Bratislava

We woke up to some sunshine so after a slow start to the day (it was after all the morning after New Years Eve) we wandered up to the back deck away from the wind and watched the boat cruise up the Danube to Bratislava. There wasn’t a lot to see really – the river is wide, the banks full of industry on one side and apartments - and then we arrived in the capital of Slovakia and the old town.

I must admit that our trip to Bratislava has reinforced my desire to travel more in the Eastern European countries – so far we have only been to Poland, Hungary and now Slovakia. There is a cultural awakening in the area and it appears to me a real desire to keep their own identity without the shadow of communism or the need to be totally influenced by the Western World (indications of this include the small number of advertising signs, how many Mcdonalds and Burger Kings we can see – and Irish pubs for that matter - and how many shops and restaurants are open either on a public holiday or Sunday). Our six hours in Bratislava just wasn't enough. Travelling outside the city is a must next time.  Our boat moored just across the road from the old town and the castle so we spent the morning climbing up a not very steep hill and wandering around the castle, or was it a chateau or palace - it is just a bit difficult to tell.  It is a bit of a mixture built in the 11th and 12th centuries, remodelled later in the Baroque style, had a few Gothic bits added to it and now it is being restored - "open at a later date" was the message we got.  I liked it - because of its uniqueness and because of it's setting and because of the little statue of Elizabeth in the grounds.  Elizabeth was the daughter of King Andrew II and Queen Gertrude and was around in the early 13th century when she spent most of her childhood at the castle.  She married Ludwig but he died quite young and as a result Elizabeth devoted herself to looking after the poor and the sick. The statue captured a beauty that is not often seen in a static art form.

We then wandered back to the boat where we had a salad and fish (missed two courses cos we didn't need them but the apple strudel was very tempting) before taking a look at the 'old town'.  There is a number of statues around the streets - one of a soldier of Napoleon's leaning on a seat, another a worker poking his head out of a manhole, a newspaper photographer trying to catch the perfect photo around a corner, a actor and a sentry.  We quite enjoyed finding them in the square and around the place, sometimes stumbling across them unexpectantly other times looking for them because the guide book said they were close at hand.

There is a number of of ‘run down’ and derelict buildings. Some of these had quite good graffiti on them, while others looked as though a bomb had hit it and the owner had no desire to fix it!! And the colour – there were buildings with lots of colour, lots of cobbled stones and little bridges with wrought iron railings.  So here is a few things we saw:

• Old Town Hall - built around the 15th century - but not from scratch - it sort of joined a number of houses together.  It too was an eclectic mix of architecture being remodelled in both the 17th and 18th century - a bit of Renaissance here, a bit of Baroque there and a bit of Gothic there...There is a cannon-ball embedded in the wall just to the left of a Gothic window - a reminder of the siege of Bratislava by Napoleon's army in 1809. 
• Primate's Palace which was built in the late 1700's and its pink and gold which makes it stand out quite well.   In front of the palace there were beds of pansies protected from the cold by pine needles.  Now I had always thought pine needles poisoned the soil and that is why nothing grew under all the plantations at home.  Harry thought that the pine was a key ingredient in turpentine - so back to Google when we returned to Bristol. And just as it should be we were both kinda right.  Turpentine can be got from tapping the gum of living pine trees (a bit like maple syrup is made I guess), it can also be made from other by-products of the pine trees. And the needles are poisonous - I found a warning to people when putting up their Christmas trees.  If you have a bird don't let it peck at the pointsetta or the Christmas tree. So keep that budgie in its cage during the festive season was the message!! So, I guess those pansies just might have a bit of trouble growing - the frost will get them or the needles!
• Michael's Gate which is the only gate left from the 18th century wall and has a statue of Archangel Michael on the top.
• A few churches like the Jesuit Church, Franciscan Church and St Martin's Cathedral.  But they paled in to insignificance after seeing Poor Clares Church.  It was built from the stones from the wall when it was dismantled in the 18th century.  We were quite stunned with the paintings, the nativity scene and simply decorated christmas trees.
• House of the Good Shepherd (I managed to find this house in a little shop so have bought it home for the collection).  Its Rococo design - and it is one of only a few original houses still standing in the streets below the castle.  Apparently, it is believed to be the narrowest building in Europe as there is only one room on each floor.  But I am pretty sure we have seen narrower buildings than this one.  
• Grassalkovich Palace where the President  lives.
• Hlavne namestie which is one of the squares in the city - but outside the city wall.  I could imagine this in summer with buskers and food stalls and markets as it is reasonably compact and would provide a central place for people to congregate and sit and watch celebrations llike the royal coronations.  It was also the place were activists gathered just before the fall of Communism.  This was one of those special places (we've seen a few) where the atmosphere created could almost take us back to the times of political unrest.

And to my delight we saw lots of nativity scenes in churches, shop windows and town hall doorways. Some of them made from wood, others plaster or stone, and some I have no idea what the creator used. They were lovely, tastefully simple, and most had pine branches around them.

We walked back to the boat having done a few more miles to a well deserved game of 500, another dinner and drink, before sailing back to Vienna in the evening.  The end of a memorable cruise.