Running in Bratislava

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Celebrating Ake's 40th birthday

In March this year Ake turned 40. Since Ake isn't too happy about celebrating things in general and birthdays in particular Ake decided to go abroad on his 40th birthday. Even though Ake doesn't enjoy traditional celebrations he still thinks that turning 40 is a bit special and because of this he wanted to do something special on this day. This "something special" was to run Bratislava Half Marathon.

We spent two days in Bratislava. On Saturday we did traditional sightseeing and on Sunday we ran the race.

Bratislava looks much like many other cities in central Europe. Many cities in central Europe have beautiful stone houses from the 19th or early 20th century and so does Bratislava. Many cities in central Europe have old churches and so does Bratislava. Many cities in central Europe have a castle in the old town and so does Bratislava. Bratislava is a pleasant city and a nice place to visit but there is very little in the town that you can't see in many other cities and there isn't more of it than you can see the most important things in a day or two.

Well, there is one thing that makes Bratislava stick out a little bit - the various statues that are scattered around town. They are both charming and interesting. The statues that we would like to mention here in the blog are the following:

• HC Andersen: The Danish author Hans Christian Andersen visited Bratislava in 1841. On one boulevard there is a statue of him. Note that there is a huge snail sitting between the author's legs. Why the snail is there is anyone's guess. Personally we think it would be much cooler if they had had a statue of another Andersen, or rather Anderson, namely Thomas A Anderson from The Matrix.

• Cumil (or Man at Work): The statue is of a man, a worker, climbing out of a manhole in the street

• Napoleonic army soldier: The soldier leans onto the backrest of a bench

• Photographer: This statue stands outside a restaurant named Paparazzi.

• Skateboard Girls: There is in Bratislava a statue of two girls with a skateboard. That statue also works as a mailbox

• Schone Naci: This statue is of a man who used to walk up and down this street in central Bratislava and greet everybody he met. He always had a big smile on his face and made many people happy. Inside he was a very sad person. When he was young he was dating a woman and they were planning on spending their lives together. One day his beloved was taken away to a Nazi concentration camp never to return again.

On Sunday we spent the better part of the day running. Emma finished in 1 hour 51 minutes and Ake needed 1 hour and 59 minutes. We are both proud of our results.

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Photos

House
Central Bratislava is a beautiful place. This old house is a good example

House
Central Bratislava is a beautiful place. This house is a good example

House
Central Bratislava is a beautiful place. This house is a good example

Door to a house
Bratislava is a beautiful town. This ornate door is one good example

Interesting stairway
This stairway we found on our way to the castle

Bratislava castle
Many cities in central Europe have a castle in the old town and so does Bratislava.

Castle gate
We found the castle gate to be more interesting than the castle itself

Church tower
Many cities in central Europe have old churches and so does Bratislava. Those are cool gargoyles by the way

HC Andersen
One of the statues in Bratislava is of the Danish writer HC Andersen. Look at the huge snail at his feet

Cumil
One of the statues in Bratislava is called Cumil and shows a worker climbing out of a manhole

Napoleonic army soldier
This statue of a soldier can be found in one of the main squares in Bratislava. Taking photos similar to this one is more or less compulsory for tourists in Bratislava

Photographer
This statue stands outside a restaurant named Paparazzi

Skateboarder Girls
This statue in Bratislava also works as a mailbox

Schone Naci
This statue is of a real person. He used to walk up and down this street greeting people with a big smile. Inside he was a very sad man having lost his beloved in the holocaust

Emma before the race
From this race we only release the photos we took before we ran. The ones we took after you don't want to see, believe us

Ake before the race
From this race we only release the photos we took before we ran. The ones we took after you don't want to see, believe us. "Hey, I only turn 40 once, OK? I am allowed to have a silly T-shirt

Emma buying clothes
Ake has for a long time suspected that Emma's main interest in running more has to do with the clothes associated with the sport rather than the running itself

Comments

[Svante Kellner]

Grattis Åke
Hej Åke. Jaha ni är ute och reser igen. Visst är det skönt med sommarlov. Ni reser, jag syr kapell till mikn båt. Men även jag skall ut och resa. Den 5: juli bär det av till tyskland, till Trier för att cykla och dricka goda viner längs med mosel. Sedan blir det mest roslagen och mycket skärgård hoppas jag. Jag har skrivit på kontrakt för ett nytt år på St: Erik. Det blir skrämmande mycket nya ämnen. Mekatronik, Datorteknik 1a, Matematik, Servicekunskap och så var det något mer som jag inte minns just nu. Men nu tänker vi inte mer på det. Nu gäller sommarlov. Ha en bra sommar från Svante.

[Daniel Tingdahl]

cumi
hmmm.... Cumi looked a bit like Darth Vader, at a quick glance. Wonder if Emma and Jean-Claude found the others?

[Ake Och Emma]

He does look a bit like Darth Vader
Yes, you are right. Cumil looks a bit like Darth Vader. We didn't notice that at the time though