The small and quaint city of Bratislava, Slovakia was the fifth stop on my trip. Bratislava took be by surprise when I first arrived. I expected a larger city with a lot more going on. Instead I got a quiet and slow moving city.
I arrived midafternoon after spending a lazy morning to get checked out of my hostel in Vienna. The train ride was only an hour in length with trains leaving every hour. The short ride came as a relief after four very long travel days. After purchasing my ticket to Prague, Czech Republic I grabbed a bus to the city center. After, getting only slightly lost I arrived at my hostel, checked in, chose my bed, dropped off my stuff, and went to the supermarket and purchased some food for the next few days.
The next morning I was up and going around 8:30-9:00 o’clock. The night before was more eventful than I would have liked. Around 12:30 my five roommates arrived. Being my first night in a new place I wasn’t sleeping as soundly and awoke to them entering. They then left but slowly trickled back into the room. Needless to say they were not in my good books at that point. However, as the day went on they grew on me and were a lot of fun to have around.
After a light breakfast I headed to the meeting point of a free walking tour. I spent the next few hours leaning a lot of fun facts about the city. Once the tour was over I stopped by the supermarket and then went back to the hostel. It had been raining all day so I welcomed the dry comfort of my room.
Having seen almost all of Bratislava during the tour the day before I spent day two exploring Bratislava Hrad (Castle). The castle sits high up on the hill above the city. While exploring the castle I was able to get some shot of the old town from above. After I was finished at the castle I wandered around the old town enjoying the coble streets and enjoying the slow pace. As the day came to an end I made my way back to the hostel to find that my room was still empty (the first five had left that morning for Budapest, Hungry). No one arrived that night so I got the whole room to myself and got a really good night’s rest.
On my last day in Bratislava I crossed over to the modern side of the city. I didn’t go into the city though; instead I walked up and down the river taking lots of pictures of the old town and castle. After a while I made my way back across the river and to my hostel. I spent the remainder of the day packing and getting ready for my early morning departure to Prague. I shared my room that night with five other people who were all very friendly and didn’t show up at the ugly time of 12:30 in the morning.
Bratislava was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the bigger cities. It isn’t a city I would go back to thought. There just isn’t enough to do.
Until Prague, Breathe, Relax, and HAVE FUN!
Meredith Soer