Tour of Prešov

Happy All Saints Day! Slovakia is a strongly Catholic country, and the whole country shuts down today. Many people attend mass and go to the cemetery to light candles at the graves of family members. I considered taking a picture of this, but it seemed a little tacky, and a lot offensive.

Anyway, Prešov!

Prešov is a really cool town, not too big or too small, with lots to do.

It is built around a central square, which is on the main street, Hlavna street (Slovak for main, but you probably got that on your own). Here is a picture from the city's official website:



In the center of the square is a giant cathedral, the Uniate Cathedral Temple of St. John the Baptist.



Due to it's central location, it's a great place to meet friends (assuming you have friends) before hitting the Prešov nightlife. I would like to write more about the social scene here, but I'll save it for a different post, as I don't want to run out of material before Christmas.

Here are some more pictures of the main street:







Across from the cathedral is a small triangular park, with many benches on which Slovak teens vie for the title of Most Gratuitous Public Displays of Affection in the EU. Slovakia is generally considered a conservative country, and Prešov is no different, but I've seen things occur in the park in broad daylight that could throw out the back of even the stoutest youngsters. Maybe I'm just being puritanical. And what does this park look like, you ask?



In the center of the park, there is a monument of the former regime.





I think the history of Soviet influence here is fascinating, and the people have a lot of great stories about the city before the Velvet Revolution. I hope to get enough info to be able to write something worthwhile about it, but first I need to learn how to write in a worthwhile manner, which I guess just takes practice.

Speaking of the Velvet Revolution, you may have been wondering (or not) why the name of this blog is "VelvetWinter". There are two reasons.

First, the "Velvet Revolution"" refers to Czechoslovakia’s bloodless revolution against the Communist government in 1989, spearheaded by Václav Havel, an artist and proponent of non-violent resistance. "The Velvet Divorce"" is the term used for Czechoslovakia’s peaceful dissolution into the Czech and Slovak Republics in 1993. Isn't this informative? I remember once hearing that the reason it was a "Velvet" revolution was because Havel was a big fan of the U.S. band "The Velvet Underground"" , fronted by Lou Reed in the late 60's. However, after further web research this appears to be an urban legend.

The second reason is that "VelvetDivorce" and "VelvetRevolution" were unavailable, along with "PierogiParty2005". So VelvetWinter it was.

One last piece of crucial information is that Prešov residents, and Slovakians in general, love their ice cream.



You can get ice cream at many sidewalk stands, and also at little shops that only sell sweets. Some of these places advertise their ice cream as "Croatian", which to me seems very similar to Italian gelato, and tastes just as good. 5 Slovak Koruna (5 SK), which is about 15 cents, will get you a scoop, and it is a faux paus to order only one, so most people get three or four different flavors. Interestingly, in Slovakia ice cream is eaten year-round, at home and in the streets, which is also true through much of Central and Eastern Europe.

I will spend my last paragraph begging for comments, such as "More Food Pictures!" or "Up Yours!". It is nice to hear from the people back home, so if you get the chance make up a fake name and really cut loose. However, be sure to watch the salty language, like "tits". Oops.