In June 2010 I took the trip of a lifetime back to my ancestral homeland of Slovakia. I wrote about my experiences in a series of posts entitled “Sojourn in Slovakia.” On that trip, I met Alzo cousins I didn’t know I had. I also visited three out of four of my ancestral villages: Kučin,, Milpoš, and Poša and spent some time in Presov. It was a fantastic trip and when I left to travel back home I vowed I would return again so that I could visit that fourth ancestral village, Osturňa, and also visit some archives.
Fast forward two years. I have just recently return from that second trip to Slovakia. I spent eight amazing days there–June 15-23–and am happy to report that I indeed got to spend two days in Osturňa and packed in plenty of time at various archives, making some interesting discoveries about some of my ancestors.
It was my hope to be able to do some live blogging–documenting visits and events as they happened. But the reality was quite different. Because of a very hectic schedule and only sporadic Wi-Fi access, I did not get the chance to blog in real time. I did send some tweets and do some Facebook posts so that I could have the highlights to refer to when I sat down to write about the trip. Therefore, I will be starting this new series “Sojourn in Slovakia: The Sequel.” I will be writing in detail about each day (with photos), but here are the places I visited/main highlights of my trip:
Kučin – I spent time with my Alzo cousins again including my cousins from London who brought their 1-year-old daughter back to the village for the first time. I met new cousins I didn’t have the opportunity to see during the 2010 trip and got to meet the Mayor.
Presov – I received a personalized tour of the archives (housed in an old monastery) – very cool.
Michalovce – I got to visit the Redemptorist monastery (I am related through my paternal great-grandmother to a famous monk who served there and did many great things (more on that in a future post!)
Vranov – Archive and church visit
Nizny Hrabovec – Went to records office and town visit
Osturňa – I visited my grandpap’s birthplace!
Podolinec – I found living cousins there! (#WDYTYA moment!) and I also obtained some key records about some of my ancestors.
Kosice – got to see some of the sites in the main town area
All in all it was a fabulous second trip!
Stay tuned for day-by-day travelogue!
Copyright 2012, Lisa A. Alzo
All Rights Reserved
What a wonderful second opportunity, Lisa! Yes, unfortunately, that wifi capability is not universal…but it will be just as interesting to read what you put together, now that you are back home and able to organize and reflect on your finds. Looking forward to reading your reports!
Looking forward to it!
Yay! I loved the travelogue of your last trip. I can't wait to read this one.
Talking to distant relatives through emails and phone calls is fun but actually meeting them in their home enviroment adds a whole other level of enrichment. Great to hear these stories!
I am very envious of this "second" opportunity of a lifetime! It's one thing to connect with people via email and phone calls, but to actually meet them in their home environment adds a whole other level of enrichment. Great to hear these stories!
Can't wait to hear all about your trip–the preview sounds awesome!