Garden View Bratislava

... top and shorts I had chosen to wear were completely innapropriate. I was dressed quite conservatively, but it was obvious that it was not conservative enough. Yes, we stood out, and it was akward. What was more unsettling was that nothing in this city seemed to be open. We felt very unsafe. <br><br>Finally, after wandering for about an hour in the heat, we started to enter a more populated area. Some shops were open and we found an ...

... Austrian town of Hainburg had some lunch and sometime later finished Austria. Its been good. Bratislava has a weird bridge known as the UFO bridge appeared over the horizon. Its a tremendous feeling of achievement to arrive at a familiar place on the bike. Finding the hostel from memory proved to be ok and I was settled in. To be greeted by a german guy who was relieved that I hadn't had a breakdown or heart attack. By freaky co-incidence this was ...

... came from our hostel. It was quite the reunion for all of us. Good times, good friends. The next morning, I thought I had better get my butt in gear and do some sight seeing. I went up the castle on one of my solitary, reflective walks. It was definetly a contemplative mood. I didnt pay entrance to the castle. Walls and towers interested me less than the view from the outside walls, on the tall hill. Of course, the main views are of the ...

... her. She asked me why Americans seem so upset to have to pay it since rules are rules. Gee, I wonder why. I am glad I had cash on me, too because Ryanair charges another &euro;5 fee to use a credit card. At least the flight was dirt cheap and &euro;5 was a small price to pay for getting on with my adventure. I had no idea what I was going to do for accommodations or anything once I got into Bratislava tonight. All I knew is that there was a bus from the ...

... us from running for the bus about to leave. The doubt? No Slovakian currency only Polish. This idiot then set off back across the border to Poland to get some currency for bus fare. Nobody ever said there was anything common about sense! Currency in hand, we waited for 2hrs until a bus turned up that wasn't going to Propad but instead to a place we'd never heard of. As 24hrs earlier we hadn't heard of Propad either, we got on ...

Up and at it.... we had a lovely breakfast at the hotel looking up to the castle - must say that they love their meats for breakfast - no way could we stomach cheeses, antipasto, pate and the likes for breakfast. It was a gorgeous day, a fair bit warmer than Norwich, probably 18 degrees. We walked straight into the Main Square via St Martin's Cathedral. The streets are very clean, as it was only 9:30am on Easter Sunday it was very quiet in the Main ...

... off. It was then time to party on for Rowans birthday and who better to ask where to go next then the local cabbies. Oh and what do u know they new the best place in town for 6 drunk guys to go at 3 in the morning. Oh the best of times the next 5 hours where one big blur but i will steal one line from u Tom, the rest of the night was some what surreal...sandwiches were made, shoulders were bitten, refunds were refused. After that night it was time to leave.

... itself on the slightly quirky and offbeat. The narrowest house in Europe is stationed here, as is the only bronze statue in the world halfway submerged underground (the statue is of a good natured city maintenance worker who is in the process of sticking his head out of a manhole). Even the main cathedral, St. Martin's, quietly attests to a nurturing of the whimsical. There, the elegantly carved wooden choir stalls situated in the nave of the cathedral, where ...

We didn't know what to expect in Bratislava. It was our first time in Eastern Europe (excluding Prague which is more like a tourist theme park). Our first taste of Eastern Europe was trying to get a bus ticket. You can only buy tickets from the ticket machine and it only takes coins. Nobody at the airport would make change and we needed a lot of change to buy tickets. We ...

... was pleasantly surprised. The tripe had the texture and taste of meat. It was not chewy in the slightest. There was a layer of oil floating on the surface, delicious when dunked in bread. It was closer to Austrian goulash soup than tripe soup. I polished it off, including every slice of the loaf of bread and ordered another filter coffee. Paid the 1.10 pound bill, waved goodbye and continued on my way following the old road ...