On my journey to Kremnica, I had to stop in Bratislava for one night. I was not in the mood for writing those days, hence just a few photos:
Although I only had time for one afternoon walk and one morning stroll, I took quite a liking to Bratislava. And I began to wonder why so many elegant capital cities are located on the Danube River, with Vienna, Budapest and Belgrade being the other ones.
Definitely a city I would love to spend more time in! If someone ever needs a cat-sitter there, please let me know.
Practical advice:
- When you arrive at the train station, you can get a day ticket for zones 100+101 and one for the whole network. Because I wasn’t sure how far I would go by tram, I opted for the latter, paying 6.90 € instead of 4 €. It turned out that the cheaper one is absolutely enough if you are staying in the wider Bratislava region. (The more expensive one was actually a day ticket for the whole national railways service, which came in handy the next day.)
Links:
- Soon, I will have more stories about Slovakia.
- I actually once walked all the way from Vienna to Bratislava on foot. But that was a silly idea, not to be repeated. After all, there are trains and ships.
- The journey to Kremnica was part of my search for the geographical center of Europe.
The Happy Hermit 
Quite enjoyed your Vienna to Bratislava birthday walk. I cheated and took the train!
Do you have a Twitter account I could follow? (Enjoy Twitter more than Facebook).
You were much cleverer then!
Because foregoing that walk, you could enjoy the time in Bratislava instead.
I do have Twitter: @AndreasMoser007
Most interesting – as ever!
xxx
Hi, If you find yourself in Bratislava for a second impression, treat yourself to a visit to the Johann Nepomuk Hümmel Museum and the Clock Museum at The Good Shepherd, both of which are in the charming neighborhood near the Hrad. It is a wonderful old part of town. These two places are most interesting and lovely, even though small, and are my favorite spots there. I hope you get to enjoy them. Donnah https://www.welcometobratislava.eu/museum-of-johann-nepomuk-hummel/ https://www.visitbratislava.com/places/museum-of-clocks-house-at-the-good-shepherd/
Thank you for the suggestions, Donnah!
I didn’t even get to that old part of town, let alone to the castle.
When I only have a few hours, I just walk around aimlessly (or looking for a beautiful park), because I know it would be frustrating to try to see too much in that little time.
But I am sure I will return and spend more time in Bratislava.
It is not a place I would like to visit again. I’ve been there thrice during momentous times. The first time was in 1988, when I was fined for smoking on the street, and had a long conversation with a complete stranger about Jaroslav Hacek. The second time was when East Germans were driving in large numbers to the West through Poland and Czechoslovakia, and the only conversation was about that. The third time was just a little later, immediately after Slovakia divorced its long time partner. That time I was denied entry into a restaurant. No reason given. I strongly suspect it was because I did not look European. It put the fine for smoking in a new perspective.
Oh blimey, that last experience really puts everything else in perspective. :-(
You made me check if there is a smoking ban in Slovakia, because I did of course smoke some cigars in parks. And nowadays, you see so few smokers, you sometimes can’t be sure anymore if it has been banned or just gone out of fashion.
But it seems that parks are still fine.
But you do have a good timing, always being where world history is being written!
And Jaroslav Hašek is really great.
I think he also invented the concept of satirical political parties: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Party_of_Moderate_Progress_Within_the_Bounds_of_the_Law
“Why so many elegant capital cities are located on the Danube River?”
Because so many Belle Epoque architects associate it with their favorite music. Scholars of popular music assure me this is empirically true.
Although all of these cities would point to origins dating back much further than the Belle Epoque, usually something Celtic, Roman or Dacian.