Slovakia

Days 91-93 - Bratislava

Bratislava suffers with the reputation of a ‘quiet’ city. For many backpackers the capital of Slovakia breaks up journeys between Vienna, Budapest, Prague and Krakow. It is not as big or populated, or as popular with tourists as any of its neighbours, and who would want it to be. What Bratislava does offer is a walkable and affordable historic centre.

You can eat, sleep and sightsee within the city centre without it costing a fortune; because of this the entire time you spend in Bratislava is spent with the feeling of mystery a maze of narrow cobbled streets give you. This is felt most when they burst, somewhat inappropriately, onto modern shopping streets; surging with traffic, people, Tescos and McDonalds. You begin to wonder how this city came to stand as it does today. It is like the town planners who have overseen Bratislava’s development were all devout believers in The Chaos Theory.

We drove into this city under a cover of darkness and the place felt anything but quiet. Road markings were contradictory, observing traffic lights was optional and road rage was apparently a popular past time. We breathed a sigh of relief when we eventually got the van into the hostel’s secure, off road parking.

The hostel itself was a rather lifeless place, where no one wanted to talk to each other and that included the staff. Patio hostel was its name and it was about as thrilling as spending the night at Offerton Sand and Gravel. To give an example of the spectacular help we were given by the staff; on arriving we asked where the nearest cash machine was so we could pay.
‘In Bratislava there are ATMs everywhere.’
This was the stern woman’s indignant reply. ‘Well thanks for that’ we thought, because ‘everywhere’ is the kind of specific detail you need when you have arrived in a new place at night.

Anyway let us not get side tracked. The next day was a new one and it was time to explore the city by day. It began with a happy accident. After loosing ourselves a little in the odd arrangement of Bratislava’s streets we decided to dive in somewhere to eat.

A door at the bottom of an external staircase opened into a packed, underground restaurant. We sat for a little while and then all of a sudden an exasperated waiter brought two bowls of soup to our table. We pointed out that we had not ordered them but asked if we could see a menu. The waiter looked even more stressed and left with the soup. Soon the head waiter came over, coughed politely by our side and said
‘We have a set menu on today, anything else will be over an hour.’
At this point we noticed that everyone was eating and drinking the same thing and so not wanting to be the odd ones out we opted for the set menu. The same unhappy waiter returned with more soup, followed by a hearty plate of chicken and rice and a bottle of Fanta. This feast cost less than four euros, which made us very happy.

From this point on we started to find our way around. Beginning with the epicentre, as in so many European cities, the main square is a great point of navigation and meeting place. At this time Bratislava’s was filled with a Christmas market. Stalls were selling food, drink and all manner of things. There were constantly crowds of people here, tourists and locals, talking and making merry. For us this square was the place where hunger was quelled and thirst quenched. With cheap hot food and cheap hot punch on offer we rarely missed an opportunity to stand and fill our faces.

Off this central square sprout a number of streets carrying you to the corners of the city centre. Wandering through them, you seem to stumble between architectural styles and periods. If you walk for long enough you will find yourself climbing towards the castle, set up on high, overlooking the city below.

Sometimes as a traveller, having been to numerous cities and surrounded by a mass of beautiful buildings, you can become careless. You forget to enquire about what these buildings are actually used for or why they exist. On occasions such as these, when we I become aware of this failing, we have taken to an alternative approach. It may not improve knowledge of these places but it is a lot of fun. We call it the ‘Fictional Tour’ and it began in Bratislava. It involved Phil guiding Toj through the streets of the city telling him ridiculous and obviously untrue ‘facts’ about the sights we saw.

Devin Castle

We were travelling on from Bratislava to Vienna. A journey we had chosen to break up by stopping at a castle on Slovakia’s boarder with Austria. On outcrop overhanging the Morova River stands Devin Castle. This castle is located near a nice but non-descript village and immediately boarders a nature reserve on the river’s wetlands. On the cold December day we turned up it was closed. Officially closed that is but not physically closed. As we walked up a hill and through the half opened gate the dramatic landscape and castle ruins were revealed to us.

We do not use the word dramatic lightly either. Experiencing this place was to experience great drama. It began with a sense of isolation, us being the only two who populated this vast, arcane space. As if this location that had been occupied since Roman rule had, for a brief moment in time been forgotten about and was seen by us alone.

The space filled you with suspense as each half fallen wall, corner and crest of every hill showed something new and exciting. Roman foundations, medieval chapels, vast open landscapes were constantly taking you by surprise. They left you short of breath and as if all the walking wasn’t making it hard enough. Perhaps though it was the way it built to a climax. As we traversed the hill we slowly climbed toward the overhanging edge. Interested and awestruck was what we had felt about this find, this sightseeing treasure. Then when the rivers opened up before our eyes and the lands separating two countries spread, we were simply overwhelmed. It was a real land mark in our travels so far, as you can probably tell from the rambling blog.

We descended from the castle, back to the van and back to moving on. There was just time for one of those good old fashioned van sandwiches. This accompanied by a rather unusual delicacy, a mug of apple juice that tasted and smelt exactly like baby wipes. An unfortunate side affect of our unorthodox method of cleaning the cups.

Our time at Devin castle was completed with another unique experience, well for Toj at least. As he went to relieve himself in some rather private bushes, he was caught in the act by two deer. I am sure he never thought he would wee in front of deer and I never thought I’d hear these words.
‘While I was pissing, there were two deer and then they ran off!’
So the magic of the occasion was complete and off we set off, through the Austrian countryside, to Vienna.

Travelled = 2323 Miles