General informations

Population - (January 1998) 5.367.790
Nationalities: Slovaks 86%, Hungarians 10%, others 4% -
Czechs, Germans, Ukrainians, Ruthenians, Poles, Romanies.

Geography

Area: 49.035 square kilometers.
Highest point: Gerlachovský Peak at 2.655 m
Longest river: Vah River (403 km)
Caves: 660
Oldest ice cave: Dobsinska Cave. (Europe`s oldest).
Castles: 170 - the largest is Spisský hrad (Spis Castle).
Major Cities: Bratislava (pop: 452.278), Kosice (241.606), Presov (92.687), Nitra (87.357)
Spa towns: 19
National Parks: Five - High Tatras, Pieniny, Low Tatras, Slovensky Raj ("Slovak Paradise“) and the Small Fatras

Slovak history

Brief timeline of a nation

828 Archbishop Adalram consecrates the church in Nitra
833 Mojmír I unites Morava and Nitra to form the Great Moravian Empire
863 Cyril and Methodius, founders of the old Slavonic language arrive in Great Moravia
863 Cyril and Methodius, founders of the old Slavonic language arrive in Great Moravia
870 Svätopluk, Great Moravia's greatest ruler comes to power and reigns until 894
907 Great Moravia ceases to exist when Mojmir II is slain in battle by Hungarians
1465 Matthias Corvinus founds Academia Istropolitana, the first university in Slovakia
1628 Turks defeat Hungarians, leaving the Habsburgs to rule the Czech and Slovak lands
1711 Juraj Jánošík leaves the royal army and starts looting rich Hungarians.
1740 Maria Theresia crowned in Bratislava, ruling until 1780
1846 Ľudovít Štúr codifies the Slovak language.
1848 An ultimately unsuccessful revolution fails to oust the Habsburgs from power.
1918 Following World War I Czechoslovakia is formed out of a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
1939 Slovakia is declared an independent state with Hitler's blessing
1944 The Nazis trounce the partisans of the Slovak National Uprising
1945 The Soviet Red Army liberates Czechoslovakia from Nazi control
1948 The Communist Party takes control through democratic elections
1968 Warsaw Pact tanks crush a period of reform known as the "Prague Spring"
1989 Communist leader Gustáv Husák falls in the bloodless "Velvet Revolution"
1993 Slovakia splits from the Czech Republic and becomes an independent stat

Slovak superlatives

Top 5 Castles
1. Bojnice - Fairytale castle reminiscent of France`s Loire River Valley Chateaux.
2. Orava - Hanging from a cliff top above the Orava River.
3. Krasna Horka - Imposing fortress housing grisly Hungarian and Turkish weapons display .
4. Trencin – Omar´s well of love inspires romance today.
5. Cerveny Kamen - Enormous 16th century storage cellars lie beneath a mighty fort.

Top 5 Ruins
1. Spis Castle - There is no better ruin in all of Europe (the movie Dragon Heart was filmed here).
2. Devin - Romantic ruin guards the Morava I and Danube Rivers.
3. Beckov - Climb stairs, duck under passages and peer through the valley below Western Slovakia's most substantial ruin.
4. Filakovo - Fortress once occupied by Turks looms above the town.
5. Cachtice - Tales of the "Blood Countess  Bathory" a stir the imagination.

Top 5 Towns
1. Kosice - Sprawling spindle-shaped square highlighted by St. Elizabeth's Cathedral and the Singing Fountain.
2. Bardejov - Wonderfully presented Medieval main square surrounded by fortifications.
3. Levoca - St. Jacob`s Church and a Renaissance Town Hall grace the jewel of the Spiš region.
4. Banska Bystrica - Beautiful main square, lively nightlife, beautiful countryside.
5. Bratislava - Bussiest, brightest, mostbustling burg in the country.

Top 5 Churches
1. Church of Virgin Maria, Mirola - Serene wooden church way out in northeastern Slovakia, with priceless 17th century icons inside.
2. Shrine of St. Jacob, Levoca - The world's largest carved wooden altar stretches clear to the ceiling.
3. St. Martin’s Cathedral, Spisská Kapitula - Awe-inspiring cathedral within a large monastic compound; terrific wooden altars and stained glass wait behind a heavy iron door.
4. St. Elisabeth Cathedral, Kosice - Europe's eastern-most Gothic cathedral towers above the main square.
5. St. Emerame Cathedral, Nitra -The upper portion of three fused churches at the core of the Nitra Castle.

