Don’t worry, we didn’t spend all our time in Bratislava, Slovakia in a pub. We started our Slavic adventure by catching a train from Vienna to Bratislava on Friday around noon. The ride is actually really pretty. You see the Carpathian Mountain Range appearing on the horizon and there a ton of beautiful green fields dotted with orange-roofed houses on the way.
We spent our afternoon in Bratislava walking around the old city, which is actually comprised of beautiful architecture, colorful buildings and lively squares. There were also a ton of statues just randomly spread out across the city. We strolled around, stopping at whatever caught our eye, and reveling in the fact that of all places, we found ourselves in Bratislava. Who does that? OK, I’m sure many, but Pete and I were amused by our somewhat random tourist destination. People we know have only heard about it because it’s the setting of the Hostel I and II movies, which I refuse to see since I rely on hostels while I’m over here. Don’t worry, we didn’t have any experiences like those in the movie.
Some of the colorful buildings in the town hall square.
Me being petted by Hans Christian Anderson.
We ended up climbing up a huge hill to Bratislava Castle. The museum inside the castle itself was closed, so we didn’t end up learning much about it, but it’s situation on top of this hill overlooking the city and the Danube River was absolutely stunning. We took a bunch of great pictures and spent a good amount of time up there taking in the whole damn thing.
The UFO-looking thing is a restaurant at the top of a bridge over the Danube River. We preferred cheaper dining, but it would have been a cool view.
The view of the Danube River and the Carpathians in the distance. It was beautiful.
Pete and Bratislava Castle.
Looking out onto Bratislava. I loved the orange roofs.
Me in another cute square.
It was during dinner that we made the most amazing discovery ever: Slovakia is so cheap! Cheaper than America! Hooray! We had a huge dinner at a wood fired pizza place that complete with beer, an appetizer, salads and a pizza AND tip ended up being 420 crowns, or $21. And it was good food! Needless to say, we hit up a couple other pubs to enjoy $1.50 pints. Try to imagine my joy, coming from a place where cheap pints are still almost $6. I was tempted to move after being here.
Yeah, that's a $1.50 pint right there.
We returned to Vienna on Saturday morning, but definitely could have handled another day in Bratislava. The people were really friendly and the atmosphere was really fun. Cheap pints or no, it was a worthwhile stay and a really cool place to say that I’ve visited. I was proud of ourselves for breaking out of the big city draw and giving it a chance. It should be interesting to watch Slovakia as time goes on to see how it ends up developing. You can definitely tell Bratislava is a growing city. Who knows? Maybe we’ll be able to drop back by in the future and see how it’s changed.
Contemplating the nature of existance.
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