Acc-Nifos Baronka Hotel Bratislava

... There was a statue of a man coming out of a sewer and a few other odd ones that were fun to run into.

After all the sightseeing we went back to the hostel and joined the party downstairs where a large group of Budapest students were enjoying a few drinks. This group had come to Bratislava for the weekend and it was fun getting to know them all since most of them were exchange students from America, Finland and Belgium. Everyone had a cool story as to why ...

... great for strolling, as we discovered some of the unique statues that are quite popular in the town. These included "man at work" and "paparazzi"...

We stopped for some ice cream, and raided the giant Tesco supermarket for snacks - always a good time!

... a boisterous crowd of Slovan Bratislava fans (I tried teaching them I´ve got a loverly bunch of coconuts but they werent having it) The efficiency of Czech railways take on a different dimension after visiting the Pinkas synagogue in Prague its interior walls inscribed with the names and details of the 80000 or so Jews who travelled those same rails never to return. Prague as ever providing ample evidence of its darker history. We also took the tube out to Vysegrad the sire ...

... which is unfortunate because we only had one night in the city. Monday morning, we headed basically across the street to go to our location for our speakers. I enjoyed the first one. He told us all about the EU and Slovakia's relationship and the political aspects of Slovakia. However, our second speaker made me extremely annoyed. He continuously mocked the United States and I was getting very perturbed. Once we were free for the ...

... 10 ticket he had just been given a £20 fine for smoking on the platform. Apparently there is a tiny no smoking sign which he didn't see and even though he put his cigarette out they took his passport off him and made him go get money changed into local currency to pay his fine (which we think he got scammed and paid 10 times more than what the locals would). Gotta love these countries that get tourists!

... of the road and stuck its antlers into their carriage wheel, causing it to break. They were forced to stay the night in the carriage, and when they awoke, they realized that they had stopped only a few feet away from a deep cliff. The deer had saved their lives! And so they created their coat of arms with a deer and broken wheel...The chapel is the one located on ...

For being one of two cities in Eastern Europe with living standards above that of the EU average (thank you guide book), Bratislava didn't have a whole lot to offer. Sure the city was beautiful and the castle on the hill offered a great panoramic view, but nothing about the place really grabbed me. Too bad, I guess, since I believe I'm a quarter Slovak. Whatever the case, I was happy to check out after just one day. If you ...

We awoke to some more ****** weather, raining and quite cool, so we decided to forgo an extra day in Vienna and head for Bratislava instead. Bratislava is very close to Vienna, only about 80km as the crow flies, but as we had to avoid the freeways it took us a couple of hours to get there. When we arrived it was raining cats and dogs, but we decided to brave the weather and drive a few kms out of town to see Devin Castle, a ruined battlement on the junction of the ...

... loaded and seeking directions from anyone who could speak English we made it to our hostel... Totally exhausted we spent most of the afternoon napping before an adventure to Tesco - where nothing is in English for our tea... That in itself was another adventure. We decided to have chicken and pasta - so after getting all the bits and pieces we needed back to the hostel to cook it. Boris cooking gets a bottle of what he thinks ...

... glimpse into country life here. At the end we stopped for coffee and ice cream - very popular here and sold everywhere. The coffee, or Kava is ground coffee, but served as you would make instant. After stirring, the coffee settles to the bottom and you drink it - remembering not to knock back the last few mouthfuls. The valley flattened out and soon brought us to Spissky Stvrtok. This would have been one of the many ...