My first visit to Slovakia was in the summer of 1994. I had travelled in my caravan with friends and toured the country. A highlight was a visit to the observation platform on top of Lomnicky Stit (2632 m) on a beautiful clear, sunny day. What tremendous views we had. Remember, the highest peak in England is Scafell Pike at 978 metres!

I moved in August 1995 to Slovakia to live and continue my teaching career at a bilingual school in the Petrzalka district of Bratislava. This was great because I was able to teach my subjects, history and geography, in English. I was then given the opportunity to work for the English department of Slovak Radio (Slovensky Rozhlas) in their international section. I mention this because my brief was to report from the various regions of Slovakia. For a foreigner this was an amazing job as I was able to travel throughout the country and report on things I discovered in this amazing little country in the heart of Europe.

This booklet builds on my experiences as I seek to share some of the treasures I discovered. Many of these treasures have stayed hidden to most of Western Europe. In fact, one of my criticisms of this country is that it does not sell itself well as a tourist destination. Perhaps, as Slovakia takes on the chairmanship of the European Union, this may change.