Around the World with Hardy(T)Around the World with Hardy(T)
The journey from Horný Smokovec to
Bratislava takes a good nine hours. I guess if I hadn't have got off at
the wrong station for my connecting train it wouldn't have been so bad,
but the stations in Slovakia are so poorly signed...
Bratislava is great - it has
trams, just like dear old Melbourne! However a tram isn't needed
for the short walk to the Bernolakova hostel. What can I say about this
hostel... it's cheap, only 150Šk a night,
but it doesn't have any hot water for the weekend! I meet up again with
Jimmy, an American guy I met in Poprad-Tatry, and we catch a tram downtown.
There's an observation platform on the bridge over the Danube, so we go
there for a sunset beer. The view over Bratislava provides a stark contrast:
on the north bank is the old city, but to the south is mile upon mile of
austere apartment blocks. Jimmy and I then head on to Charlie's Pub - a
very strange place - where we meet not only the two finalists in the World's
Most Obvious Hooker contest, but also two mad Kuwaitis who insist on buying
us beer all night as thanks for liberating their country!
A traditional Slovakian pancake provides
an excellent hangover cure the next day - the chocolate sauce was perhaps
a mistake - and enables me to take a cultural tour of the Slovakian capital.
The castle overlooks the old city and the Danube and also houses the excellent
'Road to Slovakian Nationhood' and 'Musical Heritage' exhibitions. Did you
know Slovakians have been playing bagpipes and a kind of didgeridoo for
centuries? I also learnt that the local drummer used to be 'the most popular
person in a Slovakian village'. Speaking from personal experience, I'd say
that the times have changed somewhat! As if these museums weren't enough,
I hotfooted it from the castle to the Bratislava Viticulture museum. Given
that this is billed as one of the city's biggest tourist attractions, I
was somewhat surprised to find myself the only visitor, and somewhat embarassed
when the curator had to give me a personal tour, unlocking and locking doors
as we went! There was no wine tasting either, so I had to settle for an
early evening beer in the main city square, as a precursor to that night's
entertainment: some top Ligy I soccer action at the Štadión
AŠK Inter Slovnaft.
An early night followed, as the next day I was heading across the border into the Czech Republic...