Bratislava.
We got up early and prepared for our day trip to Bratislava. We had originally planned to camp there but had read that the campsites were ‘grim’. As it is not far from Vienna we changed our plans and took the train there instead. We got to travel on a double-decker train into Vienna centre!
The journey took about an hour and a quarter, including a fifteen minute stop for border control / passport checks. Tim read up on the city while I wrote postcards. The weather was getting cooler, we were both wearing jeans and the nights were starting to get a bit chilly.
On our arrival in Bratislava we realised we had no currency — they don’t join the Euro for a few years yet — and couldn’t speak the language. We got some Slovak crowns out from the cash machine and wandered around until we found the tram ticket office. Got a tram into the centre and paused to eat the lunch we had brought with us, for a change.
We followed the route in the ‘Rough Guide’, had a look into a church that was closed, wandered down into the old town, past two towers. We stopped into a shop called L’Occitane, the French equivalent of the Body Shop but more expensive! The sales assistant was very enthusiastic and told us all about the products and gave us several free samples. We bought some lavender oil for Kathy’s bites.
We found the two main squares of the city which were wonderfully peaceful and pretty in the sunlight. We then wandered on to the river and saw the bridge support which is reminiscent of the Starship Enterprise, it has a cafe at the top.
We visited the Jewish museum which was small but interesting and not emotionally orchestrated. We got two books as part of the entry fee.
Back in the main squares we went in search of refreshment and sat outside a cafe. We had Golden Magic tea with lemon and shared a piece of apple strudel. We were entertained by a group of young people who were practising juggling and Diablos overseen by a very tall guy in a waistcoat and trousers, looking very Aladdin-like.
We then set off to find the National Gallery which we’d read had an exhibition of design and architecture on the top floor. We got there just after five with under an hour ’til closing time so rushed to the top floor but all we could find were paintings and statues. We were a bit disappointed but we found some fantastic sculptured heads showing different emotions — one called “suppressed laughter”.
We were determined to find the blue church we had read about before we got the train back so we set off. We were ready to give up when we found the right road and the church. It is like something out of a fairytale with beautiful mosaic glass tiles that look like strings of jewels hanging from it.
Short of time we walked in the direction of the station stopping to take a picture of a map which we then referred to as we made our way. We spent the return train journey reading the books from the Jewish museum.