Do not be a slavia to the timetable - Bratislava

  Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
Sunday, June 29, 2008

Here we are again. We left Krakow with a piece on cheese from Anita and her best wishes, if you can get into that hostel then you should, it is the  Mundo Hostel. Anyway we took a slow and much more comfortable stroll up to the station with our lighter back packs. We found our train no problem and took our seats. It was another one of those Agatha Christie trains but it had air conditioning and so was okay with us. We shared our carriage with two very nice ladies, one of whom spoke excellent English. She actually saved the day when we realised the train was 20 minutes late and we were going to miss our connection at Breclav. She asked why we were not changing at Vienna. We were not sure and so decided, with the help of the ticket collector to do that. We got off the train in Vienna and saw the Bratislava train at the next platform. We just jumped on - my, we are getting gallus.

One hour later we arrived in the wrong station in Bratislava and then the pantomime begins again. I know what you are thinking. How did this pair get out of the Waverly Station? Actually we did quite well because in a  deserted station( think of Westerhailes) we got a ticket for the bus and discovered it was the 93. Now, if wee Nellie hadnt thought to check with someone we were on the right side of the road, we might have ended up in Siberia. We got loads of help on the bus and the subsequent Trolley car and Tram with out anyone speaking a word of English. We needed the exact money for the tickets and ended up with about 6 bottles of water as we tried to get the right money from various shops and stalls. I think the Scotland patches helped a lot, actually. Everytime anyone asks where we are from, they always smile when we tell them. You forget how fondly we are thought of in Europe.

Anyway, we finally make and are doing our usual moan about how it might all be too much especially when the place you arrive in reminds you of Broomhouse.

View on arrival

 

Private living area - bratislava

Actually though, the apartment is really lovely. Brand new and spotless.
We are sharing with 2 other girls but we have a completely private living and sleeping area. the only thing we share is the kitchen. They are very nice and are from Finland. They got completely lost so we are not doing too badly, they are actually heading to Budapest on the same train as us tomorrow. Igor, who is our landlord ( no its not as bad as you think -especially if your thinking about young frankenstein) gave us lots of info and we headed of for a quick rece. We were really tired and didnt go far but did find a Tesco. Its Tesco but not as we know it. What a carry on trying to find sugar. We did have some great cakes. This is our shopping list that cost seven pounds: 4 cakes( well what did you expect), sweeteners(we never did find the sugar), cheese, salami, garlic sausage, butter, 4 rolls( my mum insists I tell you they were special rolls), 4 pears, bunch of grapes and a punnett of baby plum tomatoes. We are spending nothing, for a change. A pint of beer seems to be, wait for it, callum, 60 pence.

That night we didnt go out at all as we were knackered. Our ankles looked like we had inflatable armbands on them they were so swollen. Went to sleep and were zonked. Even although there was really loud thunder and a mental cat which wouldnt shut up. Sounded like it was being murdered.

Woke up this morning to a glorious day. Bratislava is really easy to walk around as the historical centre is compact and everything can be reach in 15/20 mins walking.

Annette on St Michael's Steps

 

Helen on St Michael's Steps

Waterfall in front of parliament

It is much more picturesque than we first thought and has a very good atmosphere. We took a walk up to the castle on the hill( harder than it sounds) and the view was stunning.

castle from street

 

Danube from the castle

Bridge from Parliament building

Mad Wumin relaxing

We also looked around the palace and went in to see the paintings and the gallery of mirrors.

Helen and Annette at fountain

We had a fabby lunch and sat in an internet cafe drinking wonderful coffee and taking advantage of the air conditioning as it is 17.40 and at the last count, 38 degrees.My face looks like ( in the words of Billy Connolly) a city bakers halloween cake. A big red baw puss.Its not burnt, dont worry, just overheating.

Oh and a change is afoot.

We are now going to bypass Ljubljana. Its a shame but after having experienced what can go wrong with the trains, we dont want to chance missing the opera in Verona, so we want to get there a day earlier. We are being very gallus now because we are going to look into going back to Vienna ( should take 4 hours) and then investigate a train to verona. Should be easier than going via Ljubljana. Plus we dont want to leave the Gellert too soon as it is one of our special treats.

After a short break in the apartment, we headed off to get some food. Ended up in a great restaurant called Slovak Pub where we had traditional Slovak dishes. Little pasties filled with different things. Mum had chicken and spinach and I had pork and beef. it was a bit like a scotch egg without the egg that had been flattened. It was served with sour cream and peppers. After that we had pudding. Fritters with apricot jam (bit like donuts) and strudel with cream (mum is going mmmh, remembering it) more like rolled up pancakes. I had one of the aforementioned cheap beers. Very strong and very tasty.

We wandered around the town which is beautiful at night (apart from the odd whiff of drains) and reminded me of Croatia. See you in Budapest.

Mum's other new man