First and foremost, I'll try not to make this as exhaustive as my last few posts...
Bratislava
After a great few days in Budapest we got back on the travelling wagon- destination Bratislava, Slovakia. We had been warned by others that Bratislava is somewhere you would ideally only visit for a day, something we later found to be very good advice indeed.
I do feel a bit sorry for Bratislava though, it's a relatively new capital city which is full of English due to its cheap beer and nearby Ryanair airport. After only sleeping for a couple of hours the previous night we were in no fit state to wander round the city enthusiastically with our heavy rucksacks, oohing and aahing at various sights, so headed to a bagel café to slob out for a while. Spent a long time watching Glee in Slovakian in the café (fascinating, especially when everyone burst into song in English), before dumping our bags at the station which was one of the most depressing places I have ever seen (we thought it was derelict).
Blue Church, Bratislava. Closed on Sundays incidentally.
It's not that Bratislava is dirty/boring/unsafe/small- delete as appropriate, it's just there's nothing there that we hadn't already seen before in Krakow and Budapest. No wow factor. Like most capitals in Eastern/Central Europe there IS a castle on a hill and cute squares and a gorgeous little blue church which was ironically closed on Sundays. The few hours we spent wandering the Slovakian streets were enough. After a huuuuuge Slovakian sausage (no- no that kind) we boarded the train for Vienna, Austria.
Bratislava is a bit like Ke$ha- a bit scrubby and nothing you haven't seen before. Hope you liked the double negative. SNAP.
Slovakian haute cuisine
Vienna
I spent the 3 nights and 2 days we had in Austria's beautiful capital with Ultravox in my head. Oh Viennaaaaaaa!! Thanks Midge Ure. I know why he was wailing so much- Vienna is FAN-tastic.
The Viennese adventure got off to a shaky sight as it took us the best part of 2 and a half hours to find our CouchSurfing hosts' apartment. Nevertheless, we arrived at Martin and Doris' bedraggled and knackered. Must have been quite frightening for them in retrospect- Doris and Martin were 21 year old students, originally from Salzburg and absolutely lovely. Gave us useful tips- from where to eat schnitzel to how to negotiate the complicated transport system and even ordered midnight pizza for us all one night! Can't get better than that!
Vienna is one of those cities where you can amble around for ages without actually doing anything. Due to the weather (not a cloud in sight for the 2 days we were there), I did a lot of ambling. Met up with Emily, one of my friends from uni who's living in Vienna this year (lucky girl) so had my very own personal tour guide! We wandered round looking at impressive museums, libraries and such before a well earned rest in a café for hot chocolate so thick you had to eat it with a spoon. Nice.
Everything in Vienna is beautiful. Point.
We spent the afternoon catching up, visiting the Kunsthaus (mind how you say that) and riding the tram before meeting up with my fellow travelers for some traditional Austrian food in the Centimeter bar (where the beer you order is priced by the Centimeter!). Here's my meal...
Schnitzel and potatoes in balsamic vinegar. Tasted AMAZING. Shame I couldn't eat it all.
After that, met up with Clemens and Hanna, a young Viennese couple I met whilst working in Brittany last summer (they kept me company in the lonely hostel I was working in for a few rainy days). Went to AltWien, a bar famous for its grumpy waiters apparently. Definitely can confirm that.
My second day in Vienna started at the Schloss Schönbrunn- home of the Habsburgs (think of it as the Austrian equivalent of Versailles). It was beautiful! Just a shame spring hadn't really kicked off yet as all the gardens were bare. Climbed up through the gardens to get views of Vienna, before heading back into the city for some wine fun....
Beautiful!
Just outside Vienna is a little place called Grinzing, famous due to its viticulture. Naturally Emily and I caught the tram to try some Grinzing wine! The 'excursion' to Grinzing made a nice change from the city- although still classed as part of Vienna city, it feels like you've stepped back in time in Grinzing. Yes, it's touristy but it is quaint and tooooo cute! Went for lunch and tried some of the wine- came in a small beer jug and cost less than 3 euros! Wahey!
Grinzing
Our stay in Vienna was rounded off with a night at the opera. How bourgeois of us. Loved the fact that everyone else was dressed to the nines whereas we were wearing jeans/trainers and looked a bit of a mess really. Jackie found some cheap tickets for 3 euros (!), ever the bargain hunter. Thing is these tickets were standing. We had a great view but standing up for 3 hours watching Mozart's Magic Flute in Austrian German was pretty fatigant I've got to say. Still, it was a great experience- made all the more sweet by our cheap tickets.
A night at the opera
Soooooo Vienna. Just go and see it for yourself. The buildings are grand, the architecture impressive and the food portions are huuuuuge! Ride around on the trams, casually check out the opera and eat schnitzel and strudel. Your figure might betray you, but your heart definitely won't. Midge Ure was definitely onto something good...
