Leiwen Visit

25-26 April - The Stoffel's invited us to attend a concert of the Leiwen Town Orchestra/Band. Michael plays French Horn in band. Upon our arrival, Petra prepared a light meal for the evening. She prepared Smoked Salmon on bread, Ham and Salami on Bread, and a wonderful Ham wrap with herb cream cheese and a whole spring onion - WOW!!!!! Of course, Alfons and I did some wine tasting to get the right wine for dinner. It took us a little while to get it right :)) After dinner, we went to the concert. It was in the local sports hall. There were approx 300 people there. There was food and of course wine and beer!!! The younger band played first then the older band played. Michael plays in both. They played 9 arrangements of American, Austrian and German songs - Theme from James Bond, Blue Brothers, Light Cavalry, Rhapsody in Blue, 76 Trumbones, etc. It was very nice. It ended about 11pm and we went back and spent the night at Michael's home in one of their very nice guest house rooms. Michael came home early in the morning after spending some time with his friends and fellow band members at the traditional after concert party. :)) We woke up on Sunday morning and had a wonderful traditional full German breakfast of meat, cheese, bread, fruit, yogurts, jams, juice, coffee, hot chocolate, cereal, eggs. After breakfast, we attend the local Catholic Church. Of course the service was in German. The Church is very pretty inside. It was the first Catholic service Jamie has attended. After church, we walked through the cemetary (Friedhof) and saw the different types of graves - most with flowers in full bloom. After church, Alfons and I did some tasting of different liquors and wine mixes. I tried a very nice peach liquor and also a unique honeysuckle liquor mixed with sekt which is basically the same as champagne. SNAP!!! Kim drove home :))) Petra and Alfons were once again the ever gracious and wonderful host!! We had a very wonderful time and really enjoyed our additional experiences with our German hosts culture. Saturday light dinner. Leiwen Cemetary (Friedhof) Of course we had to take a photo with the Leiwen Wine Queen, the lovely Queen Tamara I. The Orchestra - Michael is standing just to the left of the green part of the banner.

James and Alfons picking the right wine!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is hard work :))

Friend Sleepover

24 April - Jamie's good friend Megan spent the night. They cooked Porcupine Balls for dinner - basically meatballs with rice. The rice cooks in the balls and sticks out like quills - pretty cool. Then they slept outside in the tent. It was cold and the girls decided to not use sleeping bags but use blankets instead. They realized at 2 am they needed more blankets but they had fun. They helped cook breakfast, washed my car, had a picnic lunch and a great time.

Girl Scout GeoCaching

18 April - in the rain and cold, Jamie and James participated in the Daddy and Me Girl Scout Day participating in GeoCaching. GeoCaching is when you take a GPS and go search for a hidden container. There are many types of geocaches from those with trading items or just sign in that yuo found it to those that lead you on a series of hunts. It was a fun day. However, it was cloudy so our GPS was not cycling thru very fast and that cost us alot of time at the first one. We found 3 in about 3 hours. There are about 75 of these just in the K'town city and Vogelweh. there are 3 just in our little town here!!! For more on GeoCaching go to http://www.geocaching.com/

Jamie and Michaela hold a "nano" cache that was stuck with a magnet to the back of a sign. the strip is where you sign showing you found the cache.

Food in Slovakia

Of course, we had WONDERFUL food while in Slovakia. Alot of new items as well. Enjoy!! Fantastic Pizza in Svidnik - crust was AWESOME!! Danka Balaz's Purgoghy w/sour cream, brynza cheese and onions!!! SNAP!!!! Iveta's Apple Studel Iveta's Slovak Pancakes

iveta's jam filled rolls - OMG!!!!!

Iveta's Cheese and meat rolls - appetizer

Babka's Jam Filled Roll cooked with steam covered in cocoa and Powered Sugar. SNAP. It was Good Friday so there was no meat at the meals.....yummy!!

Babka's Vegetable broth soup with egg drop

Babka's cake with jam topping with Chocolate and fruit puree icing

Babka's plum stussel cake

Babka's nut roll - yummy!!

Babka's Schnitzel, Mashed Potatos with Cucumber/Onion Salad & Tomatos

Babka's Noodle Soup

Pork Tenderloin with "American Potatos"

Chicken with Egglant and Zucchini

Trout with Potatos

BABKA & DEDKO's (Grandparents)

9 -10 April - we visited Both Babka's and had excellent food and a great time. We always enjoy visiting Tina's Grandparents. We have a great deal of respect for them. They are very kind and warm people who are very happy. We wanted to share something American with them so we baked each a Pecan Pie - yes, a real Pecan Pie with all the stuff we brought with us. We also gave them a case of wonderful Stoffel Wine and a bottle to each grandfather of Stoffel Cognac. Those are the only 2 bottles in the country!! We started at Iveta's family then went to Martin's family and spent the night. The next day, was Good Friday so no meat. Jamie helped Babka cook a jam filled dough ball cooked with steam. Really neat and very good. We went back to Presov in teh afternoon and went to dinner at Tina's boyfriend's parents house. It was really nice meal of puroghy - like potato filled dumplings. We watched the Slovak national Hockey final game. Really fun to watch a national sport with locals!!! Jakub's Mom was very interested in the game and kept watching the TV during dinner - she is wonderful!!!!

