Our trip to Bratislava, started off with the simplistic intention of ticking another country off the list. Our knowledge of Slovakia was limited to being able to pin-point it on a map in central Europe, linked to neighbors by the famous Danube River. Distant memories of primary school days recalled the name Czechoslovakia; and an earlier visit to Prague had given us a history lesson in the 'Velvet Divorce'. A walking tour in this city gave gave us an insight into the pre and post Communist era that echoed the memories of locals we had met during recent visits to other former Soviet states.Travelling to Bratislava
Occasionally, the cheapest and most convenient way to visit a country may not be the most direct route. As our travel schedule for this trip was limited to inbound on a Saturday and outbound by Sunday, it soon became clear that flights to Bratislava from London were not a common occurrence. However, Mei quickly spotted that flights from London to nearby Vienna were both plentiful and affordable. Combining some quick research into bus and boat connections, our transport options were sorted and we were on our way to visiting a new country.
Eurolines International Buses
We discovered the simplicity of international coach travel on our previous trip from Riga, Latvia to Vilnius, Lithuania. A quick search on Melbourne based travel planner 'Rome2Rio' (love this site), we worked out that for 10 euro we could purchase a ticket from Vienna Airport to central Bratislava.
 |
| Eurolines Bus terminal, Vienna Airport |
We flew into Vienna with Easyjet and after a quick stopover at the pastry counter for a desperately needed coffee and cake; we boarded the bus (tickets purchased directly from the driver) and were on our way for the 50 minute journey to Bratislava. The bus was about 75% full and runs hourly, so there wasn't much in the way of panicking had our plane arrived in late.
 |
| Bus-stop breakfast - Olie enjoying his coffee and cake |
Arrival in Bratislava
The scenery along the route was fairly uninteresting, apart from a good view of the majestic Devin castle that has overseen the trade routes along the Danube River since the 9th century.
 |
| Symbol of the city on the drain covers |
Skaritz Hotel and Residence
Our hotel, Skartiz Hotel and Residence was located on Michalska Street in the middle of the Old Town, housed in a building that has been in existence since the 1500s. The cobblestone laneways were edged by plaques marking the site of former city walls - fortifications that were strengthened during the 16th century to defend against an advancing Ottoman army.
 |
| Site of Rybarska Brana, former city gate tower |
 |
| Narrow, medieval laneways |
Michael's Gate (Michalská brána)
After dropping off our bags, we picked up a city map from reception and started to explore the local area. Our first stop was at Michalska Brana (Michael's Gate) - the only medieval gate preserved within Bratislava city and part of the coronation route of previous Kings (marked on the ground by small golden crowns).
 |
| Michael's Gate |
Bratislava Square
We changed direction and headed to the main square, where we found the Bratislava 'United Buddy Bear' - part of a worldwide exhibit to foster tolerance across different nations and cultures. We had found similar bears in Malaysia and other parts of Europe during our travels.
When Napoleon and his army occupied Bratislava in 1809, one of the cannons fired and embedded a cannon ball into the wall of the Old Town Hall (now the City Museum) and it has remained there ever since. The square also contains a number of soldier statues in Napoleonic dress as a reference to that period of the city's history.
 |
| Soldier standing to attention |
Slovak National Uprising Monument
In 1944, a civilian uprising organized by the Slovak resistance movement took place in resistance to the German troops that were occupying Slovak territory. A monument commemorating this event and the bravery of the participants is located on the edge of the Old Town.
 |
| Monument to the 1944 uprising |
Cumil - The Watcher
The most famous statue in Bratislava, is that of Cumil - a worker in bronze that is at the junction of Laurinská and Panská streets and tourists walk over and pat his head. A sign marks his spot - as according to our city tour guide, he has been run over a number of times by council workers cleaning the streets.
Bratislava Flag Ship Restaurant
By lunchtime, the pastries that we had eaten at Vienna Airport were no longer satisfying our hunger. In search of a 'typical Slovak meal', we found the pub - Bratislava Flag Ship Restaurant that had a medieval beer-hall decor and a menu of beer, meat (an enormous platter for only a small amount of euro) and a deliciously warming garlic soup.
