The pleasantest things in the world are pleasant thoughts, and the great art of life is to have as many of them as possible.
Like Chamilova’s memories of Tatranka, Katarina’s rustic house 'that smelled of wood smoke and goat's milk' ensures that pleasant thoughts stay with us forever ...
Tatranka Dances
Tatranka Folkloric Group Subor Tribute to Marta Chamilova
As my folkloric teacher, Marta Chamillova, used to say "... if you want to set something afire, you must burn yourself." And as young Jan Palach observed from his deathbed..."In history there are times when action has to be taken."
You know of the disease in Central Europe called dancing disease ...
There also exists a dancing happiness of the soul. Its most dangerous aspect is that one is unaware of its coming. That is why you have to be careful. As soon as you notice the slightest sign of happiness, the moment you become aware of the gain of a certain naughtiness, of enthusiasm and zest, take it as a warning. You should realize that your soul rejoys if you start practicing folklore steps on the way to school. Chamillova's Tatranka
The recent issue of the World of Interiors flooded my childhood memories of grandmother (babka Katka)
Babka's house on Slovak side of the High Tatra Mountains, across Slovak Poland border Poprad River, was also small three room chalupa where 10 kids were raised including my father Jozef, stryko Pavol, Peter, Stefan, teta Žofia, Julia ...
A rare colour photograph of Grandfather Pavol, who was in the World War I Austrio-Hungarian Empire Army uniform, is still seared in my memory. It hang eerily on the wall in the kitchen opposite the wood fire stove next to the radio (this room doubled as my bedroom when I stayed with babka Katka during school summer holidays)
Godfather Jan Brunovsky, sawmill owner - manager, who lived next to the church added lots of colour to my summer breaks. Jan was the first person to share the story of Oscar Schindler which became known more widely when Thomas Keneally penned it as Schindlers Ark in 1982.
My nephew Marcel captured rather well the mystery of the colourful Pilhov and Mnišek nad Popradom
Tucked under Poland’s Tatra Mountains, this two-room log cabin
Photpgraphs by Fritz von der Schulenburg
Jutta Fischer toasts it with a glass of goat’s milk. First published: January 1984
When Jutta visited Katia and Jasiek's cottage at the foot of Poland's High Tatra Mountains, it still brimmed with traditional artefacts. From folk art to farming utensils and national heroes celebrated in glass paintings, it spoke of a heritage still very much a part of modern life, and the country's struggle for independence.
Pilhov - spiritual place above Poprad River
Exclusive: Blessed Irish and Pilhov Potato Soil - Media Dragon
Pilhov Peppered with Potatoes - Media Dragon
The first book in any language to explore the Young Poland (Mloda Polska) period in the context of the international Arts and Crafts movements
Young Poland The Polish Arts and Crafts Movement, 1890-1918
Modern life is rubbish! The people whose homes are portals to the past Guardian
The age of wood. Lewis Mumford called it “the most various, the most shapeable, the most serviceable” of materials. It's also the most underappreciated ... carpenters like Jozef
Her Grandson Andrej Imrich put the Spis Castle on the map in 1992 ;-)
Spiš Castle makes it to National Geographic Traveller ...
Archaeologists from the Polish Academy of Sciences discovered a ceramic vessel containing well over 6,000 coins and rings as well as silver bullion near a village in central Poland, not far from the site of the country’s largest-ever treasure find in 1935. Researchers believe that this hoard may have been the dowry of a 12th-century Kievan princess who married an important Polish noble. – New York Observer
