3 – 6 May 2018
After I left Vienna, I traveled east by bus alongside the river Danube (Donau) until I crossed the border with Slovakia. The capital, Bratislava, is the first mayor city on the Danube after Vienna, and it takes only 1.5 hour by bus. Vienna and Bratislava are the capitals that are the closest to each other in Europe, as long as you don’t count Vatican City. A lot of people visit Bratislava as a day trip from Vienna, but I decided to stay in Bratislava a bit longer. I arrived on Thursday and eventually I left on the following Monday, making my stay in Bratislava one of the longest so far.
My host in Bratislava was Stany, and it didn’t take long for me to realize that I have been really lucky with my host. Stany was fortunate to be able to ‘retire’ at age 40 after having a career as a member of parliament and a diplomat. Now he has the time to pursuit different goals in life. He has a steady income by renting several apartments in the city via Airbnb. For me this meant that he had plenty of time to show me around the city and make sure that I got a good impression of the city. Besides, I am also quite interested in a career as a diplomat/representative, so I asked him a lot of questions on how to get into this line of work.
The first night Stany took me for a walk around the city, to get an impression of the city by night. There were a lot of people on the streets and on the terraces, and we even bumped into a man who Stany later told me was a candidate for president. The fact that so many people are going out is because everything (especially beer) is very cheap, so even students and other people with less money to spend can afford to go out for a drink during the week. The prices of food in Bratislava are also quite low. It’s not hard to get soup plus a filling meal for less than five euros. A lot of restaurants offer daily menus during the weekdays that are really inexpensive and provide you with different meals to choose from. This is why people who don’t have a family to cook for might as well eat out, since buying groceries would probably result in the same price, only with more work.
Friday morning Stany showed me around the city and gave me some background information about the things we saw. We climbed Castle Hill and passed the parliament building on our way. Nowadays the castle is used as a public building with a museum and an area that can be used for concerts. From Castle Hill you have a great view over the city and the Danube River. In the distance you can also see some wind turbines that are part of Austria, and they show you how close to the border you actually are. After Castle Hill we went to a hilltop cemetery, where soldier from the Soviet Army are buried. At the center of the cemetery is a large monument dedicated to these soldiers. From here you also have a great view over the city, which is why a lot of people like to hangout at the cemetery (as strange as that may sound). We continued to walk to a place that not many people know about. It is a small and serene location, surrounded by nature, where people come to make a wish. Every time a wish comes true, they leave a thank-you plaque in their language on the wall. The place was a bit less serene than usual, since the gardener was cleaning the plaques with a high-pressure cleaner. But still I made my wish, after which we continued.
In the afternoon I joined a walking tour with a very nice and enthusiastic guide. He showed a lot of places I hadn’t seen yet and told stories I didn’t yet know. During the tour I also met a guy from Uruguay, who currently works in Israel. We chatted a bit about our countries and our experiences. During the tour I also had the chance to show off a bit about my knowledge of the Slovak culture and the language. That’s the advantage of meeting local people. Slovak and Czech people share more or less the same traditions, since they used to be the same country; Czechoslovakia. For example: during Easter, the boys make whips from willow branches and then pay a visit to the girls. First they hit them with water, for good health. Then they spray perfume on them for beauty. And then hit the girls with the whips (not too hard, of course. Although some might be more enthusiastic than others). This whipping is to remind the girls to behave well. As a ‘reward’ the girls give the boys some booze. No wonder that the streets might be awfully quiet during Easter: all the girls are hiding in their rooms with locked doors. Another tradition is that on the fifth of May the boys are kissing a girl under a blossoming tree, basically for the same reason. If you’re into this sort of stuff, you should consider moving to Czechia or Slovakia.
After the tour Stany and I went to a special tea room, hidden in a nuclear bunker. The place looked really amazing and very cosy. They had created special corners with tapestry and pillows where people could lay or sit down. They really managed to create a very peaceful and relaxing ambience. There were countless types of teas to choose from, and eventually I decided to have one with lychee flavor. After we left the place, we went to a private art exhibition at someone’s apartment. When the host of the exhibition opened the door I greeted him in my best Slovak, and guess what: he actually asked whether I was Slovakian. Well, that’s a good boost for my ego. Inside there were several art-lovers sipping their wines and pointing at the paintings. The artist himself was also present to provide them with (sometimes necessary) explanations. After being completely immersed in the world of abstract art, we went somewhere else. Stany was invited by a friend who was setting up some sort of escape/game room. He did this in an old deserted factory that he had refurbished into some sort of club with a DJ. At the entrance we first had to convince the two Hulk-like bouncers that we were friends of the owner. The theme was definitely horror, by looking at the posters inside. After a while Stany and I had enough and went home.
On Saturday we took a boat across the Danube to Hrad Devin (Devin Castle). We had great weather to be on the river and enjoyed the view and the sun. Hrad Devin is a castle that was built on a very strategic position. The castle stands at the place where the river Moravia meets the Danube. This position had always played an important role for trade routes. However, a few centuries ago Napoleons army blew up the castle and now there are just the remains of the castle. Standing separately on a high rock is the iconic Maiden Tower. From atop the castle you have a great view over both rivers and the wide area. When we got back to Bratislava, we visited the Bratislavský Majales Festival; a free festival in the park next to the river. There are even some well known Slovak singers (just not known to me). However, it had gotten a bit chilly in my shorts and T-shirt, so after a while we went home.
On the first Sunday of the month the museums are free in Bratislava, so we went to the Natural History Museum. At the ground floor there was a temporary art exhibition about musical instruments and an exhibition about the old ways and traditional clothing of Slovakia. On the upper floors were the other exhibitions about the flora and fauna. After the museum we went to the forest in the hills surrounding the city. Officially these forests are still part of the city, but once you enter the forest you are really just surrounded by nature. We were walking on a small track and all we heard was the orchestra of birds and the sound of a small creek below us. It was really relaxing to be out of the city. After an hour or so of walking, we arrived at a place where there were more people. We sat down at a sort of cafe, where I had two beers and some potato pancakes. Before I had the potato pancakes, however, I had ordered a strudel with cherry and poppy seeds. Now please take my advice when I say that you should never attempt to eat something that has poppy seeds. I did it twice by mistake, and it’s disgusting! After our break we took the bus back to the city. And yes. . . In the middle of the forest there’s a bus stop. I was kind of surprised by this and it didn’t quite match with my feeling of being alone with Mother Nature in the forest. But I must admit that it was quite convenient. Maybe we should build bus stops in the forests in the Netherlands as well. . .
Back in the city we visited a friend of Stany, named Milan. He works for the Ministry of Defense and he also loves building model boats. He showed me some of his work and it is quite impressive, realizing that he made it all from scratch. He is also really into monarchies and empires and just before we left he gave me a beautifully handwritten letter, intended for the General Consul of the Netherlands (yup, that’s me), even with an official stamp. He’s also interested in astrology and studied quite a lot about it. Now, in general I don’t care much about horoscopes or anything. I don’t really believe in them. But he was able to provide me with a detailed analysis based on my date and time of birth. And I must admit that he nailed it and most of the characteristics were quite accurate. So I found out that my main element is Air, which means that I’ve got a knack for diplomacy, exactly what I’m interested in! That night we watched the fireworks at the closing of the festival.
Most of the following day I spent at the apartment to write down some of my experiences. I also searched for some accommodation for my next destination, Budapest, where I would go later in the afternoon.
Dawn Under 