It was only
an hours bus-ride from Vienna to Bratislava, where I dumped
my stuff in the Patio Hostel and changed into cooler clothes to combat the
warmer weather. To kill some time before the free walking tour at 4pm
I headed up to Bratislava
Castle, where I got a
good although hazy view of the “Little Big City” as well as the famous
“Spaceship” restaurant perched over the main bridge (so nicknamed because it
looks like a flying saucer). I managed to find my way back to Hviezdoslavovo
nam where we were meeting up for the tour. It turned into a good group of Aussies and Americans, and one random Iranian guy who
seemed more interested in posing for photos and forcing people to take his
photo! Not surprisingly, we managed to lose him before the tour was over as he
was left behind posing with some poor passerby taking his photo. We passed a building
with a cannonball embedded in it, left in place to commemorate the resistance
to Napoleon’s siege; and a statue of Napoleon leaning over a chair, to which the
Aussies resolved to return that night in order to take rude photos. We
stopped at the Presidential Palace, where I zoned out while our guide ranted on
about some demonstration he was in. I was more interested in seeing the city rather than listening to his political views. Finally we continued the
tour and visited the “Blue
Church” which, true to
its name, was painted blue both inside and outside. We also passed a plaque on the ground
marking where the last witch was burnt, something I would have missed without
the tour. I definitely recommend any free walking tour on offer, as you learn a
lot more about the city than if you just wander around aimlessly (though that is also
fun).
After the
tour we headed back to our hostels and then I met up later with a couple of the
Aussies and Americans for dinner at the “Shipwreck” restaurant – the largest in
the city. It was great – piles of local food including dumplings, borscht and
beer, which saw us stuffed to the gills for less than E10 each! After
dinner we staggered to the pubs: starting at a random club where we somehow
managed to score free watermelon shots, then on to an Irish pub for shots of
the local firewater, and ending up at a Rock n’ Roll pub where the live band
sounded horribly like bad karaoke. Gotta love those random nights.
I decided to
have a lazy “day off” from all the hard work of touring cities as I was feeling
somewhat run down after the previous night, so after a late start headed to an
“outdoor reading area” to finish off a book. This lovely little courtyard is
tucked away next to a local bridge and has tables, chairs, coffee and local
magazines and papers where people can sit and enjoy the peace and sun in the
centre of an already relaxed city. At the Presidential Palace I watched the
changing of the guard and lowering of the flag, before spending the afternoon
reading and napping on the banks of the Danube
where it seemed half the city was lazing around on the sunny afternoon. There
are even beanbags at the outdoor restaurants for a real chillout session. Briliant.