Jamie making the lunch with Babka

One of two bottles of Stoffel Cognac in all of Slovakia.

Jamie and her Slovak sister's Mother!!! Yep, that is normal in our family!!!

Kim and Babka Malinakova

Poland Trip & Dukla

9 April - We went to Poland early to do some shopping at an outdoor shopping area and looking for Polish Pottery. It was a really nice drive. We did not find the pottery Kim was looking for but we did buy some Polish cookies and candy - you know us :)) Outdoor shopping in Poland As we drove around, we saw a very peculiar thing. What do you notice about this photo below?? study it really hard then see if you have the right answer. Where was the photo taken?? This photo was taken by an American family with their Favorite Slovak daughter in a Japanese van with a camera made in Vietnam of an American McDonald's, German Lidl Grogery Store, British BP gas station. Where was the photo taken??????? Poland of course!!! This is a historic wooden church that is very traditional Slovak. The cemetary is typical of Slovakia. It was really interesting to walk around and see how the church was made. Martin and James at a monument to the Battle of Dukla - largest battle in Czechoslovakia during WWII. Babka Babka remembers the German artillery firing over her house during the battle since she lives 6 km straight line from here. What history!!! Cemetary to the Czechoslovak Soldiers that died in the Battle of Dukla Sep 1944-Jan 1945. After the German's occupied Czechoslovakia thanks to Chamberlain, many Czechoslovak soldiers left their country for Russia or England to fight the Germans. Many soldiers went to Russia and they formed a division of soldiers. these Soldiers fought along side the Russian Army as they fought to free their country from the Nazi occupation. It was my first visit to a Eastern Military Cemetary. It was very nicely done and respectful. the Unknowns are in the center of the cemetary in one trench. Knows are along the side. At the top are monunents to some of the commanders and heros. Very moving. A Great visit to pay respect to those who left their country and fought to free it. There is a very good movie, Dark Blue World, with English subtitles, that is about the Czech pilots that went to England and flew with the RAF in WWII. I highly recommend it. It is very moving and very well made. After the war, these pilots returned to Czechoslovakia and were not hailed as heros. The Soviets placed them in jail for about 9 years. Only recently after Communism did the democratic governments recognize these heros for their courage and dedication to their country in her time of need. Katarina's Grandfather is one of these heros that spend many years in Siberia in a gulog. A truly sad but true part of history.

7 April - BBQ in Slovakia

7 April - We had the pleasure of cooking an American meal for Tina's family. We took everything we needed from Germany to Slovakia and it was planned in every detail. Martin and Iveta introduced us to many excellent Slovak dishes on our last trip. We wanted to repay them by introducing them to some American dishes!! We cooked BBQ Pork and Beef ribs, Salad American Style, Baked Beans, Coleslaw, Baked Sweet Potato, Twice Baked Potato and Banana Pudding and of course EXCELLENT Stoffel Halbtroken Wine with the meal and Eiswein with the Pudding!!! PERFECT day! :) We really had a GREAT time cooking everything from scratch and showing Martin how to cook American BBQ and more importantly to EAT BBQ !!!! They had a great time and enjoyed all the meal. As my Dad always said, "The first ingredient in BBQ is beer - some for the cook and some for the meat!!" James and Martin have a Saris Slovak Beer and Jamie and Matus pour some beer (pivo) in the pot to boil the ribs. James supervising Jamie, Matus and Jakub making the BBQ sauce. "Dem some GOOD LOOKING ribs!!!!" The meal. Jamie showing them how to eat ribs - with God's forks !!! Kim supervising her Favorite Slovak Daughter making the Banana Pudding. They had never tried it - now that is just plain UnAmerican!!!!! We will cook this same meal for our Favorite German Son's family and our Favorite Korean Daughter when we visit Korea!!!

