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No Enemies Violence Equal Rights

THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC

Slovakia is a country of Central Europe. It was part of Czechoslovakia until 1992; now Slovakia and Czech Republic are two independent States.

Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic to the North-West and Poland to the North, Austria to the South-West, Hungary to the South and Ukraine to the East.

The Slovak landscape is mainly mountainous. The Carpathian Mountains extending across most of the northern half of the country. Between these are distinguished the Tatra Mountains (the High Tatras and Low Tatras) to which belong the highest peaks. Particularly, the highest summit of Slovakia is Gerlachovský štít at 2,655 metres above sea level, and the highest symbolic mountain of Slovakia is the Kriváň. This country is landlocked.

Gerlach South face.

Kriváň peak.

Geography

Bratislava is the capital, and is also the largest city, while the second city (to the surface) is Košice.

Košice, St. Elisabeth Cathedral. The Danube running through Bratislava.

Presidential Palace in Bratislava.

Climate:

The territory can be divided into three main areas according to the type of climate:

- Plains, the average temperature of the hottest month is about 20°C and that of the coldest month is greater than -3°C;

- Basins, in the hottest month the temperature is about 19°C, while that of the coldest month is less than -3°C;

- Mountains, the average temperature of the hottest month is less than 15°C, while in the coldest month is below -5°C.

CavesSlovakia has hundreds of caves and caverns under its mountains, out of which 15 are open to the public and five caves are UNESCO's World Heritage Site. Domica cave (Slovak Karst National

Park).

Demänovská ice cave (Low Tatras).

Rivers and lakes

Some important rivers in Slovakia are the Danube (passing through and touches the border of Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Germany, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine), the Myjrava, Hronjava, Nitra, Orava, Hron etc. The longest river in Slovakia is the Váh (403 kilometres and 250 mi).There are around 175 naturally formed tarns in High Tatras. With an area of 20 ha and its depth of 53 metres, Veľké Hincovo pleso is the largest and the deepest tarn in Slovakia.

Donaueschingen, Germany. In this point two small rivers -the Brigach and Breg- meetand the river is called “Danube”.

Váh River.

Veľké Hincovo pleso

Differences between Italy and Slovakia.

The Italian education system start with basic education that includes the three-year kindergarten and primary school (elementary), five-year term; the secondary education, which includes the secondary school level for three years (middle school), the secondary school grade five-year (high schools and professional schools) that do not require an admission test but a test of maturity to after that they need to be able to access the university faculties.

The Slovak education system begins with materská skola (the kindergarten), frequented by six years for a period of nine years. After primary school, students follow the gymnázium (general secondary school), the stredné odborné ucilistie (secondary vocational school) or stredná odborná skola (Secondary School of specialization), in most cases after passing an entrance examination.

- School system:

Italian cuisine has been influenced by the cuisine of ancient Greece, ancient Rome, Byzantine, Jewish, Arab and Norman. And 'it is known for its regional diversity, abundance of tastes and seasonings and is considered the most famous in the world. Tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil, wine, coffee ... There are so many elements that characterize it. The most famous Italian dish in the world is pizza;

The Slovak cuisine has strong rural roots, with high-calorie dishes to support once the hard work of the fields. The three basic ingredients are always milk, potatoes and cabbage and a combination of these three components we can get different dishes like bryndzové halušky -the national flat-, the bryndzové pirohy, the zemiakove placky, lángos, cigánska pečienka, various types soups, the Medovníky etc.

Bryndzové halušky. Pizza Margherita. Medovníky.

- gastronomy:

Often, it was made a comparison between the English and the Italian, judging much more difficult the Italian for its variety of tenses, prepositions ... In English with one word, often, you can express a concept that is expressed in Italian with a period. As Italians, we always heard too meticulous - grammatically - don’t worry! The Slovaks are more of us, with a grammar -the only in the world- that has seven different cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, local, instrumental, vocative.

Beds in Slovakia don’t have the sheets, there’s only the duvet which is used throughout the year for their cold temperatures (hopefully they have at least one spare! XD) But… Why it’s so short that can’t it be stuck under the mattress? A serious problem that will have every italian who stayed in Slovakia;

- grammar:

Italian beds are layered: mattress cover, 2 pairs of sheets, duvet and bedspread. Result? Every morning to make the bed decent takes from three minutes up.

- curiosity

In common:

Slovaks don’t carry umbrellas, to the sight of Italians would be a really weird thing, but if on a rainy day in Slovakia attempt to open the umbrella, this will be overturned, broken and perhaps turned into shreds, and you'll be soaking wet. Slovaks pull up the hood of his jacket, and for years they have given up the umbrella.

money Euro

traditions Some Christmas traditions such as the Christmas markets, and dinner on December 24, New Year's Eve, the traditional Palm Sunday:

Kvetná Nedela ( a Florid Sunday) is used to bring green twigs and branches called "bahniatka" to the church, where the priest gives the blessing with water and prayers. Returning from church have twigs and green branches behind the paintings hanging in homes or on the attic structure;

(in Italy) Catholics go to church or take the olive branches to church and the priest gives the blessing. In some Italian regions, the members carry even garlands with dead branches, olive branches and flowers to be exchanged among the faithful as a sign of peace to the faithful sell close to the churches. Returning from church, at lunch, the householder with a twig blessed and holy water also blesses the table and the diners and is then hung on the paintings hanging in homes;

Bahniatka. Olive branches.

Slovaks as well as Italians love to celebrate: to the work are celebrated all name days and all important birthdays. For 50 years they do a party that never ends, complete with a commemorative glass and solemn speech;

The restaurants serve food at any time of day -and so far so good- but if in Italy regarding the portions works "freewheeling", in Slovak restaurants slices of bread that you eat you will be counted and reported on the bill.

The important role of the family and of the Catholic religion (common among Slovaks and Italians especially in Southern Slovakia and Southern Italy), the children leave the parental home fairly late and the most important moments of people's lives are celebrated around a very laid table;

Some things we could learn from the Slovaks Some Slovaks add a seat at the

table -at dinner on 24 December- to allow an unexpected visitor to dinner with them, it's really a beautiful thing!

Even with one meter of snow girls wear high heels and people do jogging. Chapeau, because with the ice I have problems even just to walk, but I guess that in the DNA of Slovaks there is a kind of antifreeze substance that prevents them from falling. Southern Italians (because we are accustomed to the sun) despair when it rains a bit 'more.

Slovaks remove their shoes when they enter in the house, to avoid soiling the floor, especially in winter when there is a lot of snow and your shoes are wet so too do many people in northern Italy. In the south instead, even on rainy days crawling shoe soles on our beautiful coconut doormats, bringing any residues inside the house, the slippers to put them up later, at the cost of washing the floor several times a day. The solution would be rather simple!

Slovaks are historically accustomed to queues, like all the inhabitants of the former socialist countries. But the way to wait their turn in the queue is quite extraordinary and very upset Italians: how do you make the queue without shoving and trying to finish first?

But joking aside, we have much to learn from each other, but the first step to good relations is the integration, we must break down the walls of intolerance, any kind of prejudice and make every opportunity of discussion a source of personal enrichment. All this you get traveling.

‘I’m not going to spend my

life being a color’.