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Published: July 26th 2011
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We had our fingers crossed for a fine day today but when the curtains were drawn back in our hotel room we were greeted with rain again. We hope our lasting impressions of Budapest are not all gloomy. These few days of our trip have been the wettest we have had over a sustained period of time. Had we seen more of the sun we might have felt differently. We leave with memories of wonderful art work, stately buildings along Andrassy ut, the pedestrian friendly streets in the city centre and the views from Buda overlooking the city.
As we pack the car ready to depart for Bratislava we can hear the words of those who have travelled this way before us saying, “Why Bratislava, there is nothing there?” With a two night stay we are about to find out. For us it is a rest stop before we venture into Poland where we have quite a list of “must see places” and so we need to build up some strength.
Our drive out of Budapest took us through the outer suburbs past very different types of housing to those that seem to fill the landscape on the southern approaches to
the city. The houses were new and would easily blend in with any new housing suburb in New Zealand. They were free standing and had lawns and gardens.
We planned to have lunch at Esztergom from the boot of our car but it was difficult finding the necessary facilities so we continued out of town. As we did so we spotted a Tesco Hypermarket sign and decided to follow it because they have the necessary facilities. After about 20 kilometres, on the outskirts of Nyergesujfalu, there was a new Tesco Hypermarket sitting all alone surrounded by fields of corn and sunflowers, with factories nearby, and all the necessary facilities. The weather was still unsettled and rather than take a risk of a pavement lunch in the carpark we enjoyed a front seat lunch instead.
There are few bridges across the Danube and many of the crossings are by ferry. We crossed the river and border into Slovakia at Komarom. Expecting the cheerless border guards to be waiting for the happy, adventurous, Kiwis we had all our documents ready. How deflating when we got to the other side of the river and drove through the town of Komarno that we realised we were in Slovakia and no one to welcome us.
The drive to Bratislava was flat with fields of corn and sunflowers everywhere. Grain crops had already been harvested. It is certainly a very productive landscape with very fertile soil, probably from centuries of flooding from the Danube. Approaching Bratislava we were confronted by a dreaded concrete road which continued for about 30 kilometres. Perhaps they had the apprentices on the job when it was laid as the vibrations were doing terrible things to the suspension. Maybe this is why people don’t go to Bratislava. Arriving at the hotel we were welcomed into a very nice establishment and had a wonderful evening meal. Now this is the reason for coming to Bratislava.
Tomorrow we will really find out why people say, “Why Bratislava?”
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