The campsite reception remained closed this morning but the gate barriers were left open due to the occupants of the cabins coming and going. I had a pleasant overnight spot on grass overlooking the lake ,with electricity ,and I even found a basic toilet open up by the cabins on the hill, although the main campsite ones were shut up. So I had no option but to declare this site a freeby and leave without paying anybody.
Last night, a rather-the-worse-for-wear, but very friendly, Slovakian man ,who was staying with his family in one of the cabins 30 yards away, staggered up and introduced himself holding a nearly empty bottle of Jagermeister and two shot glasses. After knocking back a glass he had pored out for me, I was invited over to his cabin veranda to meet his family, wife and 3 children. I was plied with plenty of beer ,more Jagermeister, and even fed a little. They hardly spoke any English but we had a good chat. I was very interested in their views. For example, they had firmly declared sympathy with the Russian side in the Ukraine conflict, partly because of refugees who had arrived in Slovakia. They expressed nothing but contempt for USA foreign policy, and were only slightly less scathing about the EU. Their arguments sounded very familiar, though-they felt that their country paid too much in,and didn’t get enough out,and felt it was lining the pockets of the bureaucrats.Also the cost of housing was becoming unaffordable ,and the only way to get ahead financially was to go and work abroad.They were very xenophobic and probably racist,stating they didn’t like Moslems,and were a white nation,although when I asked they said there were very few Moslems in Slovakia anyway.They also didn’t seem to think much of Hungarians.I was dismayed but not wholly surprised to hear that the only domestic image they had of British people was TV footage of drunks causing problems in Bratislava.I fear ,however,that Bratislava can’t be the worst place in Europe for that sort of thing by a long way.
I found all this very interesting as I thought it was the older generation who tended to hanker after the communist era, not young couples with families.Their suggested solution was for Slovakia to leave the EU and go it alone,which I suspect is not realistic.
When Patrick Leigh-Fermor walked through southern Czechoslovakia in 1934,talking to locals he realised the ethnic tensions between Czechs, Slovakians and Hungarians had been increased by the treaty of Trianon ,which broke up the Austro-Hungarian empire after WWI. Borders were extensively re-aligned and significant minorities found themselves in the "wrong" countries. Talking to a Hungarian he met on the road he was told that his people were unhappy ,"..all the local inhabitants, though Hungarians, are compulsory Czech citizens now. The children have to learn Czechoslovakian: the authorities hope to turn them into fervent Czechoslovaks in a couple of generations. The Hungarians hate the Czechs, and the Romanians too, and on the same grounds-they feel less strongly about the Serbs, for some reason-and they mean to get back their lost territory..."
A little further down the same road in fell in talking with a Slovak schoolteacher:- " it is true that the local villages are Hungarian,but further north they are pure Slovak as far as the Polish border.....they had been under the Hungarians for a thousand years and always treated as in inferior race.....Slovak children used to be taken away from their parents and brought up as Hungarians.....the schoolteacher didn't seem to like the Czechs much either,though this involved a different kind of resentment..."
Last night, a rather-the-worse-for-wear, but very friendly, Slovakian man ,who was staying with his family in one of the cabins 30 yards away, staggered up and introduced himself holding a nearly empty bottle of Jagermeister and two shot glasses. After knocking back a glass he had pored out for me, I was invited over to his cabin veranda to meet his family, wife and 3 children. I was plied with plenty of beer ,more Jagermeister, and even fed a little. They hardly spoke any English but we had a good chat. I was very interested in their views. For example, they had firmly declared sympathy with the Russian side in the Ukraine conflict, partly because of refugees who had arrived in Slovakia. They expressed nothing but contempt for USA foreign policy, and were only slightly less scathing about the EU. Their arguments sounded very familiar, though-they felt that their country paid too much in,and didn’t get enough out,and felt it was lining the pockets of the bureaucrats.Also the cost of housing was becoming unaffordable ,and the only way to get ahead financially was to go and work abroad.They were very xenophobic and probably racist,stating they didn’t like Moslems,and were a white nation,although when I asked they said there were very few Moslems in Slovakia anyway.They also didn’t seem to think much of Hungarians.I was dismayed but not wholly surprised to hear that the only domestic image they had of British people was TV footage of drunks causing problems in Bratislava.I fear ,however,that Bratislava can’t be the worst place in Europe for that sort of thing by a long way.
I found all this very interesting as I thought it was the older generation who tended to hanker after the communist era, not young couples with families.Their suggested solution was for Slovakia to leave the EU and go it alone,which I suspect is not realistic.
