slovakia

Slovak Christmas: The Wonders of the Golden Pig

I thought I had already heard all about Slovak Christmas traditions. How they watch fairy tales on television and play with a carp in their bathtub. (I am not making this up.) Then yesterday evening, my wife and I had the following conversation: Denisa: And remember. Don’t have any food tomorrow before dinner, or you won’t see the Golden Pig. (Slovak: Zlate Prasa) Me: (staring at her, not comprehending) Say what? Denisa: The Golden Pig. Me: What in the world is the Golden Pig? Denisa: A pig made out of gold. If you don’t eat before dinner, you get to […]

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A Brief Travel Guide to Western Slovakia

Sorry about the late post today. I was waiting for the second half of a guest post I wrote to get published. What guest post, you ask? Well, let me tell you. My publisher (Tu Books) asked me to write a brief travel guide to Slovakia a few weeks ago. I was more than happy to comply, although there was too much material to cover in a brief post. I mean, this is Slovakia here. A paragraph or two wasn’t going to cut it. So it turned into a two parter, and I restricted it to just Western Slovakia. Check it

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Multicultural vs. Fantasy–Some Observations (and a Review of 13 Assassins)

I watched 13 Assassins on my day off the other day, and can I just say, “Whoa!” (in my best Neo voice.) The movie is a samurai flick, all about a group of fighters who are tasked with killing an evil ruler who’s on his way toward positions of greater power. It’s a brutal movie, and I absolutely loved it. (Not for everyone by any stretch, though. Very violent. You’ve been warned.) But I’m a sucker for Samurai movies to begin with–this one was right up my alley. Which got me thinking . . . Why is it that I

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What I Did on My Summer Vacation: July 18–Banska Stiavnica (More Pictures!)

Time to return to my What I Did on My Summer Vacation series (now with yet another pic–surely you can guess what the theme is to these pictures by now, yes?). As I’ve said before, I was multi-tasking on this trip. One thing I really wanted to do was go to a place I’d never gone before, where I could potentially set another book in the Vodnik series. I was pretty specific in my “checklist” for a perfect spot: it had to be old, it had to be a place with a more significant Roma population than Trencin has, it

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Snow Day! (And the Revenge of the Dentist)

Yes, it’s April 1. And yes, it’s a raging blizzard outside. And you know what? I love it. Especially the gift of a snow day this late in the year. Sure, TRC will have to make up the day later on in the year, but such is life. At least I won’t have to make it up. 🙂 And on more somber news, Denisa’s appointment with destiny the dentist came and went. Verdict? $3600 of tooth repair that needs to be done this year. Insurance could cover $1000 of that, but you don’t need to be a math major to

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