Sabbatical travel series – Bratislava

Like I wrote in the sabbatical travel glimpses blog post, FlixBus is a godsend. It is a cheap and convenient mode of transport. The bus station is usually located in the city center and therefore, getting there is easy and light on one’s pocket. It is a no-frills service; the driver may or may not help with loading and unloading your luggage, may speak only the local language and may not be the friendliest of the lot. However, in the end, it meets your needs and takes you from point A to point B safely. No points for guessing that I took a FlixBus from Budapest to Bratislava. I met a couple of girls on the bus, who made the travel time go by super-fast. One was going to Prague, and another was going to Germany to start a job as an Au-pair. We are Insta friends now, and I follow their significant moments through their Insta updates. 

On reaching Bratislava in the afternoon, I checked google maps and it showed that the hotel is just a 20 min walk away. I thought I will get my exercise and save money while I was at it. So, I decided to walk there and what a stupid decision that was. The sidewalk wasn’t there in all places and navigating my way with 2 suitcases and a backpack was tricky. I reached the hotel huffing and puffing pulling a suddenly “heavy” suitcase and stopping every now and then to check the directions on maps. After checking in to the hotel, I rested a bit and decided to get my bearings and spend a few hours in the old town. It was a pleasant half an hour walk and I stopped at a newspaper store on the way to buy a 2-day travel pass.

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia, and it is in an enviable location close to the two bigger and more well-known European capital cities of Budapest and Vienna. It is a very charming laid-back place with the comforts and luxuries that one expects of a capital city such as good infrastructure, basic needs such as schools and hospitals and many employment options from diverse businesses. It is of historical significance too with many Habsburg kings including Maria Theresa crowned in the famous St. Martin cathedral. 

There are gilded crowns stamped in the pavement indicating the coronation pathway and the trail goes all the way from the cathedral to the castle. 

Of the gates that allowed entry into the walled city, only Michael’s gate stands. Under the gate, you can also find Kilometer zero which shows the distance to main cities around the world. 

Around the gate, there are many cafés and restaurants. I had dinner at a multi cuisine restaurant that had comfortable chairs with cushions and blankets set up outdoors to enjoy eating outside in any type of weather. It was a pleasant day perfect for sitting outdoors and savoring a leisurely dinner of Thai green curry with wild rice.

After dinner, I continued exploring the city. I went past the opera house that has a nice fountain and the street leading from it is lined with souvenir shops and cafes and ends at the Plague column. 

Had I not had dinner just a while ago, I would have enjoyed ice cream in one of the inviting gelaterias on the street. There are wooden benches all along the street to sit and take in the pleasant surroundings. There were a couple of exhibitions set up on the street. After enjoying a nice stroll up and down the street, I sat on one of the empty benches and watched the colorful musical fountain display that dazzles you every hour in front of the Carlton hotel. I spent some more time people watching and then walked back to the hotel. Some stretches during the walk were lonely and remote. My heart raced as I literally ran to quickly reach the safety of the hotel and the comfort of my room.

The next morning, I had a quick breakfast and set out to the meeting point for the old town walking tour. The meeting point was close to the bridge of the Slovak national uprising or the New Bridge. It is popularly called the UFO bridge which gets its name from the flying saucer shaped structure atop the pylon that houses a restaurant and provides great views of the city. 

I met the guide there who took our small group to the sights that I had visited last evening but now I learnt more about them and saw a few more that I hadn’t seen the previous evening – Maria Theresa statue in a store window, the building where Mozart is supposed to have performed, a plaque on a restaurant wall that said Nehru and Indira Gandhi met with Vladimir Clementis there, flood mark “5 Feber 1850” indicating the level to which the water levels rose during the Feb 1850 floods and the symbolic cannon balls on building walls indicating damage to request tax relief during Napoleonic wars. He showed us the quirky statues that are scattered in the old town area – Bronze man at work, Schone Naci, Hans Christian Andersen and Napoleon’s army soldier. 

 

He gave us some recommendations for food including Pressburg Bajgels bakery whose crescent shaped walnut and poppy seed bagels are very popular. Next, we headed to the Bratislava castle which was the last stop of the walking tour where we enjoyed the beautiful gardens and panoramic views of the city.

I came down from the castle and headed to an Italian restaurant for an odd but enjoyable combination lunch of spaghetti and French fries. Next stop was the blue church also known as the Church of St. Elizabeth. The azure blue of the church looked like an extension of the sky on that clear beautiful day. The same blue theme carries over to the interior. 

The church was empty, and I spent a few quiet moments there before going to the presidential palace by train. It is the official residence of the Slovak president. I had the square all to my myself and checked out the palace building which also has a public garden which was unfortunately closed for renovation.

It was time to have a light supper and return to the hotel. I changed into comfortable clothes and sat on the bed to apply some foot cream when the bed suddenly caved in. Fortunately, other than the shock from the sudden drop in height, there was no other bodily harm. I saw that the bed was made with a wooden plank sitting on the two sides of the bed and the plank had slipped from its position. The housekeeping person who came to have a look suggested that I call the reception to have someone come over to fix it. Since it was a twin bedroom, I didn’t bother getting it fixed and decided to use the other bed. I sat tentatively on the other bed, and it remained firm as I lay down and closed my eyes. I remember planning to take the local train to the bus station the next morning to my next destination and checking that it was a 10 min walk to the train stop before I fell asleep. More about the local train adventure and the next destination in my next blog post.