May 3, 2013 - Bratislava, Slovakia

Bratislava sits at the foot of the Little Carpathia Mountains. It is the capital of Slovakia and is the only national capital that borders two other countries, Austria and Hungary. Early in the morning we headed out on our buses for a tour of the city. High on a hill over looking the city is the impressive Bratslavia Castle that for centuries was used by the Hapsburg rulers. Nearby St. Martin's Cathedral was the coronation church of Bratislava. We also did a walking tour of the medieval Town Hall complex and viewed many aristocratic palaces...

Nov 5, 2012 - Bratislava

@@@@@@@ BACKGROUND In the interest of expediency, here are some excerpts from the Lonely Planet – Central Europe chapter on Slovenia: Slovakia’s capital city is a host of contrasts: the charming Starý Mesto (Old Town) sits across the river from a communist, concrete-block apartment jungle. The age-old castle shares a skyline with the startlingly UFO-like ‘New Bridge’ from the 1970s. Narrow pedestrian streets, pastel 18th-century buildings and sidewalk cafes galore make for a supremely strollable – if tiny – historic centre. You may want to...

Oct 1, 2012 - Salzburg

After discovering how much a pony ride would cost in Vienna, Millie's birthday wish was put on hold.  However, it appeared a bit cheaper in Salzburg, so we took a horse and cart tour of the old town.  It was an excellent introduction to the city.  Salzburg has 150,000 people living there and 6 million visitors each year.  It is quite a well off city with such a thriving industry.   We went up to the castle above Salzburg by cable car and it was a huge relief to me to discover that this castle was the big brother of Werfen Hohofen, the...

Sep 30, 2012 - Bratislava - Scott's castle tour

Well Bratislava was described to us as a snow dome of Prague by the Prague Castle tour guide and we agree a bit. The old town part for tourists was a lot less crowded, cleaner and just as beautiful. We had travelled by fast boat from Vienna and we had to stow our luggage at the train station, which was a long way from the boat terminal (okay 4 Kim's up hill with bags was just a bit too much at this point in the trip). The train station was filthy and the 4km taxi trip cost $20, which we suspect was 4 times the usual tariff - Fangio of...

Aug 24, 2012 - Bratislava, Slovakia

We had a walking tour of this old city on the Danube River. It has been ruled by several groups and countries during its 2 centuries and is just now (since the 1993 split from the Czech Republic) finally becoming a freely independent nation with Bratislava as its capital and largest city. Interesting to note that Slovakia has the 2nd strongest economy in the Eurozone! Also interesting to note that we encountered many men and women trying to get us to buy souvenir books and sweater sets everywhere we went! After a morning tour, first by bus,...

Apr 30, 2012 - A day of leisure?

Really. It does happen, much to my shock. An investigation of my guidebook in the hostel bar last night for something to see this morning gave me the unfortunate info that all the museums/palaces are closed on Monday's, so I have spent the day relaxing. This morning I sat in the gardens of the Grassalkovichova Palace (the home of the Slovakian President), which are rather formal but they seemed to be the outdoor nursery of choice, reading, and then this afternoon has seen me sampling a coffee shop or two! So what can I tell you about if...

Apr 29, 2012 - Devin

Dobry. Goodness, isn't the Danube a powerful river? I'm not sure where Johann Strauss wrote his famous waltz, but if it was Bratislava then I do think that he would have titled it slightly differently, because all that I have seen it here is a rather muddy brown colour (which wouldn't make for a very seductive piece of music!). The boat cruise took 90 minutes to reach Devin as it was constantly having to fight against the visibly strong current (and I've never seen jet powered boats go slowly) yet with the current, the return journey took a...

Apr 28, 2012 - Bratislava

Dobry One of the things that has continually struck me on my travels to date is how similar languages can be. I know that Czech, Slovakian, Austrian and others round here would be close, with a shared Germanic origin but last year all my journal entries started "Nameste", well here “Namestie” means Square. The main square here has a statue of St. Roland (Dubrovnik also has one on its main street, but it isn’t on such a grand scale as Bratislava’s) and the hostel bar has a clock advertising the "Hotel du Commerce" in the centre ville which...

Apr 27, 2012 - Bratislava

Great place to visit - but not to stay too long. I understand that just a few years ago this place was still very dirty. But there has been resurrection and a fresh new look to this city. It was very easy to walk to the city center square. There are still many buildings of ugly communist architecture but there are many interesting old buildings that have been cleaned up. There are parks with green grass and flowers are it is quite beautiful in places. Our visit was only one day - arrived in the morning and left after dinner. The gypsies are...

Apr 27, 2012 - welcome and relief

Hi, Just checking in. As this journal was very much a last minute decision (I only decided to do it yesterday) then there has been no planning and hence no long, rambling introduction. I arrived here safely last night and managed to find the hostel with the minimum of fuss - in fact the most frustrating thing was finding somewhere at 10pm able to give me change for the bus. Thankfully there was somewhere by the car hire place that broke a €10 note for me, so I could buy a 70c bus ticket. Maybe it is me, but having had a pilots eye view as...

Mar 17, 2012 - Letters

Hello everyone! I've got news... Instead of writing about my trip, I started to write some letters, letters to people from back home in particular. And I am all the better for it. So be checking your mail! Never thought my "month in Spain" would be spent like this. After my yoga retreat, I am going to go surfing in Morocco for a few days...that should be interesting. Then end the trip in Madrid, returning the 31st. Thank you so much for your dialogue along the way...88 messages in 77 days! That's amazing, and if you add those numbers...

Mar 15, 2012 - Family

Hello all, Happy times to be had in Bratislava. Writing the second draft of my life story, and loving every minute of it. Especially because my family has my back. Opened the trip journal on this 16th day of March to notice 5! messages from family. The number says it all. My longing for home is greater than any other time during the trip. But, these messages give me new hope. And a realization that, this trip is much bigger than me, it reflects upon my entire family. This message, more than anything, is a promise. A promise to all of my...