City Walking Tour
With our hunger satisfied, we met up with the local city walking tour to get a couple of hours of exercise done. The guide - a university student, was very knowledgeable in the city's history, buildings and the dramatic events that took place during the Soviet years and the push for independence.
Bratislava Castle
Blue Church
Walking at night
Bratislava's Old Town can be walked easily within a day, as the interesting historical buildings only cover a small area, the rest converted into Soviet style concrete buildings during the Czechoslovakia period. In contrast, the Czech capital of Prague was allowed to keep its historical buildings and hence it is more well known for its Old Town.At night, we retraced the steps we had taken with the walking tour to see how well the sites looked when lit up in the clear Autumn night.
 |
| Old Town Hall at night |
Our most interesting find was a church next to an old warehouse covered in street artwork. Located in the quiet end of the Old Town, there were a few restaurants nearby but the lack of patrons made us think twice and we walked elsewhere to seek out some more atmosphere.
 |
| Collage of the church and artwork |
Dinner - KOGO
Just outside the old city walls, we stumbled upon the restaurant KOGO - although not 100% accurate to say that we found this hidden gem entirely on our own. The waiter in a wine bar a few blocks away had suggested this restaurant, as his own venue did not serve food.
 |
| KOGO with its 'outside' terrace |
We ate foie gras, a local wine, seafood pasta and the chef's specialty of grilled octopus.
 |
| Seafood pasta |
 |
| Grilled octopus |
Hydrofoil on the Danube
The next morning, we ate a super-rushed breakfast as we checked out of the hotel and made our way to the Bratislava Passenger Ferry Terminal. Similar to previous trips - we were running to catch our booked in transport, arriving just as the boat was preparing to leave and all the 'good' seats were taken. The hydrofoil journey took about 105 minutes and included the crossing of the lock chambers at Freudenau with another river boat.
Arrival in Vienna
The hydrofoil dropped us off at the terminals outside of the 'tourist district', near the Vorgartenstrasse station (U1 metro) and the St Francis of Assisi Church.
 |
| St Francis of Assisi Church |
It took us a while to remember how to get back to the center of town - the main landmark and reference point from our last trip - Stephansplatz and the Cathedral.
 |
| Stephansplatz, one of the main metro stations and central squares |
Unfortunately, the closest train station to us only had a handful of lockers (all full) and we were forced to carry our bags for the remainder of the day.
 |
| Sculpture near the train station |
As it was our second visit to Vienna, wandering through laneways, beautiful architecture and fountains was enough to keep us amused and appreciative of the Hapsburg Empire influence on the building style in other cities like Budapest and Zagreb.
Hofburg Palace
Our previous visit to Vienna had coincided with Christmas and many of the museums were closed. It had been Mei's intention to see more of the Hofburg Palace, but we ended up only admiring the outside and not spending time touring another palace of paintings and jewellery.
 |
| One of the facades of the palace |
Hofburg Palace Gardens
We were lucky to have good weather for visiting the rose gardens opposite the Palace that were still full of flowers although it was late Autumn.
Figlmuller
Before our trip, we had been given a recommendation from Olie's colleague Basti to visit his favourite schnitzel restaurant - Figlmuller. Arriving close to lunch-time, the long line told us that it was a much loved place for many other people; so we left to do other activities before returning after 2pm.
 |
| The line outside the restaurant |
The schnitzels were bigger than a plate and worth the visit, perfectly accompanied by potato salad and beer.
 |
| The best schnitzel we have ever eaten |
A reason to return perhaps?
When compared to each other, Bratislava is often viewed as the 'more affordable' city over Vienna for party groups and stag/hen weekends away. However when we saw this blackboard for 11 shots = 10 euro; 35 shots = 30 euro; perhaps the stereotype isn't always true.
 |
| Don't think you'll go thirsty in this bar |
**Connect With Us**
This post was written by: Culture StampsIf you liked this post, please share it with others using the social media buttons below.
To connect with us and see snippets of our Culture Stamp travel adventures:
- Follow Culture Stamps on Twitter
- LIKE our Culture Stamps Page on Facebook
No comments:
Post a Comment