Bratislava
Our stay in Bratislava was in a leafy, communist-era housing complex with plenty of space (but no lifts again) and a short bus ride from the historic city centre. We adopted our favourite means of taking in a new place when we're short of time- a guided walking tour of the main sights.
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| The remnants of the 15th Century Moat |
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| A slightly more recent addition |
Bratislava has the unique distinction of being the only national capital that lies on the border of two countries. This also gives it its unique flavours, with Austrian, Slovakian and Hungarian influences.
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| The plaque tells us that this chap tried to convert iron dust to gold. I'm guessing he didn't succeed. |
Nowhere is it more visible than in Old Town. We started at Bratislava Castle, the historic seat of the Moravian Empire. The multiple rebuilds and restructuring from castle to church to Gothic fortifications to museum are visible in its external walls.
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| When they say it's a mishmash of architectural styles, they weren't mucking about. |
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| Looks pretty castle-y on the whole |
We walked along Jewish Street, which was once the only place where Jews were allowed to settle.
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| Jewish Quarter |
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| The Pamataj Holocaust Memorial |
Walking down beautiful Kapitulska and the Gothic Klarisky concert hall, we got to Michael's Gate - the only surviving gate from medieval times.
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| St Martin's Cathedral, right next to the Castle |
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| The outside of the Salvator Pharmacy |
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| The furniture is from a private pharmacy belonging to an Archbishop. (question not what an Archibishop was doing with a private pharmacy.) |
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| The beautiful pharmaceutical desk supported by these lions (carved by someone who has never seen lions, but beautiful nonetheless), and absolutely love the flooring. |
I absolutely loved looking around
Salvator Pharmacy, with furniture over 300 years old. In complete contrast to that, I also loved the quirky, irreverent
Cumil .
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| gotta love the sign next to the chap as well |
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We ended our day at the local pub where beer and local coke were sampled. And approved. Much to the amusement of the publican. She was highly sceptical of the Baa-lamb and Child 1 taking a liking to the local tipple but was won over by their collective enthusiasm.
Brno
The baa-lamb, God bless him, decided we would discover a new country while we were at it, and so, a day visit to Brno in the Czech Republic was planned. We drove to the outskirts of Brno and took the public transport into the city centre.
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| The side entrance we discovered purely by chance. |
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| The bells here ring at 11:00 am to commemorate the resistance against the Swedes in the 17th Century |
The walking tour took us past the Spilberk Castle and the Cathedral of Sts Peter and Paul. We were asked to look out for the Brno Dragon - which is actually a stuffed croc, but, fair enough, is the closest thing we have to a dragon.
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| Hello, Dragon |
The old town of Brno is wonderful to walk around on an autumn day, and one could easily spend a few days soaking in the place.
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| Courage, the installation at the Moravian Square. |
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| The castle and the cathedral dominating the Brno skyline atop Petrov Hill |
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| St Michael's Gate |
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| Nothing to see here. Just the most aesthetically pleasing tree |
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| Another controversial installation - the time machine at Freedom Square. Apparently another callback to the resistance against the Swedes during the 30 Years' War. It gives out a glass marble at 11:00 every day, but don't ask me how one can read all the other times on this clock. Unflattering nicknames for this piece include 'the giant vibrator'. Don't think I need to explain that one. |
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| City skyline from Denis Gardens |
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| The cyclestand to beat all cycle stands. |
On our way back to Bratislava, we took a quick coffee break at Mikulov Castle before heading back. We had another early start ahead of us as we were headed to Vienna the following day.
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| This pub looked so inviting - sadly, we still had a long drive ahead of us |
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| Another pretty skyline. Why don't we have these in my neck of the woods? |
Vienna
Vienna, like most European cities, has several park-and-rides, which we took advantage of. We took in two walking tours while we were there; the first one was the Jewish traces and Hitler's Vienna and looked at the history of Jewish influences in Vienna and Hitler's stay. Although Hitler lived for only a brief period (1908 - 1913) in Vienna, it played a crucial role in shaping his worldview and politics.
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Every hour, it features a different set of historical figures from the city's past.
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We started outside
Ankeruhr, the famous Art Deco musical clock designed by Franz Von Matsch and ended at Heldenplatz, where the ceremonial announcement of the Austrian Anschluss to Nazi Germany took place.
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| Church builders were masters of playing with light and shadow. They add so much character. |
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| The distinctive roof makes Stephansdom one of the prettiest churches in Europe |
While one day was in no way enough to explore all of Vienna, it certainly left us entranced enough to warrant a second, longer visit at a later date. (including a visit to the many museums, a visit to one of the shows at the opera house, and, of course, visits to the many famous Viennese cafes.
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| Some of the lovely exhibits |
I barely had time to scratch the surface of the Wien Museum, where I could have easily spent a happy few days.)
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| The things I hope to explore on the next visit. The list keeps growing. |
We met old family friends for dinner before driving back to Bratislava and heading back home the next day - with half my heart heavy, because I'd be leaving behind Child 1 as he headed back to Uni, but half my heart singing, because I'd be reunited with Child 2- who was doing a remarkably brilliant job of holding the fort while we were away. But I've promised her that I would visit again, with her in tow, because honestly, I don't think I'd ever tire of Vienna (ok, maybe I'd tire of it in the cold winters - I'm not built for freezing temperatures) - not as long as they don't run out of tort.
