Renaissance Fair

Thursday was Victory Over Fascism Day, which is a Slovak national holiday honoring the end of WW II.  For our day off from school, we were invited to go with Saška to a Renaissance Festival held at a historic walled medieval church just outside of Ludrová, near Ružomberok, which is about a 25 minute drive from here.  Saška's daughter, Zuzana, one of our Octava students (graduating this year from the 8-year bilingual program), participates with a group of historical buffs who give presentations and re-enactments involving the Knights Templar and the like.  Our other teaching friend, Zuzka, went along with us for a fun day! 

At right is the little lane lined with flowering fruit trees leading to the church grounds, and a bright sunlit canola field at the left.  

All Saints Church is out in the middle of nowhere, outside of the village of Ludrová.  It is the oldest church in the Liptov region, dating to the early 13th century.  

Here's a link to Google Maps showing the satellite view of the walled church.   
(Click below)

All Saints Church at Ludrová

The Knights Templar group prepared several different presentations and performances throughout the afternoon, beginning with some historical background information on how knights first came into existence, their purpose and lifestyle, and the eventual end of this knightly chapter of history.  Thankfully, Zuzka and Saška were translating for us!!  :-)  

During the historical explanations, there were various short skits bringing history to life.  

There were many lively and ferocious sword battles throughout the performances!  

And there were a few 'casualties' as well!    ;-)

The performers being introduced at the en of the first performance.  Zuzana is the girl in the red dress nearest to the men.  

It was really interesting seeing all of the historically accurate costumes, weapons, coats of mail, etc.  It was quite an ordeal for the knights to get dressed, layering their various costume pieces and defensive apparel.  

After the first performance, the gals served some food that they had prepared.  It was very tasty too!!  (Zuzana is on the far right.)  

Zuzana helping to cook some of the bread/wafers over the fire.  They were made of whole wheat flour, oil, salt, and water, mixed and pressed into a round wafer.  The consistency after baking was somewhere between bread and crackers.  Delicious!  

The next performance was a group of musicians who play medieval music.  The instruments were modern ones, but the music they played was period-authentic. 

There were many vendors with rustic booths, selling a variety of food products, Slovak souvenirs, as well as hand crafted jewelry, painted silk scarves, etc. etc.  We've seen these characteristic bells (used for sheep and cows up in the mountain pastures) many times.  The man at center was playing songs on the bells, set up like a xylophone.  

These cornhusk dolls are also very typical, and they were also serving open-face bread or grilled wheat shell sandwiches with toppings.

The interior of the church is famous for its frescoes with Biblical figures and Bible stories.  

The wooden pews were also typical - ornately painted with decorations and religious symbols.  

This particular pew was the 'wedding box', and legend has it that anyone who sits in it will be married within a year.  

I don't know what was stored in the drawers of this chest, but there's also a good view of a traditional Slovak costume for men.  

These salvaged pieces were on display showing decor from the Baroque period.  

With Zuzka and Saška outside the church.  

The church as seen from just inside the walls.  

The next performance was an original story involving a couple of knights, but it started out with this lovely scarf dance.  She was swinging these triangular scarves, made out of really heavy fabric and attached to a handle with a swivel, in a complicated dance.  

There was an even bigger crowd for this second performance, so it was almost "theatre in the round".  It was neat to see so many families who brought children to learn about history and have some fun on a beautiful spring afternoon!

In mid-afternoon, we walked down the road a little ways to a nearby restaurant for some lunch.  On the way back, Tim took a picture with Saška and Zuzka, and the walled church grounds in the background, literally surrounded on all sides by fields.  

We are absolutely captivated by the gorgeous mountain views in every direction!  Maybe our readers are getting an overdose of canola fields and mountain scenes, but these are our normal springtime surroundings here, and we want to capture it all to share with you!!  

Zuzana arranged for us to have a picture taken with her and some of the other actors.  We certainly did enjoy all of their performances throughout the afternoon!  

Thursday night at volleyball, I was not feeling very well at all, and things kept getting worse, so I had to call Saška after we got back to ask her to take me to a doctor in the morning.  I was pretty sure I had developed a urinary tract infection, and a Voxer conversation with our P.A. daughter at work in Oklahoma strengthened the certainty of that diagnosis.  After a fairly miserable night, we saw a urologist first thing in the morning, and since starting antibiotics I'm starting to feel better, thankfully.  It was fascinating to note the various differences in the medical system here.  The doctor did speak English, but I really appreciated having Saška there to help with communication and the general procedures for visiting a doctor here in Slovakia.  Because of the national health care here, with premiums paid by our school, the total cost for my medical care was 1.60 EU (about $2) for the antibiotics.  

The worst part is that I had to take a sick day and miss school on Friday - I hate that!  But I slept most of the day, and I'm sure the rest helped me a lot.   And the other worst part (O.K., I know there can't technically be two "worst's", but in this case they are equal) is that Becca, one of the American lectors at the Bratislava Lyceum (H.S.) , is visiting us for the weekend, so I'm stuck here at our flat while Tim and Becca are off hiking all day in the High Tatras.    :-(   

But, I'm grateful that after almost two years here, this is the first time that either of us has needed to seek medical care, which means we've been very healthy.  Such a blessing!!  So Tim has the camera today, and I'll need his help for the next post.  Until then, God bless!!