Slovakia

Country Information:

The capital of Slovakia is Bratislava. There are approximately 5.5 million people living here, and the majority of Slovaks practice Roman Catholicism. The official language of Slovakia is Slovak, with Hungarian and Roma as minority languages. 

Since 2007, Slovakia has been the world’s largest producer of cars per capita, producing over a million cars per year. With production of more than million cars in 2016, Slovakia was 20th largest producer of cars in the world, and 7th largest in the E.U.

Jim’s Perspectives:

In 2009, while studying in Poland with my MBA classmates from the University of Tennessee, my friend Mike Zelinsky set up a meeting for a few colleagues and me to visit a Dover Company car part factory outside of Kosice, Slovakia.

 After returning back to Poland, a few days later we again drove through Slovakia while touring the region.

Visitors to the country will enjoy the natural beauty of Slovakia. With nine national parks, travelers should be sure to visit High Tatras. High Tatras is the biggest national park in Slovenia and is a hub of hiking and winter sports. Also of interest are the Gothic, Baroque, and Renaissance architecture located in Bratislava. History buffs would enjoy historic sites such as Devin Castle, Michael’s Gate, and the Slavin monument.

Sudan

With my buddies in Sudan Country Information: The capital of Sudan is Khartoum and the official languages are English and Arabic. About 43 million people live here, and the main religion is Sunni Islam, with almost all of the population being Muslim. Divers will...

Chad

This girl was staring at me ... they OBVIOUSLY don't get many tourists here! Country Information:  15 million people live in Chad and the capital is N’Djamena. The primary languages are French and Arabic, though Chad is called the “Babel Tower of the world” because of...

France

On our "Backroads" bike trip from Provence to Cannes in France Jim's Perspectives: I've lost count of how many times I have visited this gem of a country. Some of the more memorable time were as a young man right out of college, I took two summers to improve my...