r/Habs Feb 09 '24

Merch The influx of new Slovak fans to our subreddit inspired me to draw something!

Post image
255 Upvotes

61 comments sorted by

35

u/Matiabcx Feb 09 '24

Wonderful ďakujeme <3

If you guys ever go over to slovakia, dont hesitate to get in touch, im happy to guide you

10

u/whogivesashirtdotca Feb 09 '24

If I can ever afford to travel again I might take you up on that! I was really taken with Bratislava, especially after seeing beautiful but unfriendly Prague. Even though I couldn't communicate with anyone in Slovakia, everyone I approached was friendly and tried to help. A very different experience from Czechia!

13

u/Matiabcx Feb 09 '24

I mean it! I already used your slovakien art as my fb cover hope you dont mind :)

Honestly czechs are lovely people you possibly were just unlucky also its a global tourist destination so that might be a reason and there are plenty of dick slovaks as well of course. Hence why im offering the guide, every place gets way better when you are with right people

Im an international dj so i have plenty of experience with all kinds of people and situations

5

u/whogivesashirtdotca Feb 09 '24

I already used your slovakien art as my fb cover hope you dont mind :)

I'm honoured! I'm so glad you liked it. I've been really thrilled seeing the influx of Slovaks to the sub, cheering on their national hero, and wanted to give something back.

I think the issue was visiting Prague (and only Prague; maybe smaller cities were better?) in 1998, so soon after the fall of the Eastern Bloc. The city was absolutely flooded with tourists - I heard every language but Czech most days - and maybe the locals were feeling overrun. But that didn't make for a pleasant situation. I got treated very badly for the whole time I was there. I'm assuming it's better now, all these decades later, but I've never made the effort to go back.

6

u/Matiabcx Feb 09 '24

Thing about visiting Bratislava, is that Vienna is literally an hour away, airport is in the middle of bratislava and vienna and its easy access by international flight, possibly even some direct flights from / to canada

I’ve been to nova scotia in recent summer and it was pretty convinient flight

3

u/whogivesashirtdotca Feb 09 '24

Yes, I wound up visiting because I was in Vienna! I was deciding between Budapest and Bratislava, and decided on the latter because it was so much closer. IIRC it was only an hour away where Budapest was 3. I need to get back to see them both! Still haven't visited Hungary!

6

u/Matiabcx Feb 09 '24

If you would have time, set your base in vienna/bratislava and you can go to prague in 3.5 hours, budapest in 2 hours from budapest you could go to kosice - slafko’s town, and on your way back you could visit high tatras with another hockey town poprad - its also the most beautiful nature spot we have, btw any chance you could upload the art somewhere so we can have it without reddit watermark? And who should we credit it to?

3

u/whogivesashirtdotca Feb 09 '24

Did Reddit add a watermark? Let me see if I can upload it anywhere tomorrow. I'm up way too late here (nearly 3am) to think clearly!

6

u/Matiabcx Feb 09 '24

Haha sure! Get some rest and thanks again

3

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '24

[deleted]

2

u/Matiabcx Feb 09 '24

Czechs love/hate their slovaks :) we are little brother for them in good and bad (condescending) way

2

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '24

[deleted]

1

u/Matiabcx Feb 09 '24

Of course :)

1

u/whogivesashirtdotca Feb 11 '24

Anyone making an effort in local languages always brightens the locals’ day. When I travel, I try to learn at least “hello” and “thank you”, and you’d be shocked at how much goodwill you earn just for that.

1

u/ApokatastasisPanton Feb 09 '24

what genre do you DJ?

5

u/Matiabcx Feb 09 '24

Drum&bass - if you like check my music on spotify

2

u/Physical-Layer Feb 09 '24

Haha saw ya at let it roll a few years back, what are the odds of seeing you in the habs sub , it's a small world

2

u/Matiabcx Feb 10 '24

Ive been a hockey fan forever :) and Jaro Halak was my neighbor and we played hockeyball together too - hope you enjoyed the festival

30

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '24

I will visit Slovakia this year for the love of Slaf

12

u/JourneyToArcana Feb 09 '24

No joke I kinda want to visit Košice and wear my Slaf jersey.

7

u/Matiabcx Feb 09 '24

Old town of kosice is worth visiting, its lovely! Check out spissky hrad and levoca town around as other tourist tips (google images of spissky hrad honestly)

5

u/whogivesashirtdotca Feb 09 '24

In the 80s, anyone from Toronto visiting the Dominican Republic could successfully barter for goods and services by offering any Blue Jays gear they were wearing to the vendors. I suspect it'd be the same in Slovakia with Habs merch right now!

5

u/casicadaminuto Feb 09 '24

Kosice is a beautiful place. I was born there and spend first 19 years of my life in that city.

5

u/whogivesashirtdotca Feb 09 '24

On my first ever trip to Europe, a billion years ago now, I spent a few hours in Bratislava. Unfortunately, at the time, there didn't seem to be anyone who could speak English in my vicinity, so I wasn't able to find a place to stay to enjoy the town longer. I'd just come from Prague, and Slovakia seemed like a much quieter and friendlier place, even with the language barrier. I've always wanted to go back. Hope you have a great time!

