The Rough Guide to Czech & Slovak Republics
- Book Review,
by Rob Humphreys
Book Description
INTRODUCTION "The only thing I know about Slovakia is what I learned first-hand from your foreign minister, who came to Texas." George W. Bush replying to a Slovak journalist. Bush had, in fact, met the leader of Slovenia. The complexities of central European politics can be baffling to outsiders. In fact, even those who knew their Slovaks from their Slovenes were surprised when, on New Year’s Day 1993, after seventy years of (sometimes turbulent) cohabitation, the Czechs and Slovaks went their separate ways and Czechoslovakia ceased to exist. To the outsider, at least, it had looked like a match made in heaven. Yet just three years after the Velvet Revolution – when true to their pacifist past, the Czechs and Slovaks shrugged off 41 years of Communist rule without so much as a shot being fired – came the Velvet Divorce. In the ten years since then, the two republics have continued to change at an unprecedented rate and are now more accessible today than at any time since the 1930s. The major cities buzz with a cultural and commercial diversity, and – apart from the obligatory high-rise suburbs – fail to conform to most people’s idea of former Eastern Europe. Luxury hotels have sprouted up all over Prague and, while the remoter regions can sometimes seem more reminiscent of the early twentieth century than the twenty-first, private shops and restaurants now exist in even the most provincial of rural villages. Instead of posters exhorting the country’s citizens to fulfil the next five-year plan, there are now billboards advertising mobile phones, investment portfolios and cars. Inevitably, the pace of change in both republics has been bewildering for those who lived through the Communist era, and along with the new-found freedom have come the usual suspects: multinationals, mafia and all the vices that plague the western world. Few Czechs or Slovaks would want to turn the clock right back, but when the Czech Communists receive eighteen percent of the vote, and the most popular Slovak politician is a nationalist who inveighs against the EU and NATO, it’s clear that not everybody’s happy with the changes. Most Czechs and Slovaks, however, simply shrug their shoulders at the problems, since neither nation has ever felt in full control of its historical destiny. When Czechoslovakia was founded in 1918, it was always a marriage of convenience: the Czechs reasoned that the Slovaks would help dilute the number of ethnic Germans in the new country; the Slovaks needed to escape the unwanted attentions of the Hungarians, who were keen to reform Greater Hungary. The Nazis broke up the marriage in 1938 by forcing the Slovaks into a Faustian pact; ten years later, any thoughts of divorce were thrown out of the window as the country disappeared behind the Iron Curtain; and in 1968, Warsaw Pact tanks trampled on the country’s dreams of "socialism with a human face". The 1989 Velvet Revolution only took place because the Soviet leader Gorbachev allowed it to. Even the break-up of the country was cooked up by the intransigent leaders of the two main political parties, and went ahead without a popular referendum. In contrast to the political upheavals that have plagued the region, the Czech and Slovak Republics have suffered very little physical damage over the last few centuries. Gothic castles and Baroque chateaux have been preserved in abundance, town after town in Bohemia and Moravia has retained its old medieval quarter, and even the wooden architecture of Slovakia has survived beyond all expectations. Geographically speaking, the two republics are the most diverse of all the former Eastern Bloc states. Together they span the full range of central European cultures, from the old German towns of the west to the Hungarian and Rusyn villages in East Slovakia. In physical terms, too, there’s enormous variety: Bohemia’s rolling hills, lush and relentless, couldn’t be more different from the flat Danube basin, or the granite alpine peaks of the High Tatras, the beech forests of the far east, or the coal basins of the Moravian north.
