A snowy peak rising from the clouds. Slovak photographer's stunning image wins award
A selection of short feel-good stories from Slovakia.
Every week The Slovak Spectator brings you a selection of three short stories from across Slovakia from which pessimism and negativity are absent.
A captivating picture of Rysy awarded
A talented Slovak photographer has won recognition abroad.
Filip Hrebenda's image of Rysy, a peak in the High Tatras, which he titled The Night Hunter, won second place in the Night category at a renowned annual photography festival, Exposure, held in Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates.
“I have never seen a more beautiful inversion than that time,” Hrebenda, who comes from Revúca in central Slovakia, wrote of the weather phenomenon he captured in his photograph. “It was really hard to climb this mountain in snowy conditions. My hands were freezing. But this view was worth all the effort!”
He received the award from a member of Sharjah's royal family, Sultan Bin Ahmed Al Qasimi.
“Besides the recognition, we also brought back great experiences,” Hrebenda wrote on Instagram.
Zoos share good bear-related news
Several novelties awaited bears living in two of Slovakia’s zoos.
The zoo in Košice, eastern Slovakia, saw the birth of a new bear cub for the first time in 22 years. It was named Ares.
“It is the first clearly pure-bred cub of our brown bear sub-species,” the zoo wrote on Facebook.
The mother is Tatranka (Xena), who was brought to the zoo as a cub in 2021 for rehabilitation. Her exact age is not known since she came from the wild. The father is Filip, who came to the zoo in 2020, also for rehabilitation.
“The young female takes exemplary care of the bear cub,” the zoo wrote.
Meanwhile, a bear named Félix, born in the Bratislava zoo 28 years ago, received a new pen. Instead of concrete, it features grass, trees and even blueberry bushes. It is now three times bigger than before.
The reconstruction was launched last year, and Félix got to move back in during February. At first, he stuck to patrolling the edges, but he is now familiar with the new environment and recently began strolling around his new habitat.
“He even tore the ground open, which was actually the first time in his life that he came into contact with the earth,” his caretaker Jana told the Sme daily.
Small Netherlands in southern Slovakia
Réka and Dávid in their garden in Tekovský Hrádok. (Source: Jana Némethová)Visitors are flocking to a small garden situated in the village of Tekovský Hrádok, in southwestern Slovakia – and leaving with bouquets of colourful tulips.
Young couple Réka and Dávid were inspired in Hungary, where they visited a pick-your-own tulip farm.
“We didn’t know what to do with our big garden, which we repeatedly had to clear weeds from,” the couple told the MY Levice regional newspaper.
They ordered about 16,800 bulbs from the Netherlands last autumn. Currently, they have 20 varieties, both classic and full. Among the more expensive ones were multi-flowered varieties, i.e. those with up to five flowers growing from one stem. The varieties were selected in such a way as to avoid a bumper harvest; instead, they should ensure the longest possible flowering season.
“It’s a really mini version of the Netherlands, there’s nothing similar in our surroundings,” Dávid told MY Levice, adding they plan to spread the growing of tulips to a neighbouring plot in the future, and make the environment more comfortable for visitors.
Five feel-good stories published by The Slovak Spectator to read:
- Physicist and science communicator Juraj Tekel explains in an interview why communicating facts is not enough, why people are attracted to hoaxes and conspiracies, and how he communicates science through videos.
- Thousands of people emigrated from Slovakia in the latter half of the 19th century. They were told the streets in America were paved with gold; the reality was rather different.
- Milan Rastislav Štefánik Airport in Bratislava has once again been ranked among the top 10 airports in eastern Europe.
- Jean-Michel Jarre, the godfather of electronic music and a noted innovator in the field, became the world’s first passenger to take off in the AirCar, a flying car developed by Slovak Štefan Klein.
- Even though the historical mining town of Banská Hodruša has always been in the shadow of nearby Banská Štiavnica, it remains a charming place to visit.
Political meme of the week
(Source: SME/Rosie Naive Art)Caption: The amendment to the Act on Nature and Landscape Protection?
Artist Rosie Babicová, whose works can be found on the internet and social networks under the name Rosie Naive Art, alludes to the plans of Environment Minister Tomáš Taraba (SNS nominee) to introduce new rules for the felling of trees, intended to make the landscape "more visible" and reduce the opportunity for bears to easily hide themselves in it. This would prevent the accidental meetings of humans and bears, he claims. The change would affect trees everywhere, and if implemented widely could radically alter Slovakia's countryside.
You can send me your tips on good news stories about Slovakia or funny memes at: radka.minarechova@spectator.sk. Thank you!
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