Bratislava (Slovakia)

I went to Bratislava while working in Vienna for a summer as it is only a hop, skip and a jump away from the Austrian border. I knew then, and to this day know very little about Slovakia as a whole. I don't tend to read historical guides for fun, so can tell you little of this country's history or politics, but I can tell you what it was like to spent a few days exploring this one city. To set the scene I was 18, female (still am, for that matter) ...
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Even back then Bratislava was a city that had high aspirations, and was keen to market itself to the wider world. I spent my days surrounded by Japanese and American tourists which isn't that surprising (this is the cultural hub that is Europe after all), but the language level of those in the tourist industry varied greatly. I didn't expect everyone to speak English, but given that virtually no-one speaks Slovakian I would have expected ... more

I went to Bratislava while working in Vienna for a summer as it is only a hop, skip and a jump away from the Austrian border. I knew then, and to this day know very little about Slovakia as a whole. I don't tend to read historical guides for fun, so can tell you little of this country's history or politics, but I can tell you what it was like to spent a few days exploring this one city. To set the scene I was 18, female (still am, for that matter) and travelling alone, speaking decent German but next to no Slovakian.

Even back then Bratislava was a city that had high aspirations, and was keen to market itself to the wider world. I spent my days surrounded by Japanese and American tourists which isn't that surprising (this is the cultural hub that is Europe after all), but the language level of those in the tourist industry varied greatly. I didn't expect everyone to speak English, but given that virtually no-one speaks Slovakian I would have expected them to be able to converse in some languages other than their own. Some places I went were fine - German or English got me by easily - but others resulted in me resorting to miming, pointing, pleading and general amateur dramatics to get my point across. I did come across a few Brits, but in the summer of 2000 there weren't that many there. I do remember meeting two girls though, Psyc PGCE students from Reading who were delighted with my suggestion that the reason Smarties are called Lentilky in Slovakia is because they are lentil. They told me the Lentilky they were eating tasted like 'Woolworths' impostor Smarties' and indeed they were right. This was often the case in this city, and in the other parts of Eastern Europe I visited. Brands from home looked the same, but didn't taste quite right.

Eating in Slovakia is an interesting experience when you're vegetarian, fussy and cannot understand the menu put in front of you, but I survived without starving or accidentally ordering fried carcass on a bed of stewed cabbage or anything in that vein. Beyond the food, the menus in Bratislava were unusual. More than one I came across soft-drinks priced by the 100ml, only to be presented with a 300ml bottle as standard. Prices were unbelievable when I travelled due to the weakness of the currency. No meal cost me more than £1.80, and I ate well, albeit predominantly on Italian food whose contents I could decipher thanks to stint working near Verona the previous summer. I would recommend 'Spaghetti and Co' in the centre, but be sure to check your bill as on one of my several meals there they tried to add all sorts of unordered and unconsumed items to my bill. Breakfast in my hotel came in at 65p per day, but was substantial and set me up for my days.

To acquaint myself with the city when I arrived (and without being equipped with a trusty DK Eyewitness guide to the place since they didn't do them back then) I booked on a walking tour at the Tourist Information office. These ran once a day in English and more frequently in German and Slovakian. The group was small - an Australian researching her PhD and a American family of women (grand-mother, mother and young daughter) who had banished their men to a bar for a few hours were the only people who signed up to it with me. The guide was hilarious - a local woman who had learnt English from Slovakians (never ideal), she worked weekends as a guide to supplement her teaching income during the week. She was full of facts and figures, and had lots of stories to tell. Did you know, for example, that there is a statue of the Virgin Mary in the city, that looked like she was crying for a while, years ago? Supposedly because of this the townsfolk cleaned up their city to make her stop, and have looked after it better ever since. Now the statue no longer cries, but remains as an indicator of the lack of 18 year old virgins in the city (legend has it that if any native teenagers remained pure until this age, the statue would turn round). The guide's language was 'interesting' - she talked about a statue of boys 'pissing' and described another monument as having a tushy, 'you know, the thing women have between their legs' - but was none the less charming, and it was a really good way to familiarise myself with the city.

