by Adela from Bratislava asks Santa what Christmas will be like, learns about the Tatra Mountains, and hears about Slovakia’s oplatky wafer tradition
Dear Santa, my name is Adela and I am nine years old. I live in Bratislava, Slovakia, where my dedo says our castle sits so high above the city that it can see three whole countries on a clear day.
Dear Adela, I have admired that view myself while flying past, and your dedo is entirely right about it.
Santa, I have three questions.
My first question is, what will Christmas 2026 be like? My little cousin worries every year that something might be different or go wrong.
You can reassure your cousin, Adela. The important parts of Christmas, kindness, family, warm food, and a bit of wonder, stay steady every single year, even as the details change slightly. That part I can promise with complete confidence.
My second question is about our mountains. My teacher says the Tatra Mountains are the highest in our whole region. Is that true?
It is, Adela. The Tatra Mountains, shared between Slovakia and Poland, are the highest range in the Carpathians, and flying over their snowy, jagged peaks each Christmas Eve is one of the more dramatic parts of my entire route.
My third question is about oplatky. My family shares a thin wafer with honey on Christmas Eve before dinner even starts. Why do we do that first?
Oplatky is a meaningful Slovak Christmas Eve tradition, a thin wafer, often shared with a bit of honey or garlic, exchanged among family members along with wishes for health and happiness in the year ahead. Sharing it before the meal begins is a lovely way of putting gratitude and good wishes first, before anything else, which I think is exactly the right order.
Merry Christmas, Santa.
Your friend,
Adela Horváthová
Bratislava, Slovakia
P.S. Do you prefer honey or garlic on your oplatky?
Honey, Adela, without question. The garlic version is an acquired taste I have not fully acquired.
