Slovakia Blog #2

“Every major international sporting event has its own mascot, which is an integral part of any such event. In Slovakia, we too, will have a mascot. It will be a symbol of the Tatras. This year is will be the chamois. A beautiful, peaceful, and fearless mountain animal that symbolizes our Slovak mountains, as it does the Slovak mentality. His eyes are mischievous, his horns are pointy, and his body muscular. His name is Uggi. It will be he who accompanies your every step in the Tatras and who will be your guardian angel.” (From Universiade Guidebook of the Tatras)

We visited an awesome trinkets store in Štrbské Pleso a few days ago where I found my very own chamois (above). The owner spoke English and spent over an hour showing us each of the items in her store, asking us about our backgrounds, and telling us about the region. All of the items in her store were handmade locally. She was incredibly smart and answered our questions of whether sustainability was important to her by saying that each of us is only here once, so it is important to think of future generations and what they need. As we left, she said that it is not about winning the race. One wins by being here and loving everything that is happening around you.

Catherine’s mom was kind enough to drive some of us to a nearby city, Levoca, which includes ruins of a walled city. On the way, we explored a church (right) that was built in 1473. From the church courtyard, we could look in the distance and barely make out the Tatras (our home this week).

Here is Kofola, a cola that was produced during the country’s communist era. It tastes slightly more gingery and fresher than Coca-Cola.

Levoca’s walled city overgrew its boundaries. The image below (left) is the ancient wall (13^th and 14^th centuries but renewed in the 16^th and 17^th centuries) and newer homes with a highway. We visited two museums. One houses the works of Master Pavol who is the artist of the highest gothic altar in the world (St. James Church in Levoca), which we also visited. No pictures were allowed in the church, but here is the outside (right):

In the town hall, we watched a short video about Levoca including its history with the Black Plague. Here is the Levoca White Lady (right). “In a period of class uprisings when Levoca was besieged by the royal army, Julia fell in love with the captain of the royal army and so she betrayed the town and let by stealth the royal soldiers in, then was executed.” Levoca Museum Brochure

There were many religious paintings and carvings (very much like the Italian museums we visited last year). Britta thought this torture bench was awesome and we had to stop her from climbing into it for a picture…

It was a wonderful way to spend the day and we thank Catherine’s mom so much for providing the opportunity to see some more of Slovakia.There was a lot of graffiti on the old buildings including this guy...

Closer to home, a few days ago, we visited tents set up along the road. They were serving free cheese samples, chocolate mousse, sour milk, etc. The volunteers then offered us some peppermint tea and we traded pins for WUG coins. Next, we tried some TatraTea (below), a local hard alcohol with a tea base. The original is 52% alcohol and very strong. There are other more pleasing flavors like coconut and citrus.

The locals have been incredibly kind. Today I met with a Slovakian man who owns a school in Poprad and also lives in New York City. He assisted Ben and I with our snow sampling project and trying to determine the best methods for getting our samples back to the states. He is unbelievably kind and helpful, serving me peppermint tea while we phoned everyone he knew for assistance. Then there is Tina, our attaché, who is at our sides every time we need her. She has accompanied us to Poprad and diligently answered our questions about Slovakian culture and much more. There are so many spectators here as well. Hundreds of school children cheering us around the course as well as a drummer who beats as you make it up the hill climb on the last climb of the course. The hotel staff is wonderful and everyone seems to be excited that the World University Games is here in Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia.Tonight a traditional band played music and sang in the hotel lobby. Various intoxicated coaches joined in with the dancing.