Sobrance: not just good coffee, but culture too
Since March 2026 we have been meeting at Dobrá Vila for talks and discussions with interesting guests. We talk about health, history, travel, etiquette and the world around us – including forgotten chapters of local history. This is what our evenings have looked like so far.
Programme & reservations
Past evenings
Newest first
A Big Night Without the Faux Pas
Etiquette for balls and graduation dances
Ahead of the ball season, we discussed what to wear, how to handle the dancing, whom to greet first and what to do with the cutlery. Guests were welcomed with a drink, Michaela Belejová answered practical questions, and the evening closed with an etiquette quiz with a perfume as the prize.
Exercise at Every Age
Physical activity and its effect on health
Is exercise just as important in childhood, in working life and in retirement? With trainer Ladislav Lechan Jr. of Lechan GYM, we talked about how the body’s needs change with age and what we can do for our health today. The discussion ended with a voluntary fitness challenge that guests took on right between the café tables. The bravest went home with vouchers from Lechan GYM.
Russia and Ukraine
A geopolitical evening
An evening on a topic that is shaking Europe. Prof. Ján Šafin, who opened our spring series, returned to talk about the war in Ukraine and relations with Russia – a philosopher’s and historian’s perspective, free of slogans and with room for questions. The discussion went on long after the official end.
Etiquette That Works
Should a gentleman still pay?
Who pays the bill, who greets whom first, and how to behave so that others feel at ease in our company. Etiquette is not just about rules – it is about respect and good communication. Questions from the audience took up almost half the evening.
Travel Evening
Stories from countries where nature, food and adventure meet
A volunteer in Kenya and a tour guide, he explained why every journey can be both carefully planned and spontaneous. In a villa that once belonged to the globetrotter Ing. Gabriel Maxim, it was an evening made to measure.
3rd discussion eveningThe Culture of Coffee and Tea
From ritual to an elegant experience
How coffee and tea are served, offered and enjoyed in company. Our third discussion evening – the first with Michaela Belejová – filled the café and began a series we returned to in May and again in the autumn.
The Lawyer of Sobrance
The life of Dr Eugen Maxim
“Novi fiškaľis vov Szobráncu otvorel kancellariu” – “a new lawyer has opened an office in Sobrance”. Samuel Šabak pieced together from the archives the life of a forgotten native of Sobrance, Dr Eugen Maxim (1886 – 1967), from his law studies in Budapest to his law office in Sobrance. The debate carried on long after the talk.
Health, Fasting and Science
Why monks knew what scientists discovered only yesterday
Prof. Ján Šafin spoke about what monks knew about health and fasting centuries before Silicon Valley “discovered” it in 2016. The first discussion evening at Dobrá Vila launched a series that has continued ever since.