Bratislava

First I need to post a correction - on my first post about Budapest I spelled the name of the currency wrong. It should be Forint and I've gone back and changed it. I know you were all snickering about that obvious mistake but you will have to stop now.

Today we took the train from Budapest to Bratislava, Slovakia. This is the same train route that will bring us to Prague tomorrow and then to Berlin on Tuesday. We are just getting off to be tourists along the way.

Bratislava didn't sound like a hot tourist destination when we booked it. It seemed unusual and interesting enough to deserve a one-night stay. Apparently they do have a ton of summer tourists though, judging by the number of souvenir shops around town. I think what happens is that people take cruises down the Danube and make stops at Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest. So they spend the day walking around town here in large guided tour groups. Brian and I like to think that we are cooler than them and we watch with an air of tourist superiority as they walk in hordes and take photos with statues on the street. We only take photos of each other in front of castles and churches, which is much more sophisticated.

There is a very distinct old town in Bratislava, with some beautiful buildings, an old theater, churches, a town hall, some squares and fountains and winding streets... it's quaint and pretty and well preserved. The other parts of Bratislava that we've seen have tall office buildings, older houses that are not so well preserved, bad 60s era architecture, and huge complexes of soviet-style apartment blocks. There is a nice river walk area and a UFO observation tower. I know what you are thinking - UFO observation?? how awesome is that! Why aren't we all in Bratislava right now? Unfortunately, it's not because you can observe UFOs from there. It just looks like a spaceship because there's an observation deck and a restaurant at the top. One of the best places to look at the communist apartment blocks and the UFO tower is from the Bratislava castle, high over the town. There has been a structure on that site since the Stone Age, though the beginnings of the current castle weren't built until the 900s. Wow.

The historic (let's be honest, the tourist) district is cool but very segregated from the normal, working city. Part of what we liked about Budapest was that the local places and tourist places were all blended together and the attractions were in different neighborhoods around town. Even restaurants with English or German menus had local customers too. But since today is Good Friday, the only open shops and restaurants in Bratislava are in the old town, so segregation works out ok for us. 

I wasn't really excited about the hotel room that I booked here. It looked like a decent place to spend one night but nothing special. The place is in an old house that's 3 stories high and I picked it because it's fairly cheap and on a quiet street near the center of town. Somehow, though, we got the huge top floor apartment, with a huge living room, rooftop patio, and kitchenette. It's all white - white walls, white leather couch, white tiles - with an exposed brick wall and little chandeliers hanging from the sloped ceiling. Maybe they were out of regular rooms. Maybe no one else is staying here. Either way, I think we lucked out.

Perhaps Bratislava isn't so obscure of a destination after all. There is plenty to see here for one day. Just don't come here expect to spot any UFOs if you come. That's a tourist trap.