Saturday, September 15, 2018

Mere Slovakia



A review of "Slovakia: A Photographic Odyssey" 

This is a typical coffee table book of the kind you're likely to find in gift shops at “must see” sites. This time, the must-sees are Slovak. If you are Slovak, or happen to have visited this small Central European nation more than once, you will be familiar with many of the featured places IRL. You may get serious flashbacks of Bratislava, Levoca, the Dobsinska ice cave, Bojnice, the High Tatras, the spas at Trencianske Teplice and (last but not least!) the ruins of the Cachtice castle, the former home of the “blood countess” Elizabeth Bathory, the world's worst serial killer according to the Guiness Book of World Records. Even the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Dams are featured, with swans gracefully swimming around the bizarre techno-disaster. There is also a photo of Rudolf Schuster, who was president of Slovakia at the time of publication in 1999. His colorful political career isn't mentioned. But then, this is an official publication directed at foreign visitors. Ironically, I have the Slovak-language version of this book!

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