Whew! September was a busy month filled with SIX countries in two weeks, so we decided to take it easy in October. By "take it easy," we really meant cuddle up with Hugo after his lump removal surgery, and enjoy the last bit of warm weather in Rota with Reynolds outside in the yard!
But you know I wasn't going to wait too long to continue our travels, so November's Veterans Day Weekend was prime time to dart off for another adventure!
Thursday, November 9, 2023
Two months ago, we took off for Iceland and endured an overnight layover in London...and I clearly didn't learn my lesson since I booked ANOTHER 5-hour overnight layover on our way to Vienna! I think it finally sunk in after some restless sleep on an airport bench while being wrapped in my raincoat for warmth, that I really need to book better flights. But hey, our round-trip airfare was $170 TOTAL, and we did get in a few hours of sleep before getting up at 5:30 am for a quick breakfast in the Priority Lounge before hopping on our final flight from Palma Mallorca to Vienna, Austria!
Friday, November 10, 2023
Vienna International Airport: Flughafen Wien
As soon as we landed, Bryan and I grabbed our bags and hustled to the bus stop, where we caught the next bus headed to Bratislava, Slovakia! Did you know that Slovakia and Austria have the closest country capitals in the world?! (Well, next to Italy and the Vatican, but do those really count if one country is inside another?) Anyway, just 35 miles apart and a short 1-hour bus later, we crossed country borders for a day of exploring Slovakia's capital city!
Once we got there, we Googled for a place to store our luggage and found a place smack dab in the middle of the city. While it rained, we lugged our bags through the cobblestone streets from the bus stop to the Baggage Storage shed- here's the less glamorous sides to cheap European travel!
The Farmhouse Restaurant
Feeling lighter and a little less wet, we hopped from shop to shop looking at all the touristy trinkets before the restaurants opened for the day! I will say, my favorite find was the kraslica hand-decorated eggs! These stunning artistic creations reminded me of Patricia Polacco's Rechenka's Eggs picture book! I think this is about as close to Russia we will get, so a "Rechenka's Egg" had to come home with me!
Eventually, our growling bellies reminded us it was time for a bite to eat, so we stopped in at the Farmhouse Restaurant! Bryan ordered the local Slovak beer and I enjoyed a delightful glass of Slovak red wine. We tried two different Slovak hot pots: the Farmársky hríbový hrniec, filled with chicken and mushrooms, and the Farmárske mäso Hrniec, filled with tomato sauce and pork! Both were delicious, but I have to say my mushroom hot pot was the winner!
Once we finished our hot pots, it was time to embark back into the drizzling rain for our Bratislava walking tour!
You may remember we did our first free walking tour in Cadiz, and had such a great time that I wanted to try it out in another city! When looking online for walking tours of Bratislava, I was brought back to GuruWalk's website.
We met Martina, our guide, in the city square and knew right away this tour was going to be fantastic- no matter the weather!
Michael's Gate: Michalská brána
Our first stop of the tour was at Michael's Gate, where we learned a little bit of Slovakia's history. Michael's Gate is the only remaining gate from the year 1300 when the city was protected by walls. Eventually, the walls were removed to allow the city center to expand and house more people, but Michael's Gate remained standing as historical evidence of the city's past.
Pamataj Jewish Holocaust Memorial
With the end of WWI, Czechoslovakia formed as a country filled with Austrian-Hungary influences. During WWII, Czechoslovakia was taken under Nazi rule and sent over 70,000 Slovak Jewish citizens to death camps across Europe. Post-war, Czechoslovakia reunited as a country and fell under communist rule.
Martina explained how the city of Bratislava was home to the weakest point in the Iron Curtain. Just up the river, the electric fence with barbed wire was shorter and regularly experienced electrical outages due to its close proximity to the Danube River, which occasionally flooded. People fleeing communist rule would "vacation" to Bratislava and then risk the river's strong currents for a chance at freedom on Austria's river bend.
Later, with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Czechoslovakia was free to begin rebuilding as its own country. Then on January 1, 1993, due to governmental disagreements, the Czech Republic and Slovakia split into two independent nations.