6 & 8 April - Visting Tina & Matus School

6 Apr - We visited Tina's school and talked to her English classes. This was a very wonderful experience. The students were teenagers and did not ask many questions. Those that did, asked very good questions. There were 6 total classes. It was very different. The students had various levels of English and were probably very good but they were a little scared. There are 6 classes with a 5 minute break between classes. There is one 15 min break between the 3rd and 4th class. There is no lunch break. School is over at 2pm. Visiting Tina's School 8 April - We visited Matus' school to speak to his English Classes. His teacher asked us to bring some English reading materials. I asked friends here in Germany to donate used magazines and newpapers and the donations came!!! We took 5 large boxes of magazines, newpapers, books and VCR tapes. One person donated a 14" TV and two VCR players. Americans are at their best when others ask for help!!! THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED materials to help these great kids improve their English!!! The teacher had some specific requests for us to cover. Jamie wanted to cover 3 subjects in abriefing on her own. She put together a 5 minute powerpoint briefing on American animals, Holidays and Sports complete with photos and transitions. Very good. The kids and teachers were very impressed that a 10 yr old girl would get up infront of a group of teenage students in a foreign country and give them a brief. She did a great job and the kids loved her. We are VERY proud of her. Jamie giving a presentation.

5 April - Svidnik, Slovakia

4 April - We arrived in Presov. We had a wonderful dinner that Martin cooked. It was a slice of pork rolled with pickles, carrots, hard boiled egg inside and cooked in a chicken broth gravy - WOW!!!! Martin is a great cook!! Martin's Pork rolls and Rice - SNAP!!!! or as Ahyoung would say "AH SAAA!!!" 5 April - We traveled to Svidnik, north of Presov. We visited the Museum of Ukranian History which was really interesting. Alot of the migration in Slovakia over 3000 years ago came from the east. The museum was very interesting and a great learning tour. After the tour we had a wonderful lunch of pizza and beer!!! the pizza was outstanding and the crust very crunchy!! Ukranian History Museum - Svidnik http://www.museum.sk/?obj=muzeum&ix=murk After lunch, we visited the Slovak Military History Museum. The museum had a small outdoor lot with several Russian and German artifacts that were used in the battle of Dukla near the town and WWII. There is even a American DC-9 Aircraft that was most likely given to the Russian Army during WWII under lend-lease. It is painted olive drab with the Russian Star on it. Very intersting to see this as part of history. The inside of the museum had many artifacts about the events of WWI and WWII in the area. Martin was a great tour guide. Jamie, James and Tina with aT-34 at the Military Museum http://www.museum.sk/?obj=muzeum&ix=vhu_vmsk Then we traveled to Bardejovske Kupele (Spa). This is a famous spa resort with an outdoor history museum where they rebuilt different homes from different areas and eras. VERY interesting display of wooden houses and churches. Examples of wooden homes and villages from 1700-1800s http://www.muzeum.sk/default.php?obj=muzeum&ix=sarm_e 5 April was Palm Sunday. Since there is not much coastline in Slovakia, they don't have Palm trees. They use Pussywillow branches for church on Sunday. Everyone is walking around town with these branches. They then take the branches and use then in their homes for Easter egg trees and hand hand decorated eggs from the branches.

Piestany Slovakia 3-4 Aug

3-4 April - We travelled to Slovakia over Spring Break to visit our FAVORITE Slovak Daughter. It is a 15 hr drive each way but well worth is considering the wonderful time we always have with Tina and her Family. On Friday we drove from K'town to Piestany, SLovakia where we met Katarina and her family. She was an exchange student in Virginia the year before Tina. We met her on several occasions. She invited us to meet her family and town. She lives in Piestany about 1 hr north of Bratislava. We met them at the hotel and had a wonderful dinner and conversation. Her family is wonderful. Her Brother joined us for dinner as well. He is a hockey player and was drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes a few years back and played 2 years in the minor leagues before returning to Slovakia. He hopes to make the Slovak National Team next year for the World Championships. We stayed in a wonderful hotel right on the river in Piestany. The next morning, Kat and her family met us and we walked around the town. We started on the famous Glass Bridge - it is not exactly glass but there are stores on the bridge and the bridge has one side that is glass. It is really nice. The town has a famous spa that was pretty much neglected during the communist era. Now, the spa is remodeled with foreign investment, there is the only 5 star hotel in Slovakia where big politicians hold meetings and nice new hotels are built. It was a very nice walk around town and great conversation with them. We want to thank them very much for their time and hospitality. The weather was beautiful for our drive to Presov. We were able to see the High Tatras during 3 of the 4 hours of our drive. About 40 km of new autobahn has open since our last visit.

Katarina Otcenasova and her family with us at dinner in Piestany at Hotel Pavla - Highly recommended. Excellent hotel and rooms!!

View of the river from our hotel

Jamie on the Piestany Glass Bridge

The Beautiful High Tatras mountains - Pride of Slovakia. These mountains are the displayed on the Slovak Flag. :)))