More city touring- Russian War Memorial
Same weather this morning, foggy with cool temps (43F) and a misty rain. Continuing on with our Bratislava Card tour, we headed off to the Russian War Memorial. This is about a 20-minute bus ride from the Presidential Palace up the hill into a residential district called Slavin.
Remains of the ancient wall that surrounded Bratislava in the early 16th century
Ancient fortifications
April 1945, Bratislava is liberated by Russian forces who overthrew the German occupiers. The memorial was constructed between 1957 and 1960 to honor the 6,845 Russian soldiers buried here in three mass graves. The memorial stands 42M high (138’) and has a 12M statue on top. The statue is of a Russian soldier raising the flag in his right hand while crushing a swastika with his left boot.
Bratislava from the Russian War Memorial. A bit foggy, eh!
Graves of soldiers and citizens killed in 1945
Mass graves of the 6,845 Russian soldiers
Russian memorial
Enough grave site touring, now back to the city for a pastry break. But first, a photo op at the Presidential Palace or Grassalkovich Palace. The building is of Rococo / Baroque style built in 1760 for Antal Grassalkovich, President of the Hungarian Court Chamber and Chief Justice.
During the Communist era, the palace was used to house “pioneers”, as school children were known then, who nearly destroyed the building. After extensive remodeling in the 1990’s, the building became the home for the Slovakian president. President Bush and Vladmir Putin met here for the Summit of 2005.
Presidential palace
OK, now off to the pastry shop. We had to stop in at Konditorei Kormuth for this break to enjoy some of their original Slovakian pastries and check out their amazing antiques. The shop only uses plates, saucers, utensils, etc. that are from the 16th -19th century. The interior of the building is painted with murals and frescoes in Renaissance style to compliment the original antiques.
Downstairs dining
Whatta loo
Ornate entrance
Mural and rose marble table
Stained glass
But this is a pastry shop so the food needs to be excellent as well, and it is. The pastries are all hand-made, onsite daily and are absolutely fabulous! We ordered a slice of chocolate-caramel cake and two of their traditional Slovakian pastries called, “bratislavsky rozok.” (Pronounced: Brad is lau sky Rose oak) The rozok are crescent shaped pastries filled with poppy seed or walnut paste. We had to try both. The poppy seed filled rozok is formed into the shape of a horseshoe, while the walnut filled one is in the shape of a “C”. Both were good but my favorite was the walnut filled.
Chocolate-Caramel cake, Bratislavský rožok
Pastries, YUM!
Walnut paste bratislavsky rozok
Breaks over so back to touring. This time were off to checkout one of Bratislava’s unusual churches, the Blue Church. Although there is nothing special about this church, the blue color makes it somewhat unusual. Built in 1913, the church was consecrated to Saint Elisabeth of Hungary, who grew up in Pressburg (Bratislava).
This is a single-nave church with a cylindrical bell tower. The roof is blue glazed tile and the exterior is a pastel blue paint with a row of blue tile. Inside there are blue pews and at the entrance, two Romanesque columns that look somewhat oriental. The altar has the depiction of Saint Elisabeth giving alms to the poor.
The Blue Church
Altar in the Blue Church
Wow, all that walking can only lead to one thing, eating! After strolling around the area of the Blue Church, we made our way back to Old Town for some traditional Slovakian food. Collette decided to try the bryndzové halušky, (pronounced: dane sha vay Housh key) a traditional Slovakian dish made with dumplings, soft sheep’s cheese and topped with bacon. I decided to try the Hungarian beef goulash, not as adventurous towards sheep’s cheese.
Beef goulash
Bryndzové halušky
Turned out that Collette’s dish was a kind of mac and cheese with bacon that was pretty good. My dish was mostly chunks of beef in a beef sauce with bread. Not the kind of goulash my Granny made.
Finished up our meals and called it a day. Tomorrow is the Struggle for Freedom Day, or Freedom and Democracy Day, here in Slovakia so probably not many stores open and lots of people walking around Old Town. Until then…