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!

Brat Packing

Saturday 9th April

As a child there was nothing more exciting than waking up in the middle of the night, jumping in the car half asleep and heading off on holidays. As an adult the experience is somewhat different. First of all, you have to wake yourself up. This morning I set alarms on my phone, tablet and Fitbit. I had complete confidence in my technological sidekicks but apparently Rory didn’t because he felt the need to wake me up every five minutes to ask what time it was. My eight year old self could hardly wait for the long drive to begin, even if it meant being sandwiched between two siblings who never fully appreciated the term “personal space”. Fast forward eighteen years and I wasn’t just as keen to jump in the car next to Rory but the promise of a McDonalds breakfast lured me out of bed and in no time we were on our way to Stansted.

We breezed through security, boarded the flight, fell asleep in uncomfortable positions and finally arrived in Bratislava. Despite being world travellers (sort of) we didn’t fancy navigating the Slovakian transport system so we headed straight for the Taxi rank and ten minutes later we checked in to our hotel. Location wise you couldn’t do much better. We’re in the heart of the Old Town and the room’s not too shabby either! 

After a quick outfit change we were on our way to the first stop of the day; Trinitarian Church. What can I tell you about the church? Absolutely nothing. Full disclosure, I don’t know anything about Bratislava or its many churches. I do know that there’s an Old Town and a Castle so we walked through that old town in search of the castle. 

We came across St Martin’s Cathedral which was absolutely massive and definitely worth a visit. After a few detours (that’s me politely saying that Rory got us lost) we made it to the Castle and spent a few hours walking around. We even climbed to the top of the castle. I would have sang "I'm the King of the castle" and all that but by the time we'd  scaled the many stairs I could hardly breathe never mind sing! In terms of history the castle has plenty and while I was really enjoying having a nosey, I won’t lie, I didn’t delve much deeper in to Slovakian history than looking at a few things and thinking “that’s cool”. 

We continued our Slovakian adventure by setting off in search of the Church of St Elizabeth, or as its more commonly know, the Blue Church. Before we found this dazzling blue beauty, we came across the Slovak National Theatre and the Slovak Philharmonic, both impressive buildings that compliment the cobbled streets of Bratislava. Eventually we found the Blue Church, which was, very blue. Unfortunately we couldn’t go outside as there was a wedding taking place but it was still a sight to see.

We had managed to fit quite a lot in to our first day in the city and with my McDonalds breakfast seeming like a distant memory we set off in search of some food. We were tempted by “Slovak Pub” but decided against it and instead went to Prasna Basta, a traditional restaurant located in a cellar just a few meters away from our hotel. Naturally I ordered a steak and once again Europe lived up to the hype – I don’t care what any American Cowboy says, the steaks in Europe are the best in the world. Cooked to perfection, nice and pink with an amazing sauce and sides it was well worth the 18euro Rory paid. You can’t put a price on happiness but if you’re going to try a steak is definitely the way to guarantee mine! In fact, this put me in such a good mood that I didn’t even mind when Rory broke the toilet. There’s nothing quite as luxurious as flushing your toilet with a bucket of tap water each and every time.

Our first day in Bratislava has been busy and despite not knowing anything about the place, it has exceeded my expectations. It’s not as quaint as Salzburg and there are certainly parts of the town that are in dire need of some TLC but I think that adds to its charm. Where else can you see beautiful historic buildings sandwiched between Soviet style apartment blocks? Sure the grafitti can be a bit of an eyesore but there’s something quite beautiful about the shabby old buildings and their peeling paint.