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| slovakia |
| bratislava |
| Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, is just one hour by train from Vienna. I spent a day in the city while staying with Kate at her apartment in Austria. The city marks the point where the great Carpathian Mountains that stretch through Romania finally slope down towards the Danube River. In 1526, Bratislava was the capital of Hungary (it's just 16km away) and in 1918, was joined with what is now the Czech Republic to form Czechslovakia. Western tourists mainly stay away from this small country, but the old areas of the capital city are beautiful and many old buildings and monuments survive. |
| Bratislava |
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| Nam L Stura near the Danube River and looking towards the neobaroque Reduta Palace. |
| A decorative trellis gate hangs above a street downtown. |
| The walkway along the Danube River looking towards Nov'y Most Bridge. |
| More neobaroque architecture in Bratislava. |
| The pink Primate's Palace (1781) on the left and the old town hall (1421) which now houses the Municipal Museum and its spooky torture chamber. |
| Hlavne nam, the centre of the town, and Roland's Fountain. |
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| Looking west from the tower at the Municipal Museum towards Bratislava Castle and (right) Michael Tower at the end of the shopping and market district. |
| (Left) A very cool, cobbled alleyway and (above) Bratislava's city emblem on the sewer drains. |
| Bratislava Castle, between the 1st and 5th centuries it served as a post of the Roman Empire, it now houses several museums and a restaurant. There is a beautiful park filled with sculptures and trails in the forest surrounding the castle. I was walking through the park and smelled some reefer. Looking down the hill I saw a group of kids smoking the gunja...really, in Bratislava! |
| A weird sculpture of a crumpled tank lies on the grass outside Bratislava Castle. |
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