A swell way to spend 14 Euros

IMG_6122, originally uploaded by bratislavadavis.

22-07-07

The Slovakian capital of Bratislava is a mere hour away from Vienna at a cost of 14 Euros. I went with Professor Kathy and Louise and had a great time. The cab driver must be a master of picking up people from the train station as he was a tour guide showing all the historic sites and he even showed us pictures from a book. It was entertaining, but also easily the most expensive expense in Bratislava as it cost about ten dollars for a ten minute jaunt into the city. The food is noticeably cheaper as Slovakia is still on the crown until the conversion to the Euro in 2010. I paid what amounted to about six U.S. dollars for my meal. I had chicken with mozzarella cheese and peaches along with a brewed Czech beer which was excellent.

After lunch, we walked around the Old Town seeing the historic buildings in the main square and a couple of historic plaques memorializing the famous Hungarian composer Bela Bartok who grew up here and had his musical training and also a commemorative inscription to Mozart who gave a concert here at the tender age of six.

We were walking on our way to the castle when we saw a Jewish museum which was closed and also looked vacant. The castle was closed, which meant we couldn't visit the royal museum which includes a hockey hall of fame. But it afforded a nice view of the city especially of the graceful cable-stay bridge that crosses over the Danube River. On the hill, there were lots of cute cats gnawing on meat to the delight of Kathy and Louise. After we were done with the cats, we discovered about 20 naked iron, robot-like statues- an interesting expression of modernism. There was a park nearby, so we relaxed on the soft grass for 30 minutes.

Something that struck me was how friendly the people of Bratislava are as they are gregarious, warm, and friendly. They were willing to stop and help and give us directions and invited us to dinner with them. Their hospitality was a trait that the Viennese could use.

We trekked down from the castle and went back into the historic center of the city, where we saw some interesting sculptures, walked into a couple of churches, and just walked around. We had some wine at a local café, which was excellent and surrounded by natives instead of tourists. I remember that a glass of wine went for just over one dollar. It felt refreshing and relaxing to sit down in the heart of the Old Town and just talk.

On the way to the train station, we passed by the Primate's Palace which is a neo-Classical structure in Old Town built in 1781 for Archbishop Jozsef Batthyany. Inside, there is supposed to be a wonderful hall of mirrors where the fourth Peace of Pressburg was signed by Napoleon and Francis II - the Holy Roman emperor- in 1805 ending the War of the Third Coalition. The city purchased the Palace in 1903 and it serves now as the mayor's office. There are some beautiful flower gardens in front of the Primate's Palace along with a fountain.