Bratislava, Slovakia
“Welcome to Bratislava. We have a church with a toilet.” This was an actual thing our walking tour guide said (and an actual attraction) during our day trip to Slovakia today.
Only an hour train ride from Vienna, Bratislava offered a chance to experience a “big” Eastern European city not yet spoiled by catering to the global tourism market.
Upon arrival at the airport there was much confusion over the train we needed to take to Bratislava. Eventually, we spoke with a “Passenger Rights” representative and discovered the next two hourly trains were cancelled and the next one after that now had a connection. Had we not already paid for our round trip tickets, we probably would have scratched the whole plan. But we had. So we stayed. And waited for hours for the next train.
Before our trip I purchased a Trtl Pillow (yes, its logo is a turtle). It is basically a softish neckbrace that wraps around your head and works as a travel pillow without all the bulk. It folds up flat and is easy to carry and pack. I was skeptical when I bought it, but now I am a believer! While being compact is its best feature, the second best thing about the trtl is that I have found a way to comfortably and discretely sleep in less than appropriate places as wrapping a scarf around the trtl hides it from public scrutiny.
Today, I stuck the trtl in my backpack and napped during our long wait at the train station and the hour long train ride. It was glorious and did wonders for my cold and my attitude.
Upon arriving in Bratislava I was sort of shocked at the quality of infastructure in Solvakia’s most metropolitan city. Our tour guide, Milan, had a great sense of humor about the up-and-coming-ness of Bratislava and told us a joke often used by Czech people to poke fun at Slovakians. Basically, it is, oh, Bratislava is the metropole of Slovakia, but it has no metro so it’s just a pole (with “pole“ being the word for open field in Slovakian).
Building walls were crumbling, there was graffiti everywhere, a burned out building with boarded windows sat on display in the towns main pedestrian square and the bridges appeared uncomfotably thin. It was definitely different than the European cities to which we have become accustomed and different than what I was expecting. Reservations quickly gave way to a storied and fascinating history of a country that I had not previously thought much about.
Upon making our way to the city center we discovered that we’d forgotten to bring hardly any cash. Most places there are cash only and, besides that, we had not cleared our cards for use in Slovakia with our banks before we left the US. We were essentially broke in Bratislava.
Luckily, our main plan for the day was a free walking tour. We love these free walking tours as they are usually the best way to see the city and the guides are working for tips so they tend to really know their stuff and engage with the group. We had specifically grabbed $20 euros for our guide’s tip money - but other than that we had only 15 or so euros.
Thankfully, the cost of food was very reasonable so we were at least able to have a really filling lunch at some still open Christmas Market food stalls - potato pancake, a huge sausage with onion and mustard sauce, cinnanmon peanuts and two cups of mulled wine.
Our tour started in the mid-afternoon and lasted a little more than 2.5 hours. We visited several spots in the main square, multiple historical churches and the big white Bratislavan Castle (which no royal person has ever lived in).
Along the way our guide was really great about explaining Slovak culture and how Slovakians fit into regional and world history (Did you know Bratislavan wine was served on the Titanic?). He explained how, despite alining with the losing sides in both WWI and WWII, Slovakia actually improved its position after both wars via strategic dipolmacy.
My favorite stop on the tour was at the St. Martin’s Cathedral - the church with the toilet. This is the largest church in Slovakia and was the corination site for Hungarian Kings for several hundred years (including the female King - not Queen - Maria Theresa who ruled over the Austrian-Hungarian Empire in the 1700s).
All throughout the city, Josh and I had been noticing these small circular emblems with crowns on them in the cobble stone streets. I had been making a point of stepping on them. Josh asked if I knew what they were and I made up a silly answer and said they were put there for the Queen to walk on.
Well, as we learned on our tour, I was not wrong. After the 4 hour corination ceremony in St. Martin’s Cathedral, the King - man or woman - would have to go on a coronation parade throughout the city on a specific route - which is denoted by the crown emblems on ground. Side note: King Maria Theresa did her parade while eight months pregnant with one of her 16 children.
St. Martin’s cathedral was built in 1452 and
is technically an example of gothic architectural style, though it lacks a lot of the sculptures and decorations carved into the outside that would typically be prevalent in this style. This was because the cathedral was initially part of the fortification of Bratislava and was built into the city’s outer wall.
There was even a door in the roof where the soldiers keeping watch would go through the roof rather than climb down and go all the way around the cathedral. This is also where the toilet was. A small circular - now closed off - stone tube along the side of the catherdal. This section would have been on the outside-side of the city wall and waste would have fallen directly into the moat. Actually, pretty high tech for the times!
After our tour ended (it was well after sunset but not quite 5:30), temperatures were dropping and we were having to use our cell phone flashlights to navigate in some of the darker areas without streetlights, so we decided to head back to Vienna.
Plus, we were literally out of money because there was a handmade souviner I just had to have and then I used our last 0.50 euros to go to the public bathroom (I snuck into a hotel to use one earlier in the day, but I didn’t think my tricky tricks would work twice).
All in all, it was a great day with a wonderful introduction into a very unique and intereating city. Long live Bratislava!***
***Apparently, Bratislava has a history of creating statues honoring people who visit the city (sometimes only once or twice), but who publicly proclaim their love and appreciation for the city. So, here’s hoping I get my statue!
Yorumlar