Between our general history lesson on the city, Martina took us to several cool spots! One of the first stops was a building in the city's center square that had a random cannonball stuccoed into the wall's side. We learned that Napoleon attempted to conquer Bratislava in the late 1700s but failed. As a response, the city took the abandoned cannonballs and added them to the walls around the city as a constant reminder of the city's resilience! Fun fact: the city of Bratislava has never been conquered by humans. Only fire and flood have ever taken the city!
Slovak National Theatre: Slovenské národné divadlo
In the 1880s the Slovak National Theater was built. The opera house has five busts lining the exterior including one of Mozart and another of Shakespeare. The theater was built during a time when Slovakian talent wasn’t considered good enough to represent the country, so none of the five statues are Slovakian natives.
Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav
Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav is a famous poet who wrote his work in Slovakian to keep the language alive during oppressive times. While illegal at the time, he was proud to be Slovakian and wanted to preserve the language!
St. Martin's Cathedral: Dóm sv. Martina
In 1968, Czechoslovakia still struggled to maintain their independence from the Soviet Union. That year, Russian troops stormed the city overnight and burned down the Jewish temple and destroyed the Jewish Quarter in Bratislava. It was destroyed to “make way for the highway,” but mainly because this area of the city didn’t align with communist views.
Martina was great at explaining the city's history and pointing out the horror and terrible choices the country made. She made comments several times reminding us that the entire world should teach history with the facts, even when they remind us of the horrific things people have done, to prevent it from happening in the future. She spoke so much truth!
Čumil
On a lighter note, we also got to see the Cumil statue in the old town! In an effort to revitalize the downtown area, Bratislava added the Cumil statue to look like a town worker coming out of the sewers on the side of the road! His smirk and fun location made him a town icon!
Bratislava Castle: Bratislavský hrad
Our final stop on the walking tour was to the Bratislava castle. The city isn't 100% sure when the castle was originally built, but the earliest written evidence of its existence was from 907 AD. After several innovations and redesigns, the castle looks pretty plain and standard. The lack of frills and ornamentation is a reminder to the years of communist rule.
Martina explained that Bratislava is an unimpressive city compared to surrounding European countries because when Moscow wanted to separate the Czech Republic and Slovakia they gave each country a capital: one designed in a “traditional, industrial” sense (Bratislava), and the other the focus of “modern and forward-thinking" (Prague). Bratislava got left behind in the 90s with the tech boom. While they continue to grow, catching up to their massive neighboring countries is a struggle!
We ended our tour with Martina with great food recommendations, so we made our way out of the historic old town and headed into the heart of Bratislava for dinner!
FUNTASTIC Bookstore
On our way to eat, we stopped in a bookstore to grab our Slavic copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. While not the normal collector’s item, Bryan and I love collecting books from every country we visit in their native language! While Bryan scours the children's fantasy section for our HP book, I normally get lost recognizing other popular books by their cover art! It’s always a fun stop during our travels!
Viecha U Sedliaka Restaurant
Bryan did drag me out of the bookstore so we could continue our venture down to one of Bratislava's oldest pubs for a taste of more local cuisine! Considering we weren't overly hungry, we decided to split a plate of Bryndzové halušky, one of the national dishes in Slovakia. Bryndzové halušky is made from halušky (boiled lumps of potato dough similar to gnocchi) and bryndza (a soft sheep cheese) and then topped with bacon cubes! It was delicious!
We also tried Kofola, Slovakia’s version of Coke which was much sweeter than what we are used to in a dark soda! Based on our tour guide's recommendation, I also tried the local mulled wine to warm me up!
Flixbus Bratislava
As we finished our shared dinner, Bryan began planning our trip back to Vienna. We learned that the next available bus left in 40 minutes, so we quickly paid our check and hustled back to the old town to get our luggage!
We made it to the bus station with two minutes to spare, just to realize the bus we were looking for wasn't in the assigned bus pickup spot...so we missed our bus and had to wait another hour for the next available bus through another company! Running around the city of Bratislava and then through a packed mall just to miss the bus due to company misprint on our tickets didn't make for a happy B or K...but I found a convenient store and picked up two Strongbow ciders to pass the time. Nothing a hard cider can't fix!
When our bus pulled out of Bratislava, Bryan and I both admired the city's landscape as we headed back toward our day's starting point: Vienna, Austria!
Be on the lookout for the Veteran's Day Weekend part two: Christmas Markets in Vienna!
'til next time,
Katie
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