Hangin in Bratislava
Guess the best place to begin is with the break-up of Czechoslovakia. No, let’s start with the formation of Czechoslovakia. It’s 1918 and World War I has just ended. The Habsburg Monarchy, a union of crowns with no uniform laws or shared institutions, collapses. As such, the creation of a country called, “Czechoslovakia” is born. The capital of this new country would be Prague.
After years of Communist rule, Czechoslovakia struggled to become part of the modern world. Some Czech people believed they were subsidizing the Slovak people too much, while some Slovak people believed that they had no say in laws being passed in Prague. Whatever the reason, in 1992, the presidents of Czech and Slovakia met in secret and agreed to separate the two countries. This was known as the “Velvet Divorce” because there was no war or conflict. Pinky swears were exchanged and the on January 1, 1993, two new countries appeared on the world map.
OK, fast forward to 2022 and Dan and Collette are visiting Slovakia to get a feel for how the transition to democracy has been going. So far, pretty good. They have a Starbucks, McDonalds and Burger King so they are well on their way.
The apartment. (Left balcony, second from top)
Bedroom
Kitchen & Dining
Living Room
Park outside the apartment
Meanwhile, back at the apartment, Dan and Collette are preparing for the mornings journey. Since we spent last night chasing down my phone, we didn’t have time to do any grocery shopping so first order of business is to find a restaurant for breakfast. Wouldn’t you know it, just around the corner is a great spot that serves full English breakfast.
Mom-bear’s croissant breakfast
It was called a “large” Americano coffee
Full English Breakfast – Yessir!
Fully fueled so off to see a couple of sites and check into the Bratislava Card at the Tourist Information Center. Since the apartment is located in Old Town, we have most of the sites we want to see fairly close. The biggest and most obvious one is the Bratislava Castle. The castle sits on a hilltop overlooking the entire city so it’s hard to miss, but it is a bit of uphill walk. Just when we thought we’d conquered every hill in Europe with our hikes in Porto, now we have one more.
And up the hill it is
The current Bratislava Castle is not what you’d call “ancient.” The original castle was built in the 9th century but that one burned to the ground. A new castle was built to replace the burned one in 1953, 69 years ago. Since I’m 68 years old, no way is this castle, or me, ancient!
The views are great and the hike, not so bad.
Bratislava Castle
Bratislava from the castle
Castle entrance
Coronation church from Bratislava Castle
SNP bridge with UFO restaurant (Named so because of its shape)
Next stop was the Tourist Information Center where we purchased our Bratislava Cards. For a mere 25EUR each, this card provides entrance into almost every museum in Bratislava; a free guided walking tour of the city; use of all public transportation for 2 days, and discounts at tons of shops and restaurants. What a deal!
Got our cards, time to do some grocery shopping then find a pub for an afternoon cocktail. On the way we came across one of Bratislava’s famous sculptures, “Cumil”, the sewer worker. Created in 1997 by artist Viktor Hulik, this unique sculpture is the most photographed object in Bratislava!
Cumil is Slovak for “watcher”. The statue appears to be watching but there is a bit of controversy about what he’s watching. Some say Cumil is a typical Communist-era worker who works a little and watches a lot, or he’s just taking a rest, or he’s trying to see up the ladies’ skirts. You decide.
They had to install this sign to keep cars from running over Cumil.
Cumil
Found our way to Lidl, a grocery chain in Europe, so time to stock up on eats. Always an adventure trying to buy groceries in a foreign country. We like to buy packages of pasta, meat, bread, butter, eggs and OJ for the basics. The refrigerator is about ½ the size of a small fridge in the US so we can’t buy a lot.
Headed back to the apartment and put the groceries away. Time for that cocktail. Devin Castle and a walking tour for tomorrow so til then: Dobru Noc.
The sign says it all!