A Hidden Slovakian Gem
Having recently returned from my Euro trip, I feel I owe it to my fellow travellers to provide guidance and share my knowledge of the extraordinary places that I visited. I will skip over the usual clichés of the places people consider ‘awesome’ and ‘culturally invigorating’ and jump straight to what I personally believe is one of Europe’s overlooked hidden gems. Having first found out about the small Slovakian city of Trenčín from the legendary Carpathian Wanderer Eric Freymond I decided to make a pit stop there before heading off to the next destination.
Bratislava being the only Slovakian city we ever considered going to, me and my fellow lads were all pleasantly surprised upon our arrival. Trenčín, a city of approximately 60,000 inhabitants is located right of the central Vah River Valley quite close to the Czech border. One of the first sights you encounter upon your arrival is the huge and hovering Trenčín Castle, the third largest in Slovakia. Exploring this baby with its multiple sections and extensive fortifications could take a few hours, but there is plenty to see, including a beautiful old parish church with beautiful stained glass windows depicting various religious scenes (unfortunately don’t know much about religion but was all pretty to look at).
Anyway, I’m not writing this post to fill you in on the various sights, which you will find in your usual city guide (the grandiose nature of the castle made it difficult not to mention). I would prefer to discuss the experience, the beauty and the amazing people of this city.
For starters, the characters my friends and I encountered in Trenčín will never be forgotten – genuinely some of the kindest, intellectually stimulating and admirable people I have ever met in my life. Coming from such a small place, I figure the majority of people who grew up here probably planned to live out their lives here (ignorant on my part, I know), but I could not have been more wrong. The majority of the students we met and spent our nights with were studying day and night to ensure they made a mark either on the city, the country, or a group of people. They read everything from Tolstoy to Kissinger and were well informed on all aspects of European and US foreign policy and relations. Their determination to make a difference was truly inspiring and led me to consider how many people take advantage of their education, location and social standing for that matter and fail to push themselves to their intellectual limits.
Despite the intense focus of these young Slovaks on their educational enlightenment, they still sure knew how to have a good time. Our first night wandering around the city center with perplexed gazes, we decided to inquire about a good bar/club we could experience, get some drinks down and chat to the locals. Everyone was MORE than happy to help us out. That’s another thing: I’m not sure if this is just a characteristic of small cities or if it was particular to Trenčín, but all the locals seemed to want to go out of their way to show us around or just stop for a casual chat. One middle-aged gentleman actually dropped off his shopping bags at his friend’s apartment in order to guide us through the small streets to Steps bar. If this wasn’t enough of a kind deed, he then sat down with us for a drink and gave us a concise history of the whole city. You ask someone for directions to the nearest pub in London and after the rushed and irritated look you get and a few mumbled words, you’ll wish you never asked.
From the Steps Bar we headed to Jamm Club (I suppose the town is not known for its original night venue names), which was also a special treat. Open till 3am (can be later if you make friends with the owner, which isn’t too difficult considering he is there every night serving his fellow drinkers), the club was decorated with mystifying black and red patterns and played some hip jazz music for the first half of the night. The variety of drinks was like nothing I had ever seen before – you could demand a concoction of just about any alcohol and the wise-for-his-years bartender would make it for, and then proceed to explain the origin of each ingredient in the drink. Fun and educational!
So my dear friends, I hope I have sold you on this incredible city, its intellectual and amicable crowd as well as it’s hard to ignore cultural aspects. It is a truly great place to make a pit stop on your Euro trip journey and experience true culture, great people and good banter away from the touristic hustle and bustle of your main Euro trip destinations. Happy travels!
