Why am I in Slovakia?

BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA

I knew nothing about Slovakia.  I knew nothing about its capital, Bratislava.  I was persuaded by Trenton that it was worth a visit so I tagged along on his plans to visit for two days.  Located only one hour from Vienna, these two are the closest capitals in the world.  Upon arrival, I could see why people tapped out of this town after only two days.  It was cool….I’m glad I went…but I won’t go again.

Here are some fun sights I saw no thanks to my god awful tour guide in Bratislava: 

Quirky statues- Bratislava has a quite a few of them!  I was able to see Napoleon, a member of the paparazzi and a man popping out of a street manhole.  Random but memorable. 

Church of St. Elisabeth- the only Blue church that I know of!  And, after researching it online, there’s no reason given for its bold color.  It looks fun though, huh?! 

Bratislava Castle- Not an impressive castle- more of a fort than anything else.  But notable since it dates back to the Stone Age and has been inhabited by the Celts, Romans, Slavs, Germans, Hungarians and Austrians

St. Martin’s Cathedral- Originally built in the 13^th century, this church is most famous for the coronation of Hungarian kings- 19 Austrian emperors were crowned in there!  It was under massive renovation due to the vibrations caused by the nearby highway leading to the New Bridge. 

New Bridge- I need an engineer to explain the physics of this bridge.  It appears to only be supported on one end!  This bridge was completed in 1972 and is the world’s longest cable-stay bridge with one pylon and one cable-stayed plane.  It was nicknamed  the UFO bridge because of the saucer-like restaurant that is located above the highway and over the dirty Danube River.

Cannonball embedded in the building- Kind of pathetic, right?  I mean, you can’t win whatever you’re fighting for if your cannonballs do that!

Picture of guy with tank at his chest – In August of 1968, Czechs were horrified by the invasion of the Soviets- the same group that had freed them of Nazi rule in 1945!  Among the busy crossroads near Commenius University, Ladislav Bielik secretly took a photograph that would later be dubbed one of the Top 100 greatest photos of the century.  In the photo, random Slovakian, Emil Gallo, showed just how much he was willing to sacrifice when he pulled his shirt apart and exposed his bare chest to the barrel of an oncoming Soviet tank.  The negatives were secretly sent to a German newspaper so that the West would know exactly what was going on in Slovakia.  I hope to never know that kind of desperation- thank you troops.  

And when it came to food, Bratislava was no slouch!  I was pleasantly surprised and would argue that it was one of the best cuisines I tried on my trip.  Trenton and I couldn’t help but stick to the same restaurant during our stay.  It was located pretty close to our hostel, which turned out to be the BEST hostel of my entire trip!  It seemed pretty new so everything was so clean and comfortable.  It had nice lounge areas, a foosball table (which is the most annoying game to listen to when you’re not the one playing) and an inviting kitchen.  I think many hostels start out with hippy intentions of peace, love and harmony but a few bad seeds ruin it for everyone.  In the end, the walls are filled with an overwhelming amount of Dos and Don’ts.  You can actually hear them yelling at you through text!  But not the Blues Hostel of Bratislava.  Oh no.  This one even had private bathrooms and shower spaces complete with its own changing area.  If you’re not impressed by that, you obviously haven’t spent the last 5 months in a steamy shower area, desperately balancing while putting on jeans and avoiding the sopping, wet floor.  Trust me, it’s a gift.  The only downfall was Trenton’s snoring!  What a chainsaw.  

Slovakia may not have been the sexiest of destinations but it WAS the most random.  I’m very grateful to Trenton for persuading me to take this detour.  I don’t plan on returning to Slovakia but I never planned on going there in the first place.  So, never say never.  It’s about time I got to where I originally intended to be- VIENNA!

More pics from Slovakia: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.978332451777.2374459.1611207&type=3&l=e73ef62517

FOODS I TRIED: potato dumplings with goat cheese and bacon, potato pancake with spicy chicken

Prague with a little side of STUNNING.

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

My guide book’s first sentence was ‘Prague is stunning.’  And it sure was.  I’ve been to quite a number of cities at this point and left this one thinking it was my second most favorite.  It felt very manageable.  There was so much to discover throughout the windy streets that led to and from the old town square.  I loved that it was a pedestrian city with charming trolleys ringing their bells. 

I had one day of warm weather so I walked across Charles Bridge (aka the busy bridge), which was filled with lovely paintings and handmade jewelry.  I met a couchsurfer from New Mexico, named Trenton Boyd that happened to be following the same path through Munich, Berlin, Prague and Vienna.  so I teamed up with him for a week.  We took a walking tour of the city and were able to watch the famous Astronomical Clock in the town center.   Every hour, tourists surround the clock and watch as the figurine skeleton comes to life and tolls the bell.  Three other figures follow suit and the two wooden kookoo-clock-type doors open up.  The on-lookers ‘oooo’ and ‘aahhhh’ as the twelve figurine apostles poke their heads out to the crowd one at a time.  The show concludes when a real-life bugler plays from all four corners of the balcony!  It was pretty impressive for a 600 year old clock!

