After arriving home to visiting relatives, I am now finding time for our last post. The remainder of the group departed Bardejov on Saturday morning for Vienna. We decided to be somewhat adventurous and take the southern route which appeared to have more freeway. An added benefit was that it took us through Hungary and around Budapest. While the scenery was not as spectacular as that of Slovakia (it is basically flat with some rolling hills) the route provided us with some unexpected twists...namely they do not use the Euro which is the only money we all had. So we found ourselves using our credit cards for lunch! We couldn't figure out what the currency was (it is forints).

We all arrived safely in Vienna but very tired. The drivers went to the airport that evening to return the rental cars. While waiting for the shuttle to take us back to our hotel, we enjoyed an Austrian beer in a local pub at the airport. We did not have time to finish before we were hustled into the shuttle so we all enjoyed finishing our pivo on the shuttle...obviously something you can't do here in America!

When we arrived back at the hotel, everyone was tired from the drive and did not want to go out for dinner so we opted for pizza to be delivered. Note to one's self...order cheese on your pizza in Austria as it does not normally come with cheese! It still was good as were the beers. Everyone turned in early as our flight left at 9:30 am and we needed to leave for the aiport at 7:00.

We had one last breakfast at the hotel, headed for the airport and got on our respective planes. The flight back was non-eventful thank goodness. Everyone arrived home safely. Until the next trip....oh...and did I mention how nice it is to be using an American keyboard again!!!

Sad day...our last day here in Slovakia. We bid the Stenachs farewell this morning as they departed a day early for Vienna and the return trip to Minneapolis.

We all headed our separate ways to finish up last minute trips to the villages ańd shopping. Viktor Krushko came from Presov to help us translate. Vladyka met with his relative in Visny Mirosov one last time and spent a while in the cemetery there hoping to find some relatives-

We then hooked up with Skip and Emily and headed to Stebnik where I photographed relatives headstones and reacquainted with my 84 year old cousin, Anna Pidany. We then headed to Chmelova to pick up Milka Denis who accompanied us to Regatovka to see if we could find some of Emilys Leba relatives. While none are living there anymore, we did find a statue with their name on it and we suspect that it attested to the fact that they were a founder of the church there.

We happened to run into Joe Jurista while we were there and he invited us in for a shot of his homemade Medovica...honey brandy. We all laughed at his tribute to the Beatles...a take off of the statue in Bardejov...only his was made with fish heads.

We shared our last dinner at the Hotel Bardejov and had wonderful food there. We all then met in the square at our usual hangout for one last drink on the town.

Tomorrow we take off across the country for Vienna before departing back for the states. As I had no internet connection there, this will most likely be the last post. I hope to post some photos once I return to the states.

Dovidenia Slovakia

Another full day....headed off to Presov in the morning for a visit to the seminary. We had a wonderful tour with Fr. Emil and Iveta. Unbenknownst to us they had prepared a luncheon for us...only to be followed by lunch at Victorias. We then went our separate ways...some of us stayed in the Centrum for shopping and others went to tour the Rusyn Museum and Orthodox Cathedral.

While having lunch at Victorias we were entertained by a famous actor/opera singer. A couple of us bought his CD and we listened to it on the wy home only to decide that it needed to go into the white elephant pile!!!

We met in the square for drinks and a light dinner and some of us ended up at the Hotel Artin for drinks afterwards.

The Stenachs depart tomorrow while the rest of us will do last minute shopping and visits to the villages. How quickly the time has flown!!! Saturday we head to Vienna for our flight out on Sunday.

What day is it? Oh yes...Wednesday...funny how when you are on vacation the days all seem to melt into one another.

I think I neglected to mention that yesterday we started the day with a visit to the Icon Museum in Bardejov. They have many icons from the past several centuries that have been taken out of churches and displayed very tastefully. They also have models of several of the wooden churches.

We left this morning for our visit to Kosice. We arrived in time for lunch at an outdoor cafe. Nothing special. Except for when Angie ordered a cheeseburger...and that is exactly what she got...cheese in a bun!!! Seems that the cheeseburgers over here are just a little different than the ones back home. They were also served on a pita and not the traditional hamburger bun. Beware of false translations!!! While we were eating one of the Romas in the area crept up behind Angie and scared her before Mike chased him away.

Several of us toured the church of St. Elizabeth but it was a disappointment after seeing the church in Levoca yesterday. The singing fountains were beautiful but there was no music. We spent the afternoon shopping...the guys loved it...yeah right. Polly was able to meet up with her Slovak teacher from the University of Pittsburgh and she gave us an overview of the city.

We had dinner at the El Restaurant in Bardejov Square...one owned by one of Jack Leschisins relatives.

Everyone headed back to their hotels, pensions, internet cafe for an early evening. Tomorrow we visit Presov for our last formal day of touring.

Forgot to mention yesterday that our trip to the villages was delayed a bit in the morning. It seems that Fr. Jan Lakata arranged for the local television station to come and interview Archbishop JOB for TV!

