KEMPINSKI RIVER PARK Bratislava

... as high as, say, seeing the Terra Cotta Warriors, it certainly ranks pretty high on the most swell manmade things I&#8217;ve seen list. <br><br>We also visited Slovenský Raj, a massive national park near Levo&#269;a to do a bit of hiking. Though rain threatened all day, it never came. We walked from &#268;ingov to Hrabu&#353;ice (the former inside the park; the latter just a bit outside), a nice walk with great scenery (I took my favourite ...

... you could see were Bratislava, but all of the greenery and windmills - they were Austrian. I thought it was cool how it was so close to the border. At the castle we took a cool picture of 5 of us on the stairs, each of us on a different landing. We then started our descent, without going into the castle. Shortly afterwards we said goodbye to Lada, and then we went to a typical Slovak pub. It was so authentic, it was called 'Slovak Pub', but in English, not Slovak, so ...

... bus, Eurolines, stopped under a huge, gawdy bridge, called Novy Most, which was built by the Soviets in the 80's. Its a pretty crazy engineering looking thing, new, but very gawdy. A couple and I were having problems trying to figure out which stop to get off at, because the bus wasnt going to the main bus station, which seemed pretty weird. There was the commercial section drop off, Novy Most, and the Airport. Under the bridge where the stop ...

... to a bridge over this road and made my way up the hill in now heavy rain. It really didn't matter since I was having such a good time already here. All I saw at the castle was a glass exhibit hall and I figured that had to be the ticket counter area. A total lack of people there surprised me and I thanked the rain for driving the crowds away. It looked like the whole place was all mine. An older woman waved me in and I asked her if she spoke German or ...

Next stop was up to the 15 year old Slovak state's Capital Bratislava. A nice and very cheap city that still retains a small town feel with a Castle that has been poorly reconstructed following a fire in the 50's. It has less tourist's and cheaper prices than Prague which is an advantage.

... saw the castle, the city &amp; the UFO-To this day I will never know how Sai had so much energy to get up the hill (Oh there was a woman peering over the side). Unfortunately the UFO Tower was closed which would have offered us a panorama view of the city. Played 5's to buy some goods and also to this day I do not know where that magazine ended up!! Somehow, managed to get on a tram back to the hotel -Beef fell asleep next to a very ...

... La parlement est un bon exemple de cette modestie. Le Chateau de Bratislava n'est pas tres impressionnant mais la colinne sur laquelle il se trouve fournie une vue splendide de la ville. La vielle ville est tres belle et n'a rien a envier a plusieurs ville de l'Europe de l'Est, mais elle est plutot petite. Juste a l'exterieure de la vieille ville, l'ancien regime communiste a laisse ses traces. D'innombrables immeuble a loyers modiques sont plantes la ...

Brno ended up being a lot of fun mostly because the hostel was really just beds set up around the walls in a huge gymnasium. Accomodation was dirt cheap because of these conditions and I ended up meeting a lively bunch of other backpackers who were also travelling alone and happy to go out for a drink or two. We ended up coming back to the hostel, clearing the center of the gymnasium from its benches ...

A long trek to our hotel in Bratislava with a few missed directions in the train station to find Michelle and Carol waiting for us. I took them aside and mentioned that I needed to get some cake as it was Adrians birthday the next day.. and where did Michelle take me but Tescos!! (giant english supermarket). I think she was quite happy for the excuse to go back because as i piled up with stockings (to try and combat the cold), cake and champers she piled up with shoes ...

... in Vienna followed by Bratislava caused a bit of city fatigue and I hankered after the open countryside. Cycling the Danube is easy but not all that interesting. Its flat and most of the time, one bend of the river tends to look like any other. Entering and exiting a city or large town gives an impression of industrial decay. I left the old town after stopping off at the main sights - the Hrad, a castle rebuild a number of times ...