Another highlight of the tour was Wenceslas Square, a common boulevard that is popular for protests and community gatherings.  The marvelous National Museums was perched up on a hill that led into the square and was the sight of a couple historical events worth mentioning.  During WW2, the museum was damaged during WW2 when it was invaded by the Nazis who mistook it for Parliament!  During its refurbishment, they purposely used a different color mortar as to show the solemn effects of war.  In January of 1969, it also marked the location where Jan Palach set himself on fire in protest of the invasion of Czechoslovakian by the Soviet Union in 1968.  A group of Czech students, in vluding twenty-one year old Palach made a pact to set themselves on fire in order to bring world-wide attention to the demoralization within Prague.  He suffered from third degree burns for three days in the hospital before he died on January 19, 1969.  While on his death bed, he pled that his fellow cult members should not succumb to the same fate- the pain was too great and no one even noticed.  Over 40 years later, that same location is one of the most flourishing sights of capitalism in all of the Czech Republic!

Here you can see the different color mortar

I was feeling extremely lazy one day and decided to see a movie for the first time in about 6 months.  I had never heard of Woody Allen’s ‘Midnight in Paris’ but I was more than pleasantly surprised!  It was one of those movies that had great tempo- it just continued along a positive path for two hours.  I was actually disappointed when it ended.  I hadn’t encountered the same splice in time periods that Owen Wilson felt in the movie, but I had felt foreign over the past couple months.  I had visited some of the most prestigious museums in the world that showcased the same influential artists.  I think it felt even more special since I had just visited Paris a few weeks earlier…and was lucky enough to get caught in the delightful rain.  The movie was so charming- truly entertaining.

From the soundtrack- "Let's Do It, Let's Fall In Love"

Another great find was an old box elevator that consisted of maybe 8 box cars that continuously rotated around a rectangular path.  There were no doors.  The carts just went up to the fourth floor until a large wheel shifted it over to the cables that brought them down.  Trenton and I spent a good half hour just playing on the elevator.  We ignored the signs (written in two different languages) that said ‘Get Out!’ at the fourth floor just to see what would happen.  I took a video that rivaled the Blair Witch Project but was unable to upload it to the blog.

We met three very cool Asian girls and one not so cool American guy when we visited the John Lennon memorial wall.  The tributary graffiti began after Lennon’s death in 1980 and peaceful messages have continued to decorate the wall today.  It’s amazing how one personal can make such a lasting ripple effect throughout the world. Nearby, I also snagged a picture on the ‘Love lock Bridge’.   I’m not sure how this tradition of securing locks to old bridges got started but apparently there are similar bridges all over Europe.  It has even been banned in some places since the weight of the locks has caused significant damage to the structure of some ancient bridges.  Who could have guessed? 

The famous Prague castle was erected in the 9^th century and was the home of the Kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman Emperors and Presidents of Czechoslovakia and Czech Republic.  It sprawls over 570 meters in length and 130 meters wide- the largest in the world!  I was kind of castled-out so I didn’t pay entry to go inside.  The castle grounds were impressive enough and I was able to go inside some of the cathedrals as well.  On the way down, we found a small vineyard and robbed it blind of both red and green grapes.  What a nice, sweet treat!

Otherwise, I found Prague to be very inviting with its elegant cafes and restaurants.  I had the thickest, most delicious hot chocolate of my life- I can never go back to Swiss Miss.  The Bohemian Glass was also a spectacle.  Fyi, Prague is in the historical region of Bohemia, hence the term ‘Bohemian’.  Being a good son, Trenton shopped around for some impressive crystal stemware to send to his mother overseas.  We were completely shocked to the find a 24 hour post office in one of the main squares!  Twenty four hours!  How can it make sense to keep a post office open throughout the night?  I wish they had spent more time packing the stemware because every glass except one broke on its way to New Mexico.  What a bummer for Trenton.

I took one very memorable day trip outside of Prague to visit the bone church in Kutna Hora.  Talk about unique!  The church was first made famous in the 13^th century when an abbot returned from a visit to the holy lands of Palestine with a pocketful of soil which he sprinkled amongst the surrounding graveyard.  From that point onward, demand to be buried in that cemetery was very high amongst the aristocracy.  By the 17^th century, space was unavailable and old bones were exhumed and stored within the church.  In 1870, Frantisek Rint was commissioned by the church to display the bones in such a way as to remind people how fragile life is and that death is inescapable....we should make use of our time on Earth by serving the Lord and being good Christians.  The last part tends to be left out.  Upon entry into the church, I was greeted with this impressive display of bones in the shape of a chalice!  They had several rooms stacked with skulls, a masterpiece chandelier made of every bone in the body, and a ‘Coat of Arms’ actually made out of arms.  Sick!!  It was REALLY impressive and not nearly as creepy as one may imagine.

