Bratislava, Slovakia

At artist gallery nook with a special greeter.


I love the art in the windows of the derelict building next to the up to date Cathedral.
Bratislava is great. I loved it. If you ask me why, I would have trouble answering. It reminds of when I tried to tell people about Vietnam. There was not any one thing to see or do, it just had a great feel and energy. The people were friendly. From the moment I got into Bratislava, it did not fail to deliver. A girl I talked to didn't like it at all though. She said you could see it in just a single day. I agree from a tourist perspective, but I am going to pretend I was seeing something else. I know someone else didn't like the repetitive communist housing either. Question of the day, we look at that repetitive communist housing and cringe, but didn't we do the same thing in the USA with housing developments by choice? What is the difference? Perception of choice? A curious thought.


The lower half of Michael's Tower.


Bratislava castle.


Soviet era housing.
I stayed a single night at the wonderful Hostel Blues and wish I could have stayed more. I guess I could have, but I had just taken a rest day and I feel like I need to keep making progress. There are a lot of miles left on my trip and I want to be ahead of schedule instead of behind. Oddly, I don't actually have a schedule yet and going home for my dad's memorial is complicating matters. Anyway, the hostel had music going all the time at reception, but never had any blues playing. The staff was super friendly. The reception area being air conditioned might have played a big part too. I tooled around the city for a while, but came back when the heat became unbearable. It didn't cool off much that night either, but I did find bagels. I have been missing big American breakfasts and this wasn't it, but a bagel sandwich definitely hit the spot.


A little known Camden, ME franchise reaches out to new territory in Bratislava.


This statue was located outside a restaurant called Paparazzi.
The next morning, I was out the door to explore some more and take a short tour around the city. I also spent an hour visiting every mobile shop in the city trying to get my phone unlocked. No dice. However, I did find another bagel place. Just as good the second time and exactly the fuel I needed to get on the road to Hungary.


Cumil (The Watcher).


A sign was added beside Cumil because two cars have taken off his head.


The Belgian Beer Cafe. There is a restaurant in Christchurch, NZ that has the exact same name, sign, and logo. It is where Galit introduced me to croquettes. Yum!!