Bratislava

Dobrý deň!

From Vienna we took a one-day trip to Bratislava in Slovakia. It's only an hour away by train. In the summer you can do a boat trip down the Danube instead if you want.

On the way to Bratislava

But taking the train was easy and cheap. A return ticket that's also valid for public transport in Bratislava is only €16. And they have trams as part of the public transport network in Bratislava! Trams always make me feel at home.

Bratislava is the largest city in Slovakia but still quite small for a capital city. It has a long and complicated history. In fact the name Bratislava is only a hundred years old. Before that it was called Pressburg and the majority of the population were Germans and Hungarians. For a couple of hundred years it was the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary. After the first world war it became the capital of Slovakia within the newly founded Republic of Czechoslovakia.

“An der schönen, blauen grünen Donau”

Until the second world war it was a multicultural city of Slovaks, Czechs, Germans, Hungarians and Jews. But in various stages during and immediately after the second world war all the minorities were expelled (even the Czechs) so that it's now very much just a Slovak city despite being within walking distance of both Austria and Hungary. Talking of that, did you know that it's the only national capital in the world that borders two other countries?

View from the castle

Most of the city is fairly uninteresting but the old town in the city centre is nice with its winding streets, cafés and restaurants.And of course Bratislava has a castle. It located in the city centre on a hill above the Danube. So you get a pretty good view of the city from there. The castle itself is very... uhm... square... and white.

On the way from castle down to the old town we met this lady. I'm not sure who she was but she seemed nice.

When we got to the old town I needed a rest. Luckily there was a pink bench there waiting for me. I think I need one of these for my home.

They had even equipped the bench with a matching tree with pink paper flowers. I also need one of those.

I'll leave you with that.

Čau!