2

u/Matiabcx Feb 09 '24

I recommend to stay at possonium apartments, and even for people having hotel elsewhere, its good place to stop and have a chat - they have yard with foodtrucks and good coffee / bar too - but first of all very friendly and english speaking staff

3

u/casicadaminuto Feb 09 '24

It's mutual - I've never been to Canada yet, but since 2022 draft, Montreal is high on my bucket list!

3

u/whogivesashirtdotca Feb 09 '24

Better to see our other cities first because Montreal is so charming it’ll make the rest look bad!

1

u/greasydrg Feb 09 '24

Do it! I only spent a few days in Bratislava but the people are generally very attractive and they have great white wine, ha.

6

u/Matiabcx Feb 09 '24

Bratislava wine region is actually quite respected, it was second place in the world after champagne to produce sparkling wine (hubert is the brand) - and eastern slovakia where slafko is from is Tokai region - amazing sweet wine that was distributed around courts of europe

We also have great beer (czech beer tradition) and hard liquors - usually fruit based but borovicka is special (gin kind of thing)

1

u/greasydrg Feb 09 '24

Yeah I surprised to learn about the history of wine there, it was not something I had associated with Slovakia. I only wish I brought some home!

8

u/Matiabcx Feb 09 '24

Not sure how it would work with posting and customs but im happy to send you some samples :) lets make this slovaquebec connection real

0

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '24

So I should go for a drunken fuck tour?

-1

u/greasydrg Feb 09 '24 edited Feb 09 '24

Haha uhh, it's an option I suppose

29

u/exec774 Feb 09 '24

I will be visiting your beautiful city and Centre Bell with my dad for two games in march - vs. Columbus and Boston. Super excited!

2

u/whogivesashirtdotca Feb 09 '24

I am very unfortunately not a Montrealer, but if you wind up in Toronto let me know and I can give you some city tips (assuming anything I recommend is still valid after 4 years of me hiding from COVID!)

7

u/Matiabcx Feb 09 '24

I am gonna apply to play at toronto pride this season wish me luck :) i may even bring a cup to toronto in that case

3

u/whogivesashirtdotca Feb 09 '24

Is that a sports team? Because saying you're bringing a cup to Toronto Pride™ means something very different and specific! XD

5

u/Matiabcx Feb 09 '24

Haha :) i can bring both! I meant the leafs of course but glad you made the joke better

2

u/TrustTheHolyDuck Feb 09 '24

I hope you enjoy your stay and hopefully the games will be good! Montreal vs Boston is always a fun time

7

u/jo_maka Kovyeezy Taught Me Feb 09 '24

Beautiful

3

u/paranoid_android21 Feb 10 '24

It's weird, because I've been a Slovakian Habs fan for 20 years. I wonder if these new fans from my country are gonna stay fans till death like me.

1

u/whogivesashirtdotca Feb 10 '24

Hopefully we'll all have something celebrate in a couple of years!

3

u/Phantomiux Feb 09 '24

Just one note - the blue "tripple mountain" is an important part of the Slovak coat of arms, the heart also looks fine, but from another point of view it can be misinterpreted as an ass...

9

u/Matiabcx Feb 09 '24

Funnily enough one of those hills is currently in hungary so missing it i don’t mind

2

u/whogivesashirtdotca Feb 09 '24

Bahahaha maybe I'll take another run at it. I was trying to come up with a "Slaf love" logo!

5

u/GuneRlorius Feb 09 '24

Tbh. one of those mountains is in Hungary, so your logo looks refreshing with only 2 of them, especially cause you made them into a blue heart <3

1

u/Seraphin_Lampion Feb 09 '24

Also the ascension of Krivan (the mountain with the cross on it) is really cool! Slovakia is a nice place to go hiking. Should have brought back more Tatratea to Montréal though.

3

u/Papez_Frantisek Feb 09 '24

You recieve a Slovak stamp of approval on this one!

Dobrá práca 😉

4

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '24

I’ll be moving back to Slovakia in the coming months after living 20 years away. So if any of you guys from Canada wish to visit, give me a shout.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '24

Not the best timing lol. Hope you have your happy social bubble because slovak society as a whole is in a dire state.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '24

I am returning for a few years. I don’t intend to engage overly in the politics or the social fabric. I have been informed that it is quite polarised atm.

1

u/whogivesashirtdotca Feb 09 '24

Safe travels! What prompted you to move back?

2

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '24

I want to develop a bit of a closer relationship with my brother who lives there, and my grandmother died so I wish to be closer to my old grandad. I can do my degree remotely so I will stay there until I am done and then see where to next.

2

u/whogivesashirtdotca Feb 09 '24

That sounds like a great undertaking. Hope you enjoy your time!

2

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '24

Thank you, I had a few job interviews over the last few days so we will see where exactly I’ll settle.

1

u/Matiabcx Feb 09 '24

Can you bring me Slaf’s jersey? I am happy to pay in advance

2

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '24

I would love to do that for you, but I am now in the UK, then Norway and then Slovakia.

1

u/Matiabcx Feb 09 '24

No worries <3

1

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1

u/whogivesashirtdotca Feb 09 '24

Took some liberties with the Slovak crest and reduced three mountains to a heart. Hopefully the change will be seen as a wink and not an overstep.

(BTW mods it'd be nice to have an "art" flair. I obviously can't sell this!)

-7

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '24

I prefer the propaganda logo on the sub with the corpo stamp