widespread sense of decorum .
There it is at last , Uličské Krivé : a rather anonymous village embellished by the Orthodox church dedicated to the Archangel Michael , built in 1718 . To visit wooden churches in this region , you have to get the keeper , who usually lives nearby , to open the door for you , and hope he speaks a few words of English . Luckily , the little family , on a bicycle who had just arrived took care of this , bringing the keeper in with the enthusiasm of someone who has been kicked awake in the middle of his afternoon nap . His camouflage outfit , even the face mask , makes him look like a military version of Benny Hill . The Veteran points threateningly at my camera , peremptorily pronouncing a sentence with many “ niet ”. Under the severe gaze of Sergeant Hill , seriously , I am convinced he is a reservist of the Special Forces , I am only allowed to photograph the outside .
I have better luck at Bodružal where , for the price of a couple of Euros , I can shoot the interior . The side wooden walls are treated as a big canvas , while the central one is occupied by the iconostasis glittering with golden stucco . Among the Orthodox icons , there are images of
Christ in “ Catholic style ” ( those in which he looks like David Gilmour in “ Live at Pompeii ”) together with photos of a smiling Bergoglio and many of Wojtyła glowing sanctity . In the Catholic church of Saint Francis in Hervartov , from the 15th century , wall paintings from different periods have features in common with Greek Catholic ones . In this land with blurred borders , even styles merge and blur .
But the most unexpected contamination I discovered was in Medzilaborce , a tiny town on the road along the Polish border . Here , like a jewel hidden in a barn , is the Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art , which houses an important collection of original pieces by the genius of pop art . Why there ’ s a piece of the Big Apple in this remote countryside is easy to explain ; the artist ’ s parents , Ondrej Varchola and Julia Zavacka , left in 1909 from the nearby village of Mikova for New York , where they changed their surname in Warhola . In the extensive section focusing on Andy ’ s Ruthenian origins , it is clear how decisive this culture was for his work .
After many days in the saddle , even the line within rider and bike has blurred ; the V-Strom 1050 XT lives up to its vocation as an easy
TRAVERSE 26