Brrrratislava

May 13, 2011 at 4:15 pm (Travel)

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by Bratislava. The capital of Slovakia was almost an afterthought in what I thought of mostly as my Austria/Czech Republic trip, and I only stayed there for one night. But I’m glad I did.

The city is a lot like Prague, but on a much smaller scale. Julia and I wandered through the Old City of Bratislava all day, enjoying the cafes, (a bagel shop!), buildings and various statues.

Bratislava is hosting the 2011 World Hockey Championships, and the city was very friendly towards tourists. Maps and English signs are readily available, as well as statues of hockey players from all over the world. And the atmosphere was fun, too. Packs of hockey fans roamed the streets blowing whistles and horns as they paraded their home team jerseys.

I don’t think we needed more than a day in Bratislava, and if we’d stayed longer we probably would have taken a trip outside of the city to go hiking or to see a castle. The mountains and forests in Slovakia are apparently quite beautiful and clean, a combination sometimes hard to find in Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, I definitely recommend making a stop in Bratislava if anyone happens to be in the area. It was an easy and cheap 1.5 hour bus ride from Vienna, and prices in Bratislava are noticeably more reasonable than its neighbor.