Hello dear Steemians,
Where are you from? I believe for many of you this is a trivial question with a trivial answer. That's not the same for me as I have to go through a detailed explanation of the location and history of my country to prove that it actually exist. Sometimes it's quite funny. Once I had a serious discussion with an elderly Italian gentleman who just couldn't believe that Bratislava is a capital city of Slovakia. He thought I fell asleep at my history class at school or something. He just couldn't believe that Czechoslovakia does not exist anymore. If any of my fellow Czechoslovakians is reading this I can happily announce that for many people around the world we are still happily united in one country! Yes it's true, we have been one country until 1993 but than we peacefully separated.
Another problem is that our name is really similar to Slovenia and for most of the people it's just the same country.
There we are
Than another fun fact are our flags... I know right?
When I started to travel and went to Asia, Africa or Australia I was proudly answering; ,,I am from Slovakia''. People were so kind and felt kind of embarrassed so they just smiled and nodded. To make it easier for them I started to use the phrase; ,,Slovakia- Czech-republic, Prague (now changed name to Czechia) close to Germany." Once I say Prague or Germany everyone is a smart geographer again.
Some people would also shock me and say ,,yes Slovakia" and would continue naming famouse sport figures in hockey, football, biking or tennis. I will never forget them because it happened very rarely.
Slovakia is really small country with not many big cities to admire but it has a stunning nature.
So if you love skying, hiking or just trekking and you are tired of touristy destinations where prices are high and everywhere is full of people, Slovakia should be definitely on your bucket list. And of course make a short stop in our capital Bratislava.
I currently live in Italy and I go home maybe once, twice a year. Last week I was lucky enough to be a guest at Italo-Slovakia wedding taking place in Slovakia; Orava region. This part of the country is full of traditions that I even didn't know about and the live traditional folklore music at the wedding have taken us back in time.
Our weddings end usually at 5 or 6 in the morning and start with a late lunch the day before. Yes you're right! That would be more than 12 hours of constant drinking, dancing and eating but trust me if you'll ever get invited for a Slovakian wedding you will never forget it.
So where are you from? Did you ever encounter similar problems while travelling. Would love to hear your stories.