September 26, 2005
Scott connects with his Slovakian roots
Scott Rains, our disability
and travel editor, recounts his story of going to Slovakia and connecting
with his Slavic roots. In this article Scott tells us of his multiple
family reunions and provides some practical tips for wheelchair-accessible
hotels and car rentals throughout Slovakia.
Slovakia – via Rio -from the Seated
Position
By Scott Paul Rains,
Travel and Disability Editor
For most of us with Slovak roots, meeting family in Slovakia is
like the coming together of two worlds – two lifetimes. It’s
like filling a hole in a puzzle.
My puzzle had a few extra pieces. Once I discovered a living relative
in Slovakia it took me about two years to arrange the trip. My puzzle
includes getting around in a wheelchair. The solution came, oddly
enough while I was in Brazil.
Scott's family in Slovakia
I was born among Chicago Slovaks (MAZALAN, JANOTA, KLIMCIK) who
worked at Benet’s “Wiretown” Factory in Blue Island
as tool and die makers and whose children took up insurance and
flooring. Metalwork and floor tiles run for generations through
our family story. In Slovakia I learned of chapters involving the
Rockefellers importing Mazalan’s proprietary sharpening stones,
family stoneworkers repairing the lintels in Trencin Castle, and
Oravsky Podzamok’s display of the Mazalan quarry and the family’s
master stoneworkers. I also learned that the family property, expropriated
under the Communists, is now the seedy Medzibrodie nad Oravou grocery
and pub. I laughed to learn that several of my grandfather’s
“favorite nephews” never really existed! It turns out
that one relative mastered both stoneworking and prevarication.
For years he graciously accepted donations of clothing and money
from my grandfather to support his fictitious children!
Family history is so much better than TV soap operas. And I never
would have known any of it without visiting our ancestral villages
of Medzibrodie nad Oravou, Bziny, Pribis, and Presov in Orava.
I was born in Chicago but Seattle is home for me. The family moved
there when I was young. So, Slovak cultural influence on me, that
far from a Slovak enclave, was pretty much limited to Catholicism,
paprikosh, and kolachkes. Oh yes, there were the high-spirited music
and dancing sessions when we visited Chicago. We’re Gorals
after all! Still, I never learned a word of Slovak.
But I did learn Portuguese. In high school and college I was an
exchange student in Brazil. To celebrate my 20th wedding anniversary
I arranged a return with my wife decades after losing touch with
my Brazilian host family. I began an Internet-assisted search for
them. Offhandedly, just to master the Internet, I applied my successful
search strategies to researching my Slovak roots. I found both families
at about the same time. In Rio, amid a festive “family”
reunion, I asked about a missing host family member. “Oh,
she married an American,” I was told. “He works for
the American Consulate – in Bratislava.” Bingo! Suddenly
I had more family in Slovakia. By the time I left Rio my calendar
showed multiple family reunions throughout Slovakia for the following
Easter.
Easter in Slovakia is a wonderful time for meeting family. Many
extended families naturally gather for the season. We fit right
into the festivities. Younger people, who frequently speak English,
were home from school to translate. In fact, we found several eager
to drive us around the country to visit castles, spas, scenic spots,
cousins and a whole branch of the family in Nitra that we knew nothing
about. Easter rates at hotels and airfare rates are still off-season.
Stay for a couple weeks and you can watch the trees unfurls their
leaves and the earliest spring flowers pop up. Tourist sites are
sparsely visited this early in the season and I found staff more
than willing to help me around their wheelchair obstacle courses.
Street vendors are ready to bargain too. But, take note, castles
and museums open a bit later in Slovakia than next door in the Czech
Republic so plan to stay into May to make the cultural tour.
One of Scott's Slovakian family members
So, what did I learn that I can pass on to another disabled traveler?
Our travels required a rental car. Germany had the nearest rental
agencies offering cars with hand controls. Even then, they insisted
that the controls be mounted for right hand use. I use my left hand.
We picked up a regular rental car in Vienna and my sister did all
the driving.
The wheelchair-accessible room at the Hotel Danube (Danube@hoteldanube.com)
in Bratislava was very comfortable. At lobby level is an accessible
computer room with Internet access, a restaurant and a bar. I recommend
the hotel but it’s not perfect. If you’re a long-time
wheelchair user you’ll be familiar with the drill of using
the garbage-bin elevators to get into the mezzanine-level restaurant
through the kitchen. Don’t imitate me and risk your life being
carried up the stairs to the tiny mezzanine-level gift shop. You
won’t miss anything. The small first floor gift shop was pricey
for high-end items that can be easily be found in shops a block
or two away. The shop did have a helpful selection of literature
on Slovakia in English. Stock up!
Orava and Nitra were our other main stops. The Park Hotel in Dolny
Kubin has a wheelchair ramp. Their small accessible room includes
adaptations made to the bathroom. Typical of hotels that look on
disabled guests as a burden, the room I stayed in was at the far,
unlit end of the hall. The front desk staff was gracious but the
owner was positively cruel to my sister and unapologetic when the
mistake proved to be entirely his own. I would steer you away from
this untidy hotel if it were not the only choice in town.
Nitra offered several wheelchair accessible hotel choices. I selected
Koruna Hotel (koruna@conet.sk)
on a hillside overlooking the city. I can recommend it although
family kept us so busy that I never explored anything beyond the
well-designed room itself.
Watch for positive changes in accommodating people with disabilities
in Slovakia. Joining the European Union is bringing in new industry
and raised expectations of tourists. Do your best to enlist family
or anyone you know who is visiting Slovakia to research the sorts
of accommodations required by your particular disability.
Extra Links:
http://www.beans-around-the-world.com/slov.html
http://www.beans-around-the-world.com/copacabana.html
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Scott Rains is the publisher of www.rollingrains.com,
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travellers.
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