We arrived in Bratislava on Thursday morning after a really early morning {6.55am} flight from Edinburgh. We hoped on the bus which took us to the central train station where we got an over expensive cab to our hotel. We stayed at Mama’s Design & Boutique Hotel, which we had found on Trip Advisor, then booked through booking.com, for two nights.
After dropping of our cases, we walked into the old town to have a look around and grab some lunch in the main square, which included the Old Town Hall.
We made our way through the rest of the old town towards the new bridge, bumping in to an unusual statue called Cumil on the way!
We walked over the bridge to get to the UFO observation deck where we had a wonderful view over the whole city before enjoying our first drink in the bar.
The toilets had an interesting view as well!
From there we enjoyed another walk around the city, first visiting the Hungarian Art Nouveau Blue Church {Church of St Elizabeth}. It was described as looking like blue icing which it sort of did since the exterior was covered in plaster. We were lucky enough to be able to look inside the church which was also very blue!
After a spot of shopping {I found my Christmas decoration}, we made it to one of the old city gates which led to the main street. We knew we wanted to try some traditional Slovak cuisine, washed down with a beer, so we ate at Presburg restaurant which was recommended in our guide book.
I tried the homemade lokše {thin potato pancakes} followed by bryndzové halušky {potato gnocchi with sheep cheese & bacon}, which is one of the national dishes of Slovakia. The pancakes were nice although quite plain but the gnocchi was delicious and well worth trying. The same could not be said for Grahams starter of cheese spreads which were a little odd!
We walked a different route through the old town to get back to the tram stop, bumping in to another statue on the way!
After enjoying our breakfast in the hotel, we started our second day with a walk which took in the unusual Slovak Radio building and Grassalkovich Palace, the official residence of the President.
We ended up back at the main gate, St Michael's Tower.
Underneath the gate there is a compass marked with the distances to capital cities all over the world; it showed just 1288km to London! We were able to climb up inside the tower for a view across the old town, looking at a museum of weapons on the way.
After a quick look in St Martin's Cathedral, we walked up the steep hill to the Castle. We managed to enjoy a drink outside and have a quick look at the castle before the heavens opened! They are currently renovating the castle so we couldn't see much inside, just one temporary exhibition of sacral objects made from precious metals.
Not wanting to walk around in the rain, we visited the Palffy Palace which has a branch of the Bratislava City Gallery inside. As part of the permanent collection is an installation called Passage by Matej Kren. Its basically a walkway through the centre of a room, with each wall lined with books, almost 15,000 in total. What makes it unusual is that every other surface is mirrored so it makes it looks as if you are walking over a massive drop and is supposed to create an illusion of endless space & infinity of human knowledge. Since you have to go up a couple of steps into the room it definitely made you a bit wobbly and anyone with vertigo would not have been able to walk through it despite it just being inside a small room!
After searching for a cafe which apparently had 60 varieties of hot chocolate and finding it now closed, we went to the Schokocafe Maximilian Delikateso, which had a large chocolate fountain in the window, located back in the main square. The hot chocolate with caramel I tried was gorgeous and exactly what it said it was, thick chocolate which was served hot!
We took the opportunity for a few more photos with Napoleons soldier!
Then stumbled upon yet another odd statue!
Deciding that we had seen enough of the cities sights, we headed towards a Cuban bar called Malecon which had been recommended by friends. Their cocktails {caipirinha's & mojito's} were lovely but strong, and the fact we had arrived during happy hour when they were 2 for 1 was a bonus!
We completed our last night in Bratislava with a Thai meal at Lemontree restaurant & sky bar; we were seated in the rooftop bar which over looked the city at night, with the UFO and the castle illuminated. My duck red curry was delicious and, along with some lovely rose wine, a perfect way to end our visit to a fantastic little city.
