Hotel Tatra Bratislava

We read that Bratislava looks like a concrete jungle before we arrived and it was true. We were ok with that because we wanted to see the evidence of the Communist regime in Eastern Europe. Problem is that this concrete jungle costs more than Paris! They have set the city up so that if you want to enjoy the few remaining areas that are not factories or housing projects than you will pay dearly- and in Euro. <br><br>That is not to say there weren't a few ...

... were keeping our expectations low, but Bratislava is more developed and tourist friendly than we had expected ... we were pleasantly surprised! One of the main attractions is the castle. It was closed for renovation, but we still went up to the grounds, so we could get a good view of the city and learn about the castle. The whole thing was pretty comical, because ...

I took my first 'city-break,' as they say in London, to Bratislava, capital of Slovakia. <br><br>Bratislava has a huge, amazing, old town. Architecturally, that is. It's a grand maze of old buildings and car-less stone paved streets. For all its prettiness, though, the town has a 'just moved in' feel. Sort of like a movie set. It's a little too clean to be believable. The rest of the city is rather soviet...huge block buildings, a ...

... Because we got off the car right next to a pizzeria, we decided to take the opportunity and have a dinner there. 5 Euros for a good pizza and a small coke makes it probably the cheapest meal in a restaurant so far, at least at this trip. At the end we were taken from the Hungarian-Slovakian boarder by a Slovakian married couple, that helped us out to escape before the rain. We got with them to Dunajska Streda. There I went for a shopping to omnipresent Lidl ...

Dusan had sent us an itinerary. He had said that the best day for the wine tasting was the Friday and that we would start of at a the caves at Driny followed by the wine festival at Pezinok. I assumed, wrongly, that we were heading for a "Cave" in the French meaning of the word. Namely, a vintner for an early morning tasting. Instead we went into the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains to an absolutely stunning cave formation.

... a "rival bus" that was trying to be ahead of us all day that had Americans on it. They would pass us and try to hit the stops before we did. At one point, they were in a hurry only to be stopped a few cars ahead of us because of a motorbike accident. I was sad to leave Slovakia since it was only a "drive thru". I do want to see more of this country and spend time in it, especially Bratislava. Maybe someday I will.

Today we are leaving Hungary for the mystery of Slovakia. Much has been said in our guide book about how difficult Slovakia will be in the sense that people are unfriendly, Bratislava is crumbling and biking will be quite difficult. I'm happy to say that was all wrong....but that's jumping ahead. We got an early start today.....11am. Fairly typical now. It was painful trying to get out of the town and I'm not too sure why this is. It seems so simple on the map ...

... to where the hostel is. Got settled in there and then went out for food. Words cannot express how good the food was that we had that night was. Beautiful steaks for 4 quid odd, it was heavenly. Without a doubt the best food we had all trip. I'm liking Slovakia more and more.... Walked arund the old town for ages, and had a few drinks. Spirits were high, and on our return to the hostel we saw Tom and Pearl oustide waiting for us, a lot earlier than expected ...

Originally I had intended to stop in Bratislava only as a day trip, and not to stay. Then I realised that I'm not exactly pressed for time, so I might as well stay for at least a day and do the city some justice. Having spent two nights here, I realise a day trip would have been enough. Bratislava is small. Or rather, Bratislava is a medium sized city, but the area of Bratislava that ...

... did camp jobs until 13.00 and had breakfast. Flat terrain and a strong tail wind blew me south for just under 2 hours at which point I asked around for an internet connection. It has been nearly 2 weeks since I have checked messages. Marie, a kindly girl said there is nowhere in the village, only in the office where she works and I was welcome to use it. Once finished I took up the offer of a room in the guest house run by her ...