Skip to content

Happy Easter from Bratislava!

Chocolate Easter eggs are an essential part of Easter celebrations in Ireland (and of course Britain), but today I’m leaving the Irish theme and taking a look at some Slovak culture.

You can certainly find chocolate eggs here in Bratislava, but these rather manic looking rabbits are far more popular.

Chocolate Easter rabbits

Traditional Slovak Easter eggs aren’t meant to be eaten, although they’re made from real eggs. The shells are emptied of their contents, and then decorated by hand in a variety of styles and techniques. Here’s a fine selection of them, laid out on an Easter market stall in the Old Town Centre.

Slovak Easter eggs

Slovak decorated eggs

It’s also lovely to see the beautiful old buildings of the Main Square festooned with decorated eggs at this time of year.

Bratislava buildings decorated with eggs

Well, not really. That picture is the unexpected result of taking a photo without flash while passing a closed and unlit market stall one evening. I was just experimenting with my new camera. I didn’t realise how strongly the buildings opposite were reflected in the window until I saw it on my computer afterwards.

The next picture is the same window display a few moments earlier. That time I used flash, which removed the reflections of the buildings but created a reflection of itself.

A display of Slovak Easter eggs

In another window, in a corner of the Main Square, the Café Mayer provided this sweet and tempting Easter display.

Cafe Mayer’s Easter window display

But if you really think Easter and chocolate go together, then the Maximilian Schokocafe is a place you ought to visit

Maximilian Schokocafe

because inside, amongst all the edible and drinkable goodies, is this chocoholics’ dream, a fountain of glistening chocolate.

A chocolate fountain

Veselú Velkú Noc!

Some Irish Things in Slovakia

Irish pubs

Of course there are Irish pubs in Slovakia. This one is in the city of Banská Bystrica in the centre of Slovakia. This region is considered to be at the heart of Slovak culture, but they manage to make a bit of room for Irish culture too.

banskabystricairishpub.JPG

And this is the Dubliner Irish pub at night in Bratislava’s Old Town Centre.

dublinerpubba.JPG

Irish Whiskey

You can see it here in front of two local favourites, Becherovka and Fernet. Don’t forget the “e” in Irish whiskey that distinguishes it from Scotch whisky.

irishwhiskey.JPG

Irish Dancing Lessons

You can learn Irish dancing in Banska Bystrica…

banskabystricairishdance2.JPG

…or in Bratislava. This poster is advertising a 10-week course for beginners.

celticdanceposterba.JPG

Irish writers

In a bookshop window in Bratislava I spotted these Slovak translations of books by John B Keane and William Trevor. You can also just see the corner of a book by that famous Irish author, Maeve Binchyova. Foreign women’s names tend to get Slovakicised here along with their writing.

irishauthorsinsk.JPG

Crubeens

otherwise known as pigs’ feet. They are a traditional Irish delicacy, but there just isn’t an elegant way of eating them. You have to get down and dirty. Dobru chut!

a plate of crubeens.JPG

An Irish Dog

I met this happy Irish setter taking some excercise in front of Bratislava Castle. I bet he’d enjoy some crubeens!

irishsetter.JPG

A Celtic Cross

It’s on a man’s sweatshirt, which is on a man.

sweatshirtcelticcross.JPG

Some Irish Flags in Company

An Irish flag with an EU flag and a Slovak flag

threeflags.JPG

An Irish flag and a gay flag

irishandgayflag.JPG

Three mini-tricolours together:

Irish, French and Italian. They were on adjoining desks in the European marquee in Hviezdoslav Square, Bratislava on 26th March. This big tent was erected to mark the founding of the Europen Union 50 years ago. Neither Ireland nor Slovakia were members back then, and it wasn’t called the EU but the European Economic Community. Ireland joined in 1973 and Slovakia in 2004.

minitricolours.JPG

Irish Tricolour Balloons

irishballoons.JPG