Blogs from Slovakia, Europe - page 14

Today we journeyed east from Vienna on a 90 minute excursion by ship on the Danube to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. It meant giving up the day to see museums in Vienna in order to explore a once highly significant administrative center of the Hapsburg monarchy, and a once fascinating location for a deeply entrenched Jewish community in the urban center and its environs that was known until 1919 as Pressburg by most people. This blog will be shorter than previous ones, not because Bratislava called forth fewer ideas and emotions, but possibly even more. Rather, it was a 10 hour day and I'm beat. Suffice it to say that the first time the city came to my attention was back in 1999 when I took a course a history course at JTS on the ... read more

ZHODNOTENIE Sarajevo som mal uz v merku dlhsie. Plan bol ist na sarajevske derby FK vs Zelezniciar. No co cert nechcel, Spartak dostal v UEFA Olimpic Sarajevo. Nebolo nad cim vahat, zistovanie co, kde a ako. Vylet hodnotim ako vzdy pozitivne i ked ku koncu som mal zdravotne problemy. Peniaze som menil iba v Sarajeve, ostatne meny som mal z minula (i ked kun moc nie ale vystacilo to) V Bosne a Hercegovine som cakal viac roztrielanych domov, tych som videl minimum. Jedlo bolo fajnove, baby tiez pekne, ubytka v pohodicke. Preprava bez problemov. Odrbavacov som ani moc nevidel, zobrakov minimum. Ubytka by sa mali dat zohnat bez problemov aj na mieste, strasna kopa hostelov ako v sarajeve tak aj v mostare. Budapest - tu ani neni moc co hodnotit, kedze som bol prakticky len na ... read more

Bratislava has been a whistle stop tour, with me leaving tomorrow for Budapest, however I'm so glad I got to see it. It's been a really fun afternoon of mixed weather, historic sites, cobbled streets, a lesson in Pharmacy, a protest against Islamic Rights on National Refugee Day and an Alien invasion in the form of a UFO. Let me explain. The historic 'Old Town' is where I'm based and again, I have lucked out on the accommodation. I am doing AirBnB and my room is really lovely and looks out onto the Blue Church. It therefore made perfect sense after a freshen up (it was needed after PT (public transport) for 4 hours) that I took to the streets again. That sounds so wrong, but you know what I mean. :) It is everything an ... read more

Geo: 48.8606, 20.3728 so a lot has happened since Prague. We headed out towards Slovakia, easily crossed the border and luckily found an AutoCamp. It would seem that the benefit of travelling just before the holiday season starts means thereis no need to book but also means not too much infrastructure is open. The place was run by a chap called Victor who spoke very good English and had a very good sense of humour. Spent the evening watching clouds move in over the top of the mountains in the National Park. By early morning it was raining, vertical rain with no wind and it was cold. So we packed up a wet tent was packed and headed off to our planned destination of the High Tantra's in Slovakia northern areas. The area is famous for ... read more

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia, the southern half of what used to be Czechoslovakia. At one time, it was a place where Europen royalty had homes and conducts trade across the continent. Then after the fall of the Hapsburg Empire and the later takeover of Communism, the area fell into deep depression and economic hard times. The barricades between Bratislava and neighboring Austria were austere. And there was no access to Western news or customs. The isolation was extreme and had a deep impact of the area. However, following the fall of Communism in 1989 and the separation from Czechosolvakia in 1993, the area began to recover slowly after four decades of despair. Fortunately, much of the early architecture still remains, although it is in need of repair. The city is charming and beautiful is ... read more