Mini-Side Trip to Slovakia

The Danube River (and the bike path) continues on from Vienna, Austria to Budapest, Hungary . . . and in between those two major cities on the Danube River is Bratislava which is the capital of Slovakia. It too sits on the Danube River.

Vicki my sister had suggested a little side trip to Bratislava, "While we're in Vienna, how about a boat ride and a couple nights at Bratislava?"  Had never heard of Bratislava but I was game.

It was a mostly rural forested one-hour boat ride on the Danube from Vienna to Bratislava. During the last half-hour of the ride, lightning was flashing all around us and it poured rain again (first week of September 2018). Glad we were in the boat instead of on the bike path.

Bratislava has on old town section near the Danube River . . .

and there is "The Castle" on top of the hill, with interesting streets on the way up to the Castle.

Cute little alley just before the Castle.

Slovakia probably has an identity problem with most Americans; few folks understand where it is and how it got there. When Czechoslovakia dissolved itself in 1993 (the Velvet Divorce), two independent countries emerged - the Republic of Czech and Slovakia. 

Photo above is Michael's Gate (center) located in the old town section. There's a huge history here because of its location (Roman influence from the first to fourth Centuries, Slavs from the fifth to sixth Centuries, Hungary in the tenth Century). There's also a lot of good ethnic restaurants in the old town section, catering to about one million tourists annually.

With much anticipation, we walked up the steep hill to its most famous tourist attraction, the Bratislava Castle. The complex has four gates; below photo is the Vienna Gate built in 1712, the youngest of the four gates.

This history of this palace is interesting for its constantly changing political environment (click here for Wikipedia's story). The gist of the history, impressive and richly decorated for many centuries, important politically, until it became a "white elephant" and kings and rulers pack up and move elsewhere. In 1802 it becomes a military barracks, and then Napoleon's troops bombard it in 1809 and two years later there's an accidental explosion causing a major fire and the entire castle complex is in ruins. The photo sign below shows what the palace complex looked like in its heyday.

But because of Napoleon's cannons and the major fire, most of the castle complex we see today are replicas and repairs done between 1957 and 1968 (younger than me!). For that reason, Vicki and I decide not to pay for tickets to tour the interior. We contented ourselves with walking in the beautiful gardens.

Twas also easy to content ourselves with exploring the city's many restaurants, including one of its most popular ones (Modra Hviezda).

There are certain restaurants that I'll always remember, and this restaurant with the cave downstairs is one of them. I had the best black beer there . . .

and the best zucchini salad.

Later in the old town section, we visited an Asian restaurant. Portions are big in this city, by the way. No skimping like high-priced American restaurants!

We say "Zbohom" to Bratislava at the bus station and catch a cheap bus back to Vienna.

Vienna is still waiting for us!!