Top 5 Natural Wonders
1. The High Tatras
2. Slovak Paradise
3. Ice Caves
4. Vratna Valley
5. Dunajec River

Top 5 Slovak Foods You Gotta Try
1. Halusky (noodles)
2. Kapustnica (cabbage soup)
8. Beer - it IS food!
4. Pirohy (special pasta food)
5. Palacinky (pencakes)

Five Things You Can't Get Enough Of
1. Cheap, tasty beer
2. Cheap, tasty food
3. Cheap opera and classical music
4. Warm hospitality
5. Funky menu translations

Food and drink (top)

Essentials
You will find all types of eateries, from cafeterias to five-star restaurants with prices much lower than what you would expect. A la carte is the standard method of ordering-meaning the main course, rice, potatoes. bread and the garnish (obloha), are all ordered sepatately.
Most menus will have at least a couple of choices of beef, pork and poultry: turkey breast, either as a schnitzel or a saute may be as common as chicken. Fish is also on many menus: trout, usually served whole, and carp are local standardst usually file is from frozen fish. In most restaurants the menu prize for fish covers the first 100 grams, with each additionnal grams costing extra according to the weight of the portion.
As for foreign cuisine, Hungarian and Italian are the most common varieties. Every town has at least one pizza place, often run by immigrants from the former Yugoslavia. Chinese food is starting to catch on, with restaurants in the larger cities.

Slovak Specialities
Typical Slovak food is not exactly light and healthy: fried cheese (vyprazany syr) served with French fries and tartar sauce is a standard on menus. A more healthy alternative is roast chicken (vyprazane kura), served with (varené) or roasted potatoes (opekané zemiaky).
Don't miss the national dish: bryndzové halušky (noodles with sheep cheese), potato dumplings with a sauce of sheep's cheese and bacon fat. In the country you will find the best bryndzové halušky at a unique dining place called „salaš“, modelled after a shepherd's hut. Traditional are also thick potato pancakes („zemiakové placky“) stuffed with a spicy park saut; fried cottlet („vyprážaný rezeň“) or breaded schnitzel, usually pork as well, and „guláš“ (goulash) often served with „knedliky“, a sort of steamed bread that soaks up the sauce. A twist on the typical goulash is segedinsky guláš, which is a spicy concotion that includes loads of sauerkraut and caraway seeds.

Soups
The soups are hearty and good: „kapustnica“, a slow cooked soup of sauerkraut and smoked meat often dolloped with sour cream, and thick bean soup with sausage (fazulova polievka) are traditional.

Salads
Salads tend to consist mostly of tomatoes and cucumbers in the summer and pickled cabbage in the winter: mean alt is the best hope for a standard salad, and lettuce-lovers can find salvation in hlávkový šalát, many times delightfully served in sweetened water.

Desserts
„Palacinky“ or crepes, filled with chocolate or jam and topped with cream are the standard for dessert, but at many places you'll also find „strudla“, like an apple strudel, „kremes“, similar to a neapolitan, or „ovocne rezy“, a fruit cake covered with gelatin. For sweets or a snack, visit a cukráreň, which offers a tempting array of cakes and pastries. Ice cream (zmrzlina) is very popular. Shops serve creamy, sweet ice cream in cones: the scoops are tiny, and most Slovaks mix and match several flavors.

Fast food
For fast lunch look for „lahodky“, which usually serves several mayonnaise-based salads, open-faced sandwiches and a variety of hot food, such as roast chicken, sausages and fried cheese. Stands with take-away food: closed sandwiches, hot dogs,kebap, „langos“ a fried dough sprinkled with garlic or cheese, are everywhere.

Vegetarians
Vegetarians will have to look hard for variety. The ubiquitous fried cheese, mushrooms (šampióny), cauliflower (karfiol), or broccoli may be the only options. There are a few vegetarian restaurants springing up, especially in larger cities.

Coffee
Coffee is served in a „kaviaren“. The standard is thick, strong Turkish coffee (turecka kava) with the grounds still at the bottom. Other options are espresso (presso), served either with milk (s mliekom) or without. Cappuccino, Viennese coffee with cream (Viedenska kava), and hot chocolate (varena aokoláda), Tea (caj), including black tea (cierny caj) and fruit tea (ovocny caj), is usually served with lemon rather than milk and is readily available.

Alcohol
Liquor „Slivovica“, a traditional plum brandy, homemade „Borovicka“, a gin-like concoction made of juniper berries and „Becherovka“, a medicinal, herbal based liqueur are the most favorite shooters.

Beer and wine
Slovakia may not have the Czech Republic reputation for its beer, but some are superb. The favorite beers are  Zlaty Bazant (Golden Pheasant ) and Corgon- owned by the Dutch brewery Heineken.
Slovakia has several wine-growing regions: western Slovakia produces dry whites and reds. Some of the best whites are Rulandské biele. Rizling Rynsky or Veltlinske zelene, Limbasský Silvan, while some tasty reds are Frankovka , Cabernet Souvignon and Blue Portugal. A strong and often sweet white wine, called Tokaj, comes from the southeast.

Tipping
Waiters in Slovakia don't depend heavily on tips to make their money, and it often shows. The standard advice for tipping is to round up, usually about 5 - 10% of the total bill. But more if you're especially pleased with the service.