Not even the weather discouraged them. How volunteers helped restore bridges in the Tatras
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.
Volunteers helped repair bridges in the Tatras
The Hikemates hiking club has helped restore 15 bridges so far. (Source: Facebook/Hikemates)Two new bridges were added to the hiking trail leading through the Skalnatá dolina valley, situated in the High Tatras, to the south of the Lomnický štít peak.
As part of the Hore Dobre project, run by the Hikemates hiking club in cooperation with the Kofola company, some 30 volunteers met on June 22 to build the bridges on the blue hiking trail, leading from the Štart signpost to Malá Svišťovka. The locality was chosen after talks with the representatives of the Tatra National Park (TANAP) administration, situated in Tatranská Lomnica.
“New hiking bridges are made of red spruce wood; we used altogether five tonnes that were brought to the place by helicopter,” said Mikuláš Virág of Hikemates, as quoted by the TASR newswire, adding that the construction was supervised by experienced carpenters.
The works were a bit harder than their previous activities, he continued, explaining that the bigger of the two bridges is 12 metres long. Yet, this did not discourage the volunteers, and neither did bad weather.
“Thanks to the new bridges, the movement in the mountains will be safer for all nature lovers,” Virág told TASR.
So far, the volunteers and the hiking club have rebuilt 15 bridges worth more than €90,000. This includes the ones situated in the Jalovecká dolina (Western Tatras) and Kumštová dolina (Low Tatras) valleys, and two more bridges near Tatranská Lomnica. At the same time, they helped build three brand new tourist shelters in various locations.
New help for cancer patients
The latest surgical operation showed how cancer patients can be helped. (Source: Facebook/Nemocnica s poliklinikou Prievidza so sídlom v Bojniciach)Doctors of the hospital situated in Bojnice, western Slovakia, have performed a surgery that can help cancer patients across the Upper Nitra region. For the first time, they successfully applied a peripherally introduced central catheter (PICC).
“It is a long, thin tube (catheter) that is inserted through a vein in the upper limb (arm) using an ultrasound device to the large central veins in the chest,” the hospital wrote on Facebook. “The PICC catheter will thus replace the daily need to ‘stab’ the venous access, which will increase comfort during the administration of oncology treatment.”
As the hospital added, the medium-term venous access can be left in the patient for up to one year.
The procedure was performed on a digital hinged wall, a multifunctional device that was received thanks to financial support from EU funds.
Slovakia-based pizzeria listed among the best in Europe
A restaurant from Slovakia has appeared on the list of best pizzerias in Europe.
The Bratislava-based Sapori Italiani – U Taliana placed 36th in the 50 Top Pizza Europa 2024 ranking.
“Here you can definitely find a piece of Italy, both in the style of cooking and in the rich basket of ingredients used,” reads the website. “There’s a substantial slice of Naples, portrayed through classic Neapolitan-style pizza, but there’s also a wonderful gastronomic narrative of Sardinia. This is crafted by the pizzaiolo and chef Andrea Ena, who certainly knows his way around the kitchen.”
The best pizzeria in Europe for 2024 is Napoli on the Road, based in London, followed by Sartoria Panatieri in Barcelona and Via Toledo Enopizzeria in Vienna. The jury did not include Italian restaurants in the ranking, as reported by the TVnoviny.sk website.
Five feel-good stories published by The Slovak Spectator:
- Seven girls are currently studying at Dual Academy, a private secondary vocational school for automotive engineering in Bratislava. They encourage other girls not be afraid of studying technical fields.
- The successful Italian restaurant Gatto Matto has been in Bratislava for nearly 20 years. It has three sites around the city, and is very popular. And it serves great food, our food critic writes.
- Ukrainian Yelyzaveta ‘Liza’ Derevynska found a new home in Bratislava. She says that she would have gone back to Kyiv if she were not of help to refugees.
- “When it comes to a sensitive topic, I try to present it in a way that doesn't offend a person,” says Samuel Kováčik, theoretical physicist and science communicator known as Vedátor, in an interview.
- The museum in the village of Pavlovce nad Uhom, only a few kilometres from the border with Ukraine, is dedicated to people who emigrated to America before WWI, and their life in the New World.
Political meme of the week
(Source: SME/Mikuláš Sliacky)Caption: A lifetime pension for such a person is inevitable. After so many years in the PM post, he won’t be able to get money using his own head.
With this caricature, Mikuláš Sliacky of the Sme daily alludes to the recently adopted ‘lex atentát’ (assassination law), according to which prime ministers and speakers of parliament who have served two full terms in the office will be entitled to a lifetime pension. Currently, only Robert Fico (Smer) meets the condition. The new law was approved as a response to the May attack on Fico in Handlová. It contains a package of measures meant to improve the security situation in Slovakia, including the introduction of new reasons for banning public gatherings. Sliacky uses a modified quote from a recording on which a voice similar to Fico’s talks about securing things for the party, like money, with “one’s own head”.
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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