Excerpted from The Rough Guide to Czech & Slovak Republics by Rough Guides, Rob Humphreys. Copyright © 2003. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
WHERE TO GO Before the fall of Communism, a staggering ninety percent of foreign tourists visiting Czechoslovakia never strayed from the environs of the Czech capital, Prague. While that no longer holds true, Prague is still the main focus of most people’s trips to the Czech Republic, certainly English-speaking tourists. Of course, much of the attention heaped on Prague is perfectly justified. It is one of the most remarkable cities in Europe, having emerged virtually unscathed from two world wars. Baroque palaces and churches shout out from the cobbles, Gothic pinnacles spike the skyline, and Art Nouveau and functionalist edifices line the boulevards. The rest of the Czech Republic divides neatly into two: Bohemia to the west and Moravia to the east. Prague is the perfect launching pad from which to explore the rolling hills and forests of Bohemia, at their most unspoilt in South Bohemia, whose capital is Ceské Budejovice, a grid-plan medieval city and home to the original Budweiser beer. The real gem of the region is Cesky Krumlov, arguably the most stunning medieval town in the country, beautifully preserved in a narrow U-bend of the River Vltava. To the west, Plzen produces the most famous of all Czech beers, Pilsener Urquell, the original golden nectar from which all other lagers derive. Meanwhile, along the German border, a triangle of relaxing spa towns – Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázne and Frantiskovy Lázne – retain an air of their halcyon days in the last years of the Habsburg Empire. Pine-covered mountains form Bohemia’s natural borders, and the weird sandstone "rock cities" of the Ceské Svycarsko and Cesky raj and Krkonose, in the north and east of the region, make for some of the most memorable landscapes. Moravia, the eastern province of the Czech Republic, is every bit as beautiful as Bohemia, though the crowds here thin out significantly. The largest city, Brno, has its own peculiar pleasures – not least its interwar functionalist architecture – and gives access to the popular Moravian karst region, or Moravsky kras, plus a host of other nearby castles and chateaux. The southern borders of Moravia comprise the country’s main wine region, while in the uplands that form the border with Bohemia are two of the most perfectly preserved medieval towns in the entire country, Telc and Slavonice. To the north, Olomouc is perhaps Moravia’s most charming city, more immediately appealing than Brno, and just a short step away from the region’s highest mountains, the Jeseníky in Moravian Silesia, and the Beskydy, renowned for their folk architecture. Although the Slovak capital, Bratislava, can’t compare with Prague, it does have its virtues, not least its compact old town and its position on one of Europe’s great rivers, the Danube. The flat plain of the Danube basin is of little visual interest, but there are two historic towns that make worthwhile day-trips from the capital: Trnava, Slovakia’s most important ecclesiastical town, and Nitra, the spiritual centre of Slovak Catholicism. In the central mountain regions, well-preserved medieval mining towns like Banská Stiavnica and Kremnica still smack of their German origins. Other towns, like those in the Váh valley, are mainly of interest as bases for exploring the chief attractions of the region, the mountains of the Malá Fatra, Low Tatras, and – tallest and most spectacular of the lot – the High Tatras. These jagged granite peaks are Slovakia’s most popular tourist destination, and justifiably so. Within easy reach, however, is the Spis region, the country’s architectural high point. The area is dotted with intriguing medieval towns, like Levoca, originally built by German settlers, now preserved almost untouched since the sixteenth century. And just a step away is the Slovensky raj, a thickly wooded region of verdant ravines and rocky outcrops. Further east still is Presov the cultural centre of the Rusyn minority who inhabit the villages to the north and east. Here, you’ll find an extraordinary wealth of wooden churches. Finally, Kosice, Slovakia’s second largest city, boasts Europe’s easternmost Gothic cathedral and has a strongly Hungarian ambience. It’s also a good launch pad for exploring the Slovak karst region or Slovensky kras, and the beech forests of the Vihorlat region by the Ukrainian border. WHEN TO GO In general, the climate is continental, with short, fairly hot summers and chilly winters. Spring can be a good time to visit, as the days tend to warm quickly, with consistently pleasant, mild weather for most of May. This is also the blossom season, when the fruit trees that line so many Czech and Slovak roads are in full flower. Autumn is also recommended, with clear and settled weather often lasting for days on end in September and October. With both countries heavily forested, this is also a great time to appreciate the changing colours of the foliage. Winter can be a good time to come to Prague: the city looks beautiful under snow and there are fewer tourists to compete with. Other parts of the country have little to offer during winter (aside from skiing), and most sights stay firmly closed between November and March. Summer is, of course, still the season that sees the largest number of tourists descend on the two countries. Certainly, temperatures are at their highest, with the occasional heat wave pushing readings above 30°C. While that can be advantageous if you fancy swimming in a lake or river, it’s not fun in Prague, which is at its most crowded in July and August.
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