We left early this morning to head to Levoca and Spis Castle. We took the scenic route on the way there through gorgeous mountain roads complete with hairpin turns. Though the weather was a little overcast, we still viewed some magnificent scenery. I might add that it took a little longer than anticipated to get there as those of you who have been here know...roads are not well marked in Slovakia. They are not used to many foreign tourists so you really need to know where you are going! A side benefit however was the gorgeous scenery and some lovely entertainment. By that I mean....most villages have speakers mounted on top of poles. They date back to the days of communism when they were, and still are, used for announcements. Today however, we drove through the village of Dubovica and the speakers were blaring wonderful Slovak folk music around the noon hour. We all rolled down our windows and some of us were tempted to get out of our car and dance!!!

We arrived in Levoca where we met Jan Dzugan, Todd and Pollys exchange student who took us on a tour of St. Jacobs Cathedral with its exquisite baroque carved wooden altar, the tallest in Europe. After our tour we met Jans parents for lunch at the Three Apostles Restaurant.

After our lunch we waited outside to say our goodbyes to Jan and his family. Mike had to use the restroom before we left and as he was doing his thing at the urinal he looked over and saw a nun in a blue habit washing her hands at the sink!!! Only in Slovakia!!!

We then drove to Spissky Hrad, the largest castle in Europe. It was an imposing sight. Some of us ventured up to the top and others chose to stay at the base. Either way we had an impressive view of the area.

For Jim Brinda...I have found out why the pronunciation for the village of Becherov...and others...is different. Here is how it was explained to me. In Slovak the first syllable always has the most emphasis where in Rusyn the emphasis is usually on the second syllable. So I have been calling it the Slovak way...and you have been calling it the Rusyn way.

Tonite we were treated to a slide show presentation by Vlado, our host. He has followed us around with his new camera since we arrived and we saw the results this evening. He even gave each one of us a CD with all the photos on it!

We said goodbye to Karen Varian this evening as she headed off to Presov to meet her bus to Ukraine tomorrow.

We head for a day of sightseeing and shopping tomorrow in Kosice. Hopefully there will be no more nuns in male restrooms there!!!

Monday was our long awaited day in our villages. After rising early, we all departed for various parts of the area. Vladyka JOB went to his village of Vizny Mirosov where he met with a relative who ironically is also an iconographer. He said they knew of a relative in the US that was a bishop but did not know where. The priest and his father, the retired priest, of the Orthodox church there visited with us and then showed us the church and cemeteries. While a few hours in the morning was not enough time we will return again on Friday to visit yet another cemetery.

Off we then went to the villages of Becherov, Chmelova and Stebnik. In Becherov we deliveree a package to the Slosarcik family and were treated to Sheeshki...fried doughnuts...something that my brother and I had not had for over 30 years. Our Baba used to make them and for us it was a huge treat to have them again. She shared the recipe with us. We also peeked in at the Greek Catholic Church which was having a service while we were there.

In Chmelova, we walked in the old cemetery although the church was not open. In Stebnik again, the church was holding a service while we were there. We found my grandmothers land and then we headed off to the Karczma for a beer.

The evening was spent in the Bardjove Square as we sat outside on a beautiful summer evening drinking beer and sampling different kinds of fruit brandy, plum, pear, raspberry and cherry. We started singing and a passerby evidently liked it as he bought a round of Hrushka for all of us.

The singing didnt stop there. We headed back for the pension and continued on in the kitchen singing Rusyn songs until the wee hours of the morning.

Today we are all dragging a little but happy nonetheless. We head off to Levoca shortly. Until then...

Sunday morning we attended St. Seraphim for Liturgy. It is just a short three block walk from our pension and it was wonderful not to have to drive to church! We were given front pew seats and listened to the beautiful Carpatho-Rusyn chant typical of this area. Fr. Jan Lakata presented Archbishop JOB with some gifts and spoke fondly of Jim Brinda and his friendship with the parish and efforts to help support them. We all had tears in our eyes. And like typical Slovak hospitality, they invited us to a wonderful luncheon in the church basement.

We then drove to the village of Tichy Potok where Mayor Lubica Dzuganova welcomed us and ushered us in to the Cultural Center for a meal of Paschal foods. We then toured their gift shop which sells rugs, lace and other items. We also visited the Greek Catholic church there followed by yet another meal of holubki and potatoes. We have all vowed to go on diets once we return home!!!

But by far the highlight of the evening was the program presented by their folk group which consisted of a reenactment of a Rusyn weddding. Afterwards we were invited to dance with them.

The trip home in the dark was uneventful sans a couple of wrong turns along the way. Does anyone know of someone in the DOT who can make these Slovaks some road signs???

We had been given many leftovers from the past two days so an impromtu party was held at the pension. Tomorrow is a free day so many of us will be visiting our villages. Until then...