Each and every country in Europe is extensively covered in guidebooks. Slovakia is no exception to that rule, but who can give better advice than the Slovaks themselves? Which places in their country do they like to visit, and which areas would they rather avoid?

Posted by Bruno

Three hundred and ten articles about culture and none of them has dealt with films.. Time to cast my ignorance about films aside, and ask a bunch of young Slovak about their preferences when it comes to projections on the wide screen.

Posted by Bruno

Once upon a time, inhabitants of Bratislava were known for their speaking three languages fluently: German, Hungarian and Slovak. Bratislava has a range of international and historical names, including Preslavasburch, Pre?porok (Slovak), Posonium or Istropolis (Latin), Pressburg (German) and Pozsony (Hungarian). The city was only finally baptised Bratislava when the first Czechoslovak Republic was created in the early 20th century. Little of the international image of Bratislava survived the communist era, but recovery is on the way.

Posted by Bruno

Out of all subjects I covered during the last ten months, the articles that in some way or another related to the EU were invariably the most boring. People are generally dissatisfied with politics, and whatever happens in Brussels is even futher away from their daily lives. One subject that always gets people to talk is childhood memories. Here`s the Slovakian edition:

Posted by Bruno

Finding some locals to help me read a local newspaper is not always easy. Whenever successful, such discussions are often a source of valuable information about the state of the country. Armed with the Slovak Daily `Dennik SME`, I try to find out what is going on in Slovakia these days with the help of Barbara (22), Marian (28) and Anastasia (25).

Posted by Bruno

Like all European countries, Slovakia saw a rapid increase in number of television channels since the early 1990s. Satellite dishes were prohibited under communism and their introduction in the market led to a real rush once they did become available. In the following years, the deployment of cable networks made satellite dishes redundant. The same is now happening to TV itself: internet is taking over.

Posted by Bruno

Before disintegrating into Czech Republic and Slovakia, the combined state of Czechoslovakia existed for almost one century. Born in 1918 at the end of World War I, it finally surrendered to separatist pressures in 1993, shortly after the fall of communism. Most young Czechs and Slovaks are at peace with the current situation of living in two separate states who maintain friendly relations between each other.

Posted by Bruno