Although we had just booked an executive double, we must have been given the biggest one as it was massive! Despite the rather pointless lift {the landings were half way between the floors so you still have to drag your case up stairs}, the hotel was lovely and it only took around 15/20 minutes to walk into the centre. There was a small sushi restaurant in the hotel and also a small pool, fitness centre & sauna but we never had time to try any of them.
After dropping of our cases, we walked into the old town to have a look around and grab some lunch in the main square, which included the Old Town Hall.
We made our way through the rest of the old town towards the new bridge, bumping in to an unusual statue called Cumil on the way!
We walked over the bridge to get to the UFO observation deck where we had a wonderful view over the whole city before enjoying our first drink in the bar.
The toilets had an interesting view as well!
From there we enjoyed another walk around the city, first visiting the Hungarian Art Nouveau Blue Church {Church of St Elizabeth}. It was described as looking like blue icing which it sort of did since the exterior was covered in plaster. We were lucky enough to be able to look inside the church which was also very blue!
After a spot of shopping {I found my Christmas decoration}, we made it to one of the old city gates which led to the main street. We knew we wanted to try some traditional Slovak cuisine, washed down with a beer, so we ate at Presburg restaurant which was recommended in our guide book.
I tried the homemade lokše {thin potato pancakes} followed by bryndzové halušky {potato gnocchi with sheep cheese & bacon}, which is one of the national dishes of Slovakia. The pancakes were nice although quite plain but the gnocchi was delicious and well worth trying. The same could not be said for Grahams starter of cheese spreads which were a little odd!
We walked a different route through the old town to get back to the tram stop, bumping in to another statue on the way!
After enjoying our breakfast in the hotel, we started our second day with a walk which took in the unusual Slovak Radio building and Grassalkovich Palace, the official residence of the President.
We ended up back at the main gate, St Michael's Tower.
Underneath the gate there is a compass marked with the distances to capital cities all over the world; it showed just 1288km to London! We were able to climb up inside the tower for a view across the old town, looking at a museum of weapons on the way.
After a quick look in St Martin's Cathedral, we walked up the steep hill to the Castle. We managed to enjoy a drink outside and have a quick look at the castle before the heavens opened! They are currently renovating the castle so we couldn't see much inside, just one temporary exhibition of sacral objects made from precious metals.
Not wanting to walk around in the rain, we visited the Palffy Palace which has a branch of the Bratislava City Gallery inside. As part of the permanent collection is an installation called Passage by Matej Kren. Its basically a walkway through the centre of a room, with each wall lined with books, almost 15,000 in total. What makes it unusual is that every other surface is mirrored so it makes it looks as if you are walking over a massive drop and is supposed to create an illusion of endless space & infinity of human knowledge. Since you have to go up a couple of steps into the room it definitely made you a bit wobbly and anyone with vertigo would not have been able to walk through it despite it just being inside a small room!
After searching for a cafe which apparently had 60 varieties of hot chocolate and finding it now closed, we went to the Schokocafe Maximilian Delikateso, which had a large chocolate fountain in the window, located back in the main square. The hot chocolate with caramel I tried was gorgeous and exactly what it said it was, thick chocolate which was served hot!
We took the opportunity for a few more photos with Napoleons soldier!
Then stumbled upon yet another odd statue!
Deciding that we had seen enough of the cities sights, we headed towards a Cuban bar called Malecon which had been recommended by friends. Their cocktails {caipirinha's & mojito's} were lovely but strong, and the fact we had arrived during happy hour when they were 2 for 1 was a bonus!
We completed our last night in Bratislava with a Thai meal at Lemontree restaurant & sky bar; we were seated in the rooftop bar which over looked the city at night, with the UFO and the castle illuminated. My duck red curry was delicious and, along with some lovely rose wine, a perfect way to end our visit to a fantastic little city.
The next morning we were off to Vienna...
It all looks fab. The food seems really similar to the food in Poland (delicious). I LOVE that they gave you a wee bit to look out in the loos!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos! The city looks pretty cool - love the statues around the city.
ReplyDelete