruining future pictures of Western tourists). Needless to say, there is no factory if there are no workers, so it also built horrible panel houses, even in the smallest villages, with no architectural sensitivity at all. Actually, all the panel houses have the same design, which turned out to be quite successful and to destroy the carreer expectations of many architects in those years.

In Slovakia, prices in restaurants are extremely cheap. For five euros it is possible to have a very good dinner or lunch. Apparently, Slovaks are a little bit like hobbits, and they prefer to eat at home. Therefore, there are few customers and restaurants must compete in both prices (beyond differences in standards of living towards Western European countries) and quantities. I was struck in my first visit to Bratislava, last November, by this fact and it seems to have an explanation...

As I was driving a lot in this week through the Slovak roads, I have become familiar with the Slovak way of driving, which, being polite, I would qualify as stupid and irresponsible. It is normal that the European Union is constantly warning Slovakia for its high number of traffic accidents. Slovaks seem to have a genetic deffect which provokes that they do not see the continous line in a road, the one forbidding overtaking other cars. They also consider speed limits like mere advices which can (and must) be easily ignored.
However, I do not want this post to give the impression that I do not like Slovaks (the picture on the post are just giving the opposite view of what I have been writing so far). On the contrary, they were extremely kind and friendly at all times (despite the fact that I was unable to talk with them in their language). In some rural areas, although quite poor, they do not lose their kindness and one always feel safe and at home. The country, although a big unknown, is beautiful and a good alternative for holidays.

All I can say is: Slovaks, I will be back...