Hello out there, dear people of the blogosphere. How are you doing? I hope life is treating you well and if not know my thoughts and prayers go out to you daily no matter my situation.

I have learned three things in the 6 months since my diagnosis of cancer:

1. Sometimes life sucks.
2. Cancer certainly sucks.
3. Cancer in the midst of a pandemic sucks even more.

Yes, that about sums up my mood. Guess what, even those who try to spread positivity have bad days. Or weeks. And no chemotherapy last week wasn’t that bad. Nor are the side-effects. No being sick this time, just swollen feet and a sunburn. Well, and feeling ill, but that goes by soon. And the tiredness and mind fogginess gets worse. Me not likey 😦 .

It makes writing something longer but still coherent a little tricky. So please bear with me when I cheat a little in some of my posts. I know, I know, I do not need to blog. No one forces me. But it keeps me going, peeps. It holds some normality in my life, and I do need that.

Ok, enough complained. Let’s get away to Slovakia and listen to some music:

According to Australian travel vloggers “Flying The Nest” Slovakia is surprisingly beautiful.

I cannot vouch for it because I have never been there and I have not much knowledge about it either. So let’s see what Sebastian Ioan has to say about it:

Slovakia Travel says about the country:

Slovakia is not one of the countries everybody’s been to. You will discover hundreds of unexpected curiosities and secrets in almost every village or a small town, in the mountains and valleys. It is Slovakia where you can feel as a real explorer who is always able to discover something new. Include Slovakia in your tourist routes.

Slovaks are emotional nation. We experience our joys, successes, disappointments and sorrows with emotions. We are sincere, friendly, open, hearty, generous, but also touchy. This is the way we differ from our neighbouring nations. But in the end, it is our heartiness and trustfulness that prevail. We are able to fully experience joys and concerns of our visitors and empathise with their feelings. We are a country of friends!

Folk crafts, costumes, music and dances in Slovakia are passed on from one generation to another.  There are different cultural traditions and folklore in every valley. Many folklore festivals and performances are held in Slovakia throughout a year. Slovak overtone flute called “fujara” as well as Music of Terchova were included in the UNESCO List of Intangible Heritage, the Radvan Fair and “gajdy” bagpipes are on the waiting list. 

Slovakia is a country of contrasts. It changes right in front of your eyes, yet everything and everywhere is nearby. It just takes a couple of hours to get from the Danubian Lowland to the Central European Highlands, still bodies of water are just at a stone’s throw from turbulent river rapids. You can get swiftly from urban agglomerations to secluded, romantic highway gateways with unspoiled nature.

Due to its geographical position, Slovakia’s always been an important trade and cultural intersection. In a relatively small area influences and remnants of western as well as eastern cultures or religions can be detected. In Slovakia you can find northern discipline along with southern temperament, and western rationality with eastern emotionality. It is reflected in eventfulness of everyday life.

Slovakia is a young, progressive country. During almost three decades of its existence we’ve gone through dynamic changes, new things emerge every day. We surprise the world by our advanced technical level which goes hand in hand with human touch. New companies are founded every day, new objects or city landmarks emerge, life conditions are improving, but we keep our traditional values as well.  This is Slovakia.

We can praise ourselves with skilful and resourceful people who have managed to succeed abroad, as well as with successful and innovative companies and projects which are respected by demanding international community. We are represented in science, culture and sports. World-changing inventions are associated with the names of Joseph Maximiliam Petzval (inventor of photographic objective lens), Jozef Murgaš (inventor of wireless telegraph), Jan Bahýľ (inventor of helicopter), Štefan Banič (invetor of a parachute), Aurel Stodola (founder of the theory of steam and gas turbines), Ivan Alexander Getting (inventor of GPS), and many others. In a field of culture we are famous for the founder of pop art, Andy Warhol, well-known are names and performances of tens of opera singers, painters, photographers and sportsmen. You can find successful Slovaks everywhere. 

Source: Slovakia Travel

That’s not bad for such a small country, is it?

Shall we see a little more of it?

Definitely worth a visit 🙂

And for the music?

I chose a lady called Zuzana Smatanova because one of the wikis said she sang in English too. Well, I could not find an English song of hers, but I like her style. I also did not manage to find much more information on her than what Wikipedia offers:

Zuzana Smatanová (born June 14, 1984 Súľov-Hradná, Slovakia) is a Slovak pop-rock singer. She sings in Slovak and in English, writing her own lyrics and music. She plays the piano, the flute and the guitar.

In 1998 she was accepted to Pedagogical and Social Academy in Turčianske Teplice, but was more attracted to writing music than to being a teacher

Let’s hear her then 🙂

Lyrics translation via Google Translate:

The Only One

The only one and only one
I don’t promise you the arms of the stars
gold fish that fulfill your wishes
fast, to wait
I only have the palms that want to lead you
deep night and day
somewhere in real dreams

I don’t promise you more than I have
in the heart of the territory where we leave
grow love for us
I’ll make you feel like you’re not alone
the world around us suddenly disappears
and let the fire burn

We are the only one and the only one
on Earth alone and only for oneself
when the rooms of the house smell of you
then I experience everything again, again
the heart is the only sound
and only thanks to him can you hear them
that you are close…

I don’t promise you an air castle
I’ll give you a garden where you don’t need to
two chubby tree
I know you feel scared sometimes
I will do everything I can
that you will be with me and safe

I promise you no more than I know
in the house eternal spring and in the darkness
rooms smile and tea
I want you to know that I understand
if you start to feel distant in the distance
I will wait for you on the way back

We are the only one and the only one
on Earth alone and only for oneself
when the rooms of the house smell of you
then I experience everything again, again
the heart is the only sound
and only thanks to him can you hear them
that we are… the only one…

And where are we going next week?

Come Away With Me 2020 Musical Challenge Country for Monday, July 13th, 2020

I am taking a rather random route around the world, but sometimes it makes sense. Next week we move a little more south to Moldova. Please find Moldovan musicians here on the Last.FM page.

As for the suggestions to take part:

1. Join in! No matter where, when and with what. You missed the first week? Don’t worry. Just jump in when it suits you.
2. Send us the link! The ping-back option does not always work so please leave a link in the comments of the post on the day you take part. Or leave it at the “Come Away With Me 2020 FB page“
3. Tag your post either with ” Come Away With Me Musical Challenge”/ #CoAwWiMeMuCh” / “Come Away with Me 2020 Musical Challenge” o/“CoAwWiMe2020MuCh” / . You can also use these as hashtags for Twitter and other Social Networks to give your post more exposure. If you add #blog and #music with your hashtags it will get you more readers.
4. No matter which music or country the prompt favours you create with it whatever you please. This is supposed to be a fun challenge and no chore.
5. I post a prompt for the next week with every “Come Away With Me 2020 post” I write.
6. If you like, use this picture for your readers to find the posts.

Please stay a little longer and find my poetry posts on The Bee Creates… on Weebly. Thanks!

You are more into photography? Then please check out my photo posts on Bee Wordless on Blogger.

You can also find my photos on Dreamstime (affiliate link, you do not need to buy anything but if you do I get 10% from your purchase).

Just one more thing before you go: The hospital that is treating me is fundraising for a dedicated breast cancer unit which would allow same-day diagnosis and better premises for patients and staff.

Please, if you can spare a little money hop over to their Just Giving Page and give as little or much as you can. Or share the page on your social media. Your support means a lot to me! Thank you very much.

Thanks my dears, for staying with me until the end. I appreciate your presence. Please stay safe, stay kind and remember that you rock!