Blogs from Old Town, Bratislava, Bratislava Region, Slovakia, Europe

The more I think about traveling, the more its purpose unravels in my mind. I spend a day sitting in airports and airplanes. I struggle with foreign languages, customs, and railroad schedules. I overeat. I cast my eyes on yet another castle or cathedral, then come home with photos and stories to make my friends jealous, even though they often have seen the same castles and cathedrals. So I don't know if travel has a purpose or not, but here are a few observations from my recent tour through parts of eastern Europe. Travel makes you feel dumber. I had this revelation strolling around Zwinger Palace in Dresden. Built in the Eighteenth Century by the king of Saxony, the palace was grand and beautiful with labs where astronomers built super-accurate clocks. Saxony was just one of ... read more

After the night on the bus; leaving wet Krakow at midnight we arrived in Bratislava to sun at 7 am. Our airbnb was a short walk from the bus station and we were invited to check in before our host went out at 8.30 am, eventhough her official checkin time was 4pm. This allowed us to recover from the overnight before going out to explore. She was 60 and lived in a huge, very stylish apartment with high ceilings. We later found that she had many stories to tell and we learnt how it was for her to live here under Soviet occupation. Her brother had escaped 2 years before independence and it resulted in her father getting a demotion and losing his and the rest of the family's travel privelages that had come with his ... read more

We hunted for a bike shop to fix the wheel and found a shop not far from the old town on Odchodna but since the wheel could not be repaired here, we thought it better to buy a new wheel for €25! It can be fixed at home and our hotel agreed to hold it for us until our return in 2 weeks. It was a good warm dry day in spite of the forecasts, so we went off exploring on the bikes, to Bratislava Castle towering above the town. Beautiful building and landscaped gardens, and spectacular views of the Danube. We used Most SNP to cross the river. An exclusive pedestrian and cycling lane hung below the main bridge, means that you don’t have to compete with traffic, and can enjoy a quiet crossing, well ... read more

Bratislava is a jumble of elegance, style, history dating back thousands of years, and happiness, all wrapped up with welcoming friendliness that is too often missing. I came to Bratislava on a suggestion from Tim and was prepared for an interesting stopover on the way to a desired destination. After two and a half days of turning up tiny laneways, visiting majestic churches, traipsing over castle grounds that date back thousands of years, I’ve come to realise that this should be a quiet priority on any Eastern European itinerary. It may not have the high reputation bestowed upon Vienna, Prague or Budapest, but it sits proudly on the Danube and compares favourably with these cities. As you pass by stately, sometimes neglected, buildings, plaques stop you in your tracks to announce that Napoleon signed the Treaty ... read more

I woke up early to get various metro links to ‘Schwedenplatz', where the boat leaves to Bratislava. I got on the boat and we started cruising down the (actually quite murky brown) Danube. As we got a bit further out of Vienna and the clouds started to clear, the river surface did start to reflect the blue skies……so I suppose I can let Strauss off! It only took about an hour and a half to get to Bratislava as the catamaran boat was pretty speedy…..and we were going DOWNSTREAM! (Well remembered all my avid readers! ? ) I walked to my hostel (named Hostel Blues, hopefully for the music not the emotions) and left TP there while they were preparing the room to allow check in. I hate myself a little bit for this – but ... read more