Chalice of bones

Chandelier made out of every bone in the body!

Coat of REAL Arms

Scary Stuff!

 

Prague, you are my number two.  Just wonderful!  Want to know my number one?  Stay tuned....

Check out more pics  from Prague: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.948865733317.2370907.1611207&type=1&l=f789548097

FOODS I TRIED: wild grapes, street meat ham, potato thing at outdoor market, donner kebab (Mmmm)

Berlin's got a wall. Not sure if you've heard about it.

BERLIN, GERMANY

                It took me just one day to realize that Berlin could very well be the capital of Europe.  The sprawling city is centrally located throughout the continent and is the most influential of the 20^th century.  Oh wait, that was Hitler’s idea.  Nevermind. 

The city felt so revolutionary.  The horrid history left by Hitler was still imbedded in the soul of the city.  I visited his bunker (now a parking lot) and spent a good amount of time at the Topography of Terror, which brought you through Berlin from 1920-1989.  The chronological story line was fantastic.  There stories and photographs from the Holocaust and WW2 were overwhelming.  Did you know that Hitler was chosen as Time Magazine’s Man of the Year in 1938?  I couldn’t believe that Hitler hosted the Olympics in Berlin in 1936!  The Nuremberg laws were already in place and he had stripped Jews of their German citizenship.  In preparation of the games, the city removed signs from the city parks that read, ‘No Jews allowed on the grass” and only those of the Aryan race were allowed to compete for Germany.  Hitler was implementing the foundation for his final solution right under everyone’s noses!  That really stuck with me. 

               The Holocaust museum whose real name is The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe was also influential.  The city held a contest in 1996 to decide how to appropriately pay tribute to the 6 million Jews that were murdered in WW2.  Can you imagine how difficult that task would be?  It took them three contests to finally find an adequate representation.  The American artist, Peter Eisenmann proposed that the museum be underground and the area above be covered with 2,711 black slabs arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field.  It was very smart and very solemn. In the sunlight, shadows casted a black and white contrast.  The slabs resembled the barracks of a concentration camp and served as a labyrinth- it was chilling the way people appeared and disappeared through the rows.  In drizzling rain, they had a gray appearance that made them look more like tombstones and it was pretty depressing.  I was surprised with how many stupid tourists were climbing all over the slabs and even playing hide-and-seek amongst the labyrinth.

 Let’s move onto happier subjects like the Cold War.  Geez!  What a relative term.  I visited the three areas of the city where the wall still exists.  There was one mural on the side of a building that showed an idealistic socialism and then a large photograph from the 1960s that represented the realistic socialism.  The Soviets constructed the wall and barricades practically overnight on August 13, 1961.

The Brandenburg Gate that had once served as a glorious gateway between east and west, was a barricade covered in barbed wire during the 60s.  Families were torn apart by the wall between East and West Berlin and over 200 people lost their lives trying to escape their life in captivity under the Soviets.  There were so many walls, barricades, barbed wire, and booby traps (not to mention the infamous death strip where Soviet soldiers could shoot anyone who tried to flee westward).  It’s amazing that there was even one person who was brave (and desperate) enough to even try.

Brandenberg Gate in 1960s

Original Berlin Wall

Checkpoint Charlie

You Are Now Leaving The American Sector

Standing in between former wall dividing East and West Berlin

I enjoyed my walk along the East Side Gallery where artists around the world created murals surrounding the significance of the wall.  It was impossible to choose a favorite. It definitely felt like a city of artists!  There was graffiti everywhere- the kind that beautifies a city, not destroys it.  It still felt so revolutionary.  I spent a lot of time at Checkpoint Charlie, which is famous for the Soviet/American tank standoff in 1961.  Even though it felt a little bit like Disneyworld with its recreation, I liked how they had the ominous picture of the Soviet soldier always keeping a watch on the West and the American soldier always keeping an eye on the East.  I’m not sure if that was the original sign that read ‘You are now leaving the American sector’.  I had conversations with local and shop owners that were very moving. Just imagine if you woke up tomorrow and there was a wall between your parents and you. So sad.

East Side Gallery

East Side Gallery

East Side Gallery

Another great thing about Berlin is that I could go back in 2 years and it would look very different.  This place is an urban planner’s dream!  After heavy bombing throughout WW2, the city was in constant need of repair.  They didn’t have much money so the repairs were done cheaply and are under a constant state of construction.  They aren’t afraid to spend money on their architecture.  They had many squares and plazas since everything was so spread out.  And since they were divided into two cities for over 40 years, they have two sets of everything- parks, museums, arenas, opera houses, court houses, etc.  What an impressive city!!

Lustgarten

Sunset in Berlin

Found a friend with some fashion sense along the way!

More pics here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.947125520717.2370747.1611207&type=1&l=c5f4c1c64a

FOODS I TRIED: Mezzo mix cola, half boiled eggs, pretzel, kebabs (Amazing!), lots of beer