Monday, December 19, 2011

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 13th 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

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