Slovakia 01: Bratislava

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

I awoke this morning with a terrible pain in my side from heavy coughing overnight. Thinh and I have both had an awful cough for the past couple of weeks. We’ve taken a lot of medicine to try and fight it, but it just seems to linger and not improve.

We took the U-Bahn to Vienna Haupbtanhof, where we bought train tickets to Bratislava in Slovakia. It was a bit hectic at the station, but we had some extra time to try and find something to eat for breakfast. We ended up buying some drinks and stroopwaffles at a Spar at the station before boarding the train. The journey to Bratislava took about an hour, getting us into the city with plenty of time for sightseeing.

When we arrived in Bratislava it was snowing, though thankfully just lightly. Thinh and I took the bus from the train station into the old town area. We hadn’t planned anything major in town, aside from walking around to see some of the sights. We walked by a very pretty stone church as we made our way into the heart of the old town area. Since it was so cold today, we ducked into a small Starbucks to get something to warm us up before continuing our walk.

The snow had mostly stopped by the time we truly began our walk through town. The main square is a lovely place to visit in Bratislava. In one corner is Maximilian’s Fountain, at the opposite side is a small church, and standing next to a bench in the square is a statue of Napoleon! In another corner of the square is a statue of a guard, which Thinh found amusing (and I made him take a photo in front of it).

With no firm destination in mind, we began wandering around the nearby streets. We came upon the pretty Primacial Palace, which dates from the 1780s and now serves as both a music all and the mayor’s office. Even though the weather wasn’t great today, it added some beauty to the city as we walked around. Everywhere we went we found little statues, fountains, or art installations.

The buildings in the old town were all very pretty to look at, even though we didn’t know anything about them. The Slovak National Theatre was small, but gorgeous, complete with colonnades and statues atop it, and a fountain in the front. The cobblestone streets and sidewalks throughout the area added charm and enhanced the old town vibe of the city. One of the funnier artworks that we came across is known as Cumil and is a statue of a sewer worker popping out of a manhole in the street.

One of our last stops in town was Michael’s Gate. This is one of the old city gates which dates back to the 1300s, and has a clock tower atop the gate. Nowadays the old city fortifications are gone and the gate sits at the end of a lovely pedestrian street. Souvenir shops lined the street and we went inside several of them to peruse their wares. Thinh eventually bought a couple of keychains from one of the store and we also got a postcard to send to my sister.

Both Thinh and I were getting hungry and, as it was getting on for lunch time, we stopped in a local Slovak restaurant. The restaurant was nearly empty when we arrive and the waiter was very welcoming, speaking perfect English as well. I ordered a traditional Slovak dish of beef chuck in a creamy sauce that came with steamed bread. Thinh had the traditional dumplings served with bacon, onions, and chives. We both agreed that the food was outstanding – possibly the best meal we’d eaten thus far on the trip! I had wanted to try the sheep cheese spread as an appetizer (Thinh was not entirely sold on the idea), but sadly they were out of it today.

Our final goal for the day was to visit the city castle atop a nearby hill. The weather had started to get bad again though, so we decided to just walk around to get a view of the castle rather than making the long trek up to the castle itself. We crossed through Michael’s Gate, on the other side of which was a small bridge that offered pretty views of the old town area. Continuing our walk, we eventually reached a small square where we could see the castle in the distance. The square also had a small church to one side, with a memorial column to victims of the plague standing in front.

The street nearby had trams running along it and we stopped for several minutes so Thinh could take photos of the trams. He has the cutest fascination with trams and loves to take photos of them in every city we visit. It was adorable watching him eagerly standing at the side of the road, waiting for the next tram to come by so he could take some pictures.

Our tour around Bratislava was over now and we went back to the Starbucks near the main square so we could warm up once again. Thinh and I then took the bus back over to the train station, where we caught our return train to Vienna.

The day tour to Bratislava had been a lot of fun for both of us. I visited the city in 2017 and hadn’t been terribly impressed by it, but this visit made me really love the city. Thinh was enamored with Bratislava – indeed, he liked it better than Vienna! I was really enjoying the experience of showing Thinh around this region of Europe and I knew that the best was yet to come on the trip!