I initially noticed it during our first lunch at a cafe: a cloudy liquid sitting in a pitcher on the middle of the table. Pushing my own boundaries, I decided to take a sip. Ugh. Disgusting. Warm lemon water with pulp. What is this? Why are we drinking it? No. No. I am not having it, I would rather die of thirst than have to drink that water every day.
I soon realized that this terrible liquid was everywhere, it was unavoidable. I either had to drink up or die from dehydration in the sweltering continental heat. So I drank.
Surprisingly this stuff grew on me. I soon found myself having a hankering for a nice cold glass of lemon/lime water. So strange.
But then, of course, I started to wonder why this concoction was a "thing" here in Slovakia, and not in the Netherlands, for instance. of course, at some restaurants, you might receive a lemon wedge with your water... but here it is different. The water is infused with lemon (or lime or some other fruit). After a bit of Googling, I think I found my answer.
Not only is lemon infused water, refreshing, hydrating, and super healthy, it also encourages weight loss. Now, this coincides with something else I noticed here: women are incredibly thin. Could it be that Slovakia, like the USA, has an obsession with weight loss and being thin? In that case, it would make sense that drinking lemon water was so common here.