Meeting The Relatives
Trip Start
Apr 18, 2010
1
33
47
Trip End
Jul 07, 2010
Where I stayed
Relative's House
Piestany, Trnava, Slovakia
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Anna and her family are really great! They let me stay in their brand new house which is still under construction but almost finished, and they even gave me a car to drive! It started raining as soon as I arrived and it didn't stop for 5 DAYS! This is a pretty small town and there's not much to do when it's nice out, and when it rains there's really nothing to do. There's no English TV here or home internet access so I've been driving in the rain to a cafe with free WiFi in the center of town. That's the reason I've been a bit behind on my blog updates.
Since the fall of Communism the entire country has undergone a bit of a renaissance. Money has been pouring in from all over the world and Slovakia is slowly transforming into a modern society. They just opened up a new mall, bowling alley, and yes even a sushi bar. Yet with all their new modern conveniences I still couldn't find a coin laundry facility anywhere in town. And while just about everybody has clothes washers, nobody has a dryer! So I was forced to hang my clothes out to dry in the rain and cover them with boxes. Crazy!
My Father is well known here, and Slovakian people are very hospitable, so ever since I arrived I've been treated kinda like a celebrity. Every relative, neighbor, and friend of my father invited me over for dinner. So, basically all I've been doing is eating, and eating, and eating! And of course drinking!
One thing's for sure, Slovakian people know how to cook. I've been sampling foods from all across Europe for over a month now and I have to say that Slovakian food ranks among the best. And I'm not just saying that because I'm Slovakian. While the French have mastered the technical aspects of cooking like presentation with their fancy sauces and exotic flower decorations, and the Italians really know how to cook everything related to pasta, the people of Central Europe (Austria, Czech, Slovakia, and Hungary) have concentrated on diversity. It's not just dumplings and sauerkraut. Made fresh and completely from scratch everyday, every meal is a real culinary treat. Pork, Chicken, Goose, Fish, Duck, Deer, Rabbit, Lamb, Veggies. You name it, they make it, and I've been eating it. EXCEPT BEEF! Believe it or not these people just don't eat it! I was going to cook my relatives a good old fashioned American style meal with steak and potatos so I went to the grocery store to pick up some steaks, but they didn't even have any! I asked the lady in the meat department and she looked shocked that I asked for it. Then she went in the back and found one piece of what looked like a good tri-tip so I bought it, but after cooking it turned out to be so tough we couldn't eat it. Apparently the only good beef is imported from Brazil and is extremely expensive so nobody makes it.
And EVERYBODY has a vegetable garden at their house so every meal is served with fresh seasonal vegetables straight out of the ground. All this cooking and farming is a lot of work, but they still manage to do it, and also work a real job, and take care of children and their homes. It's really unbelievable!
Ok, gotta go, it's dinner time, then House in Slovakian is on……..
Comments
So tell me Johnny Cabo.. Done any wife shopping yet? You had better "STEP IT UP!"