Onwards to Austria

Sunday 10th April

We had an early night last night so when 8am came around I was bright eyed and bushy tailed. Well, I was awake which  is an accomplishment  in itself. Once we were dolled up we had a quick breakfast of croissants,  meats and cheese (oh Europe, you and your continental  breakfasts) and checked out of our hotel. We left our bags in the reception and set off in search of the Slavin War Memorial.

Built in 1960, on top of the original cemetery,  the Memorial is in honour of the 6845 Russian soldiers who lost their lives defending Bratislava and Slovakia from the Nazis in the spring of 1945. There are individual graves but the majority of the soldiers are buried in 6 mass graves. It might seem like an odd choice for a holiday destination but it was a really interesting place. The wind was howling and the skies were grey but the  view over the city was great and we had the entire place to ourselves.

Russian Victor,  crushing a Swastika.

WW2 Bunker

As we made our way back to the Old Town our thoughts turned towards food. We checked out a few restaurants but decided to go back to Prasna Basta. We went for a sensibly priced lunch which I was very excited about until I saw the table opposites meal come out – a meat sharing platter for two. The platter I suggested we get but which Rory decided against. It was too late  to change  our order and while my mushroom risotto was nice, I would really have preferred a plate full of various animals.

We finished the afternoon with an authentic hot chocolate and while you would think melted chocolate in a mug is ideal, it wasn’t as life changingly delicious as I had hoped. I still drank it all,  obviously, but my heart just wasn’t in it. Despite that minor disappointment I have enjoyed my time in Bratislava and while I was sad to leave our cobbled streets I’m excited to be heading back to Austria,  this time to Vienna. Rather than taking a train we decided to be adventurous and go via boat. The catamaran was really nice and the scenery want too bad either. Unfortunately  Rory fell asleep and missed it all but I enjoyed myself! It took around 90 minutes and we arrived in the heart of Vienna.

It didn’t take long to find the tram or even our apartment which is in the Josefplatz area. This is our first time using Airbnb and we weren’t too sure what to expect but the apartment matches the pictures and it’s huge! The one slight criticism I have is that our boiler is broken and we have no hot water! The host said we should be fine because we’re young and he’ll get a plumber out tomorrow which I suppose isn’t too bad but I can’t quite see how being young makes cold showers acceptable. My money is just as good as old person money but I obviously  didn’t say that, instead I nodded like a polite British idiot.

Despite the shower issue everything else looks great and the location is perfect. We had a quick walk around the area and scouted out a few potential dinner spots. Unfortunately  Rory had no interest in any of these places, he had sniffed a pizza place and so despite my best efforts he came bounding out of the shop with two gigantic pizzas. Resistance  is futile as they say so I gave in, went back to the apartment,  watched Peaky Blinders and let him fall asleep at about 9pm. Like all children he needs his sleep!