So in a similar fashion to the previous weekend I decided that I didn't really fancy spending the long Easter weekend in Brno, so did a net-check to see what accomodation was available in near-by cities. My first choice was Vienna unfortunatly all but the most expensive rooms had already been booked, so I decided on 2 nights in the Slovak capital, Bratislava. I had heard differing opinions on the place, from very nice to very boring, so thought I should check it out for my self. Just in case though, I spent a little extra (around 1300kc a night) for a room right in the center of the old town, with a TV and DVD player...
The train left Brno at 10.30am Saturday, and arrived in Bratislava around an hour and a half later in clear blue sky. As the train station was only about 1km from the old town I decided to walk, which led to some time wandering around trying to trying to decide whether the Rough Guide authors had got confused and printed a map of a different town. However, once I had got my bearings I found the hotel easy enough, right in the pedestrianised center of town (and, as I was to discover, right above an Irish bar frequented by VERY LOUD people from the UK).
As usual when I'm somewhere new, rather than plan out exactly where I was going to go, I just wandered aimlessly around to see where I ended up. Around the old town, castle, into various cafes for coffee, and into the Irish bar, which maybe somewhere to avoid in the evening but during the day does some rather fantastic pancakes with whipped cream and hot rasberries...
The second day was not as good weather so had a look around a couple of the musuems, this confirmed my previous view of the Rough Guide map, when trying to find the musuem of African art - I found the road, found the musuem it was meant to be opposite... unfortunatly where the map showed the musuem there was a motorway. I was slightly annoyed as the musuem was supposed to be very good, and as a quick Google search yielded no results I suspect that it never existed in the first place, and was just imagination on the part of the author.
Overall, while maybe not the most exciting place I've ever been, I quite like Bratislava. The center of the old town has been very well restored and looks lovely lit up at night, and yet in a way I prefered the old, run-down streets just a few minutes walk away, with their cobbled paths, peeling paint, abandoned buildings, and intricate (if rare) lamps barely lighting the way. With no one else around and a soft rain falling it reflected the melancholy mood of the weekend perfectly. However, I'm glad I saw Bratislava before Vienna or Budapest, which, in terms of architecture (if maybe not atmosphere), are supposed to far surpass it. This is something I'm planning on finding out for myself in the next few weeks, leaving the rest of the summer to concentrate fully on the Czech Republic...
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