When Patrick Leigh-Fermor walked through southern Czechoslovakia in 1934,talking to locals he realised the ethnic tensions between Czechs, Slovakians and Hungarians had been increased by the treaty of Trianon ,which broke up the Austro-Hungarian empire after WWI. Borders were extensively re-aligned and significant minorities found themselves in the "wrong" countries. Talking to a Hungarian he met on the road he was told that his people were unhappy ,"..all the local inhabitants, though Hungarians, are compulsory Czech citizens now. The children have to learn Czechoslovakian: the authorities hope to turn them into fervent Czechoslovaks in a couple of generations. The Hungarians hate the Czechs, and the Romanians too, and on the same grounds-they feel less strongly about the Serbs, for some reason-and they mean to get back their lost territory..."
A little further down the same road in fell in talking with a Slovak schoolteacher:- " it is true that the local villages are Hungarian,but further north they are pure Slovak as far as the Polish border.....they had been under the Hungarians for a thousand years and always treated as in inferior race.....Slovak children used to be taken away from their parents and brought up as Hungarians.....the schoolteacher didn't seem to like the Czechs much either,though this involved a different kind of resentment..."
The main square of Trencin,with its Plague Column ,and the castle up above.
In the morning a 40km drive eastwards brought me to the city of Trencin in time for a coffee and a walk up to the huge medieval castle that overlooks the town centre. The town square and couple of adjacent streets was a pleasant pedestrianised area although the majority of the town seemed to have nothing of interest and was quite industrialised, although apparently there is a university somewhere .My latest theme is ‘Plague Columns’ which seem to exist in the main square of most of these old towns.These are historic Catholic religious monuments, so-called because they are usually offering thanks for deliverance of the town from some disaster such as a plague. I saw yesterday that Banksa Stiavnica had one,and there was one in Trencin today.
 Trencin Castle |  Trencin |
I had considered spending the night in Trencin but had arrived in mid-morning and ,while there was a perfectly respectable campsite by the river, I decided there was not enough to see after all, to justify spending the rest of the day there. I therefore climbed back into the van and progressed over the border into the Czech Republic,to the town of Kroměříž which is situated about 60km northwest of Brno and has the most amazing set of accents on top of its name ! Here there is another Unesco site,the Archbishop’s Palace.The Archbishops clearly did pretty well for themselves, as the Palace is a colossal Baroque and Rococo construction which is just as impressive as the Hapsburg royal palaces I have been visiting, and this one also dates from Maria Theresa’s era.
£4 bought me an interminable guided tour with lengthy descriptions in Czech(90 minutes-there seems to be no other way to do things round here)but my Habsburg tuition is sinking in as I recognised portraits of a young Emperor Franz Joseph 1st ,and his wife Sisi, before the guide got round to describing them.Attached to the palace is a large landscaped park, and ,a little way through the town,a separate formal Renaissance flower garden,which forms part of the Unesco-sponsored ensemble. Kromeriz is a very attractive town,much more so than Trencin,again blessed with an extensive pedestrian zone in the centre,and some impressive buildings.In the town square is ,of course,another example of a Plague Column.
£4 bought me an interminable guided tour with lengthy descriptions in Czech(90 minutes-there seems to be no other way to do things round here)but my Habsburg tuition is sinking in as I recognised portraits of a young Emperor Franz Joseph 1st ,and his wife Sisi, before the guide got round to describing them.Attached to the palace is a large landscaped park, and ,a little way through the town,a separate formal Renaissance flower garden,which forms part of the Unesco-sponsored ensemble. Kromeriz is a very attractive town,much more so than Trencin,again blessed with an extensive pedestrian zone in the centre,and some impressive buildings.In the town square is ,of course,another example of a Plague Column.
Kromeriz,and another plague column
 Kromeriz.The towering structure of the Archbishop's Palace behind the main square |  The Palace ,from the park |
Kromeriz ; the Renaissance pleasure garden
Setting the satnav at 5pm for the nearest campsite ,I was led on a very scenic hill road for 20km,through a rather remote forest on a small road, arriving at the campsite which is a little clearing in the woods with a few huts to rent. Just before arriving there I passed through the small village of Velehrad which has a disproportionately huge ,although rather bland looking, cathedral , and some large blocks of ecclesiastical buildings dwarfing the small village.This apparently is the Czech Republic's premier place of Catholic pilgrimage. On the basic little campsite there is one couple in a tent,and a small party in the cabins.The owner came over and,on hearing I was just staying for one night,seemed to forget the idea of any payment.There are basic facilities and electricity, and it’s a peaceful spot, on the edge of a wood with a long distance cycle trail running past.
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