So I went to bratislava this weekend, it was fun!
We started out on Wednesday when Andi and Wayne turned up at my place around 3, and headed along to the airport.
We arrived sometime after 10pm, co-inciding with the end of the champions league final (though the less said about that the better) and headed to the hostel via an expensive cab… and then out to a random cocktail bar and food depository. We ended up drinking at the hostel until the wee small hours. Well, Dan certainly did, conversing with the rather sombre chap on the desk.
At this point I should mention who had made the trip… Me, Brian, Andi, Wayne, Theo, Dan, Tim and Mahinda.
Thursday started with our first trip into the old town (we’d missed it by a street the day before) and our only expensive meal of the trip - we basically just stopped at the first place that sold food and ate there. Most of us had the meat and cheese, coated with more meat and then deep fried. Tasty.
Then we headed to the river, where we found a strange little bar for our first proper beers of the trip… spying the resturant-suspended-upon-a-bridge (this is the best picture I could find, I will be uploading a better one to facebook at somepoint) and wondering how you actually got to it, we decided to check it out.
It turned out that you could stand on top of it, and hence we got our first proper look at the small city - again photos will follow. Mojito’s were drink, though they were a little strange in the very art deco bar (and toilets!).
We headed back into town and had drinks at “Cheap Bar” (we later discovered that this bar wasn’t cheap, only it was in comparison to where we had been before). A few of us pretty much stayed there all afternoon, others went wandering.
Back to the hostel and a little pool at STEPS, before we headed out for dinner - we tried out a studenty place called “1 Slovak Pub” - the food was nice, despite the fact that they had no goulash, and it was dirt cheap. It was rather humid and by the end of the meal we were all basically reduced to slushes of water.
I will at this point mention the weather. It was stunning, the only day that didn’t get above 30 was Monday (the day we left) and Vienna was slightly cooler (but still hot!) - we certainly picked the right days to go!
After the slovak pub we briefly checked out the KGB bar. Not recommended. After a trawl through town we probably found somewhere else to drink, but I cannot remember.
Friday we headed back to the slovak pub for a decent breakfast and decided that we’d check out the castle. Getting close to it (after traversing several steps) we found our path barred by a police line - we spied an alternative route and followed it up a hill, round a corner, up another hill, and along the curtain wall ending up exactly where we had begun.
Quite hot and bothered by this stage we enquired as to the closed nature of the place, and were told that the EU were having some sort of conference there and that it would be closed until Saturday at midnight.
Purturbed, Mahinda came up with the bonza suggestion that we should go to Devin castle, a short 20 minute bus ride away. Ticketed up within minutes we made our way out to the countryside.
Devin castle is a ruin situated on a large hill on the Austria-Slovak border, undaunted we started our ascent. The castle experience was pretty good, and included stunning views of the Danube and whatever the other river is called, and a very deep well - amongst other things. Having “done” the castle by 3 or 4pm we settled down to some beers at the local hostelry’s - Brian doing the playground challenge at one, where we also picked up some barbequed sausages - before leaving around 6.
Back in the city, we headed out to a slightly posher resturant for dinner - the food was excellent. Shortly after eating, however, the table containing Theo, Brian, Dan & Tim got the Absinthes out. Everyone imbibed, some more than others, and we headed out.
We eventually rounded upon “SubClub” - recommended by someone or other - unfortunately the only bad experience of the weekend occurred here as we walked into some Slovak hooligans itching for a fight. They started tapping us up for one, but fortunately Andi and I were sober enough to know exactly what was going on, and between us (with some able assistance from Tim) we got everyone out before any trouble flared up.
Back in the old town, we returned to the more docile surroundings of Club 80’s, a recommendation from the guy who ran “Cheap Bar”, and had a very good time. We were joined by an American bloke and Canadian? girl who Dan and a few others spent some time talking to. I danced for a bit, and left around 4 leaving just a couple of others behind, and went to bed.
Saturday was Vienna day, and we made a pretty slow start with everyone feeling the effects of the night before. So much so that we took the drastic measure of a McDonalds breakfast (i.e. we took advantage of the two cheeseburgers for a pound option). Suitaby carbonated, like so much of the water around town, we headed to the train station via a meandering route.
We eventually caught the 2pm train, which took an hour, and then checked out Vienna. We were singularily unimpressed, though it later transpired that we had not gone to the right areas, so I’d be willing to give it another chance at some point. It was more expensive though, and we did spend an hour watching cricket and football.
It was also very quiet, apparently everyone had scarpered for the weekend (which was also a bank-holiday there) we noticed several of them turning up in Bratislava as it turns out.
We got a very slow train back, and arrived in the city at around half 8. Quickly, we showered, changed and headed out. This time we ate in town at a place called Verne’s. It was very good, but closed at 10 so we were pretty lucky to get our food in time…. Goulash, lovely.
I was pretty ill, however, genuinely not related to the previous nights drinking, and went home early (around 1) whilst the others stayed out.
Sunday we went back to verne’s for breakfast - and then headed down to the castle, now fully aware of it’s open-ness, and discovered that it was an unexciting art gallery.
Mahinda went further sight seeing whilst the rest of us did some souveneir shopping - followed by an afternoon in STEPS pool bar.
Following that we headed back to the place we ate at on Friday, and Brian, Dan & Tim again got the absinthe out… the town was noticably quieter on Sunday than the other days so we had trouble finding bars to wind down in, eventually trying out the 80s bar to discover that we were the only people in there apart from the owners who were decidedly drunk. We headed back to the hostel and played some poker - passing one of the fellas from Shameless on the way (i.e. the actor).
Early the next morning Dan, Tim, Theo and Brian left.
Mahinda, Wayne, Andi and I headed to Verne’s for another goulash breakfast and then looked for some cheap booze to take back - we chilled out at the hostel for another couple of hours and then caught the flight home. At which point it started raining - for the first time during the weekend.
Overall I had a great time. Bratislava is quite a small city, in fact a very small city, but it’s certainly worth a weekend trip.