The city reminded me of Lake Garda in terms of its architecture - it was a pretty place which is just as well since although there are lots of things to do, the quality of these is no equal to that of those in other places I had visited, something very noticeable when coming straight from Vienna. I visited the Primate's Palace (large but hardly grand) and the Town History museum (verdict: don't bother) but was intrigued by the city Art Gallery. The works on display were most interesting though the artists seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with pee. One caption read 'during the show, I urinated twice' while another showed a urinal with a coloured egg sitting in it.. The explanation said that the artist had given his participants eggs to decorate. They had then peed all over them before taking them outside to play catch with. This, they called art. There is another, much smaller, art gallery in the city into which I also mentioned. It was uber-modern, and had more examples of contemporary works, including one with an empty room that had only two pairs of shoes in the middle, nothing else. However this museum was free, so I guess the difference between paying nothing, and paying approximately 15p is the provision of multi-lingual explanations on the walls. I never did figure out the story behind those shoes, y'see.

I left the centre and caught a bus out to Devin, an old bombed castle's remains. It was a long trip, followed by a steep hill climb but it was worth it for the views from the summit. Back at the base of the hill I came across what my book (from the Let's Go…get another guide book series) described as an 'amusement park'. Having grown up in Blackpool and holidayed in California, I know my amusement parks, and one of those this isn't. To be polite I will describe it as what it was: 3 small kiddie rides (of the kind temporarily found at school fairs and in shopping centres). That was it. Unimpressed I caught the bus back into town, stopping at a place whose sign read 'Ceramics and Souvenirs' according to by powers of deduction and the few Slovak words I had picked up in my stay. Problem was, it no longer sold either of these things, and was instead a bare-shelved supermarket, which was ultimately under-whelming.

I returned to Novy Most, my starting point in town, crossed the river and took the lift to the top of the 'UFO restaurant' on the bridge - to you and me, merely a round, un-revolving restaurant up a tower. The bridge, I had learnt on my tour, was an interesting one because it was harboured at only one end, not too like the Brooklyn Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge and, in fact, most other bridges.

In the centre there are 3 famous cafés which are acclaimed enough to feature on a post-card showing you the atriums of each. Café Ronald, Café Antik and Café all got my custom as a result, and I can safely tell you they all serve very reasonable Eastern European Coca Cola products (locally made coke always tastes different thanks to the water supply) but that the premium their fame lets them attach to the cost of a bowl of ice cream is not worth it.

That night I decided to go to the ballet. I saw Swan Lake at Slovakia's equivalent of Covent Garden, their national theatre. The ticket was cheap - under £1 - and the 6th row seat offered an excellent view. I was slightly under-dressed, however - the only person in jeans, I stuck out like a sore thumb among the tuxes and evening gown. For future reference, dress up for a Bratislavan night out. The show was good, despite a strange projection of a swan onto the back cloth at times, and despite having 2 intervals during which everyone emptied out of the theatre to pose by the fountain in the square out front. It finished at 9.50pm, exactly as the poster had said it would. Delightful.

Bratislava lies against a river, but there's not much on the other side. I know. I stayed on the bus too long one morning and ended up on the other side. Despite finding a delightful Billa supermarket to keep me entertained, it was not a good thing. Somehow I wandered too far and ended up trekking through woods, past a school and, at one point, actually walking on a motorway in order to get back to where I should have disembarked. An adventure, certainly, if you're a teenager whose childhood aspirations were to join the Famous Five, but not recommended for anyone above this age.

Looking back, I really enjoyed my first big adventure (or rather, my first solo trip to a place where I don't speak the language). Bratislava had a certain charm to it, and I hope that is not currently fading with its changes regarding EU membership and other influences. I would definitely recommend a trip: it's not been done to death yet like Prague has, nor is it as busy as some more mainstream cities such as Paris or Barcelona. Time moves slower here, but if you can take a moment to slow down to its pace, it's a lovely place to enjoy.
 

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