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Published: July 30th 2006
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This is the one stop on my trip that most people say, “Huh? Bratislava? Where’s that?” Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and a quick hour and a half train ride from Vienna (actually, as I discovered during my travel research, a number of Vienna bound flights land in Bratislava for some reason). Anyway, although not as famous as its former other half (Czech Republic), Slovakia is starting to make a name for itself and, surprisingly, Bratislava has done an excellent job with its town centre and is quite beautiful.
However, before entering the town centre, I visited the not-so-beautiful dorm that was to be my home for the night. First, the tram ride out there was not so pretty. My guess is the beautification of Bratislava did not expand much past the town centre, as the area I was in was quite rundown and a bit sketchy (but totally safe—no need to worry, Mom!). I included a photo of the front door to my room, as the artistic abilities must not go passed by. Needless to say, the condition of my sleeping arrangements that evening definitely served as a great motivation to see as much of the city and
as little of my room as possible.
I started by walking along the water and checking out the bridge that is not the most popular architectural feat. Although it’s a very cool concept (a suspension bridge with only one tower), the city cleared out half of its old town to make way for the bridge (as I’ve heard, this was in the days of communism, so I’m guessing preservation of the the old town was not number one on the priority list).
Despite half of the town getting wiped out twenty years ago, there are many cute little streets with numerous outdoor cafes. Aside from Nice, the home of outdoor cafes, I would have to say that I was most impressed with Bratislava’s. Not only did they have a plethora of cafes, they were all quite trendy looking, something I definitely didn’t expect to find. Another bonus was the cheap, cheap ice cream. Having decided to travel Europe during the height of summer (during an especially hot year), I was “forced” 😉 to cool off by buying ice cream every few hours. Well, when you could get three scoops of ice cream for under a dollar, it wasn’t
a hard to rationalize my logic that eating ice cream was much smarter than drinking water to cool down.
Because I did such a good job of eating by myself in Sopron, I decided to attempt it again at the Slovak Pub, a restaurant recommended by another, much nicer looking hostel that I must have missed when searching for places to stay. Armed with a book this time, I sat down to enjoy a traditional Slovakian meal. Although I wanted to try the pistachio dumplings with the chicken breast (the protein craving was kicking in again), the waiter looked at me as if I was crazy as the dumplings are supposedly a meal on their own. Settling for potatoes instead, I was served chicken and potatoes…despite the name, it didn’t appear to be that Slovakian to me, but it was delicious, cheap and filled me with nutrients, so who am I to complain?
I finished off my trip to Bratislava in luxury. Again, finding ridiculously cheap spa services, I decided to indulge in a Thai massage. Funny enough, though, I was actually forking over my travel money for a decent shower. The spa had all of the makings
Tapestries
This is a very important pic as I got yelled after taking it because I didn't see the no photo sign...meh. This is one of the most intricate tapestries ever found. Not quite sure how Bratislava came to be the owners...and, as I read on a plaque, neither are they. They were found when renovating this palace! of an upper end spa in Canada (robes, slippers, slate showers, free shampoo, etc.); however, the prices were about 50% (if not more) cheaper. Although the massage was glorious, I was all about the shower. I do have to laugh, though, about trying to chat with my masseuse. She was from Thailand and knew only a bit of English and no Slovakian, so the girl who ran the spa spoke to her in the little English she knew…quite a funny sight. I also felt bad for this Thai lady, as she told me she had moved to Slovakia three months earlier (so probably around April) and complained about how cold it was…she’s in for a rude awakening in the winter. I guess it just struck me as odd that someone from Thailand would expatriate to an Eastern European country. But, hey, when there’s a need for Thai masseuses, you go where the need is.
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Charles
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Finally caught up with enough time to look over your last two blogs Dee I was SO close when I was in the Czecg Republic. I had read a lot about Bratislava so was interested to read your account and see the photos. Love Charles