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'I'm afraid that if you look at a thing long enough, it loses all of its meaning.''
Andy Warhol (1928 -1987, from Pittsburgh, via Medzilaborce, Northeast Slovakia)
One does not immediately make the link between Andy Warhol, Pop artist, and Slovakia. And yet it is there not only in his genes, but in his very rejection of so much history. He famously said that he was from nowhere, and until 1993, when Slovakia became independent, in a way that was true.
Now Slovakia is reclaiming its history, and its national identity, and this is very much so in the capital Bratislava. Take a climb to the one remaining city gate, at the northern end of the Old Town, and you are standing in fourteenth century Bratislava. To the south, you can see the baroque town houses of Michalska street. Climb a little higher, via the Jewish district, to the castle, and you can see Austria (only 3kms away), and, weather permitting, Hungary.
Explore the Tatra mountains of Slovakia to Banska Bystrica. Nestled in the Low Tatra Mountains, the town is a social and cultural center. As time permits, you may also wish to stop at the Demanova Caves. The Cave of Freedom is resplendent in drip-stone decorations tinted in shades of white, yellow and red, while the Dragon Ice Cave abounds in magnificent columns, cathedral-like halls and galleries.
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