BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA: Sunday 21st August 2022

Trains, Planes and Automobiles have been our choice of transport thus far, but today we changed it up and caught a ferry from Vienna to Bratislava.

The ferry wharf was a 15 minute suitcase drag through Vienna’s cobblestone streets, and set along a tributary of the Danube that comes through the city. We had booked upstairs tickets on the ferry which holds around 300 passengers for the scenic 75 minute trip along river.

Both banks of the river were lined mostly by national parks and wetlands, although there was an occasional fishing hut that I understand are used by wealthy Austrian’s as weekenders. I get a much greater sense of an ecological focus then I have in Europe on previous trips, although I’m not sure if that is a recent thing, or if it has always been that way in this region (having never been to Austria or Slovakia before).

Another cobblestone road bag drag through the old part of Bratislava city (whoever invented four-wheeled suitcases didn’t consider bumpy streets) to our meeting point for our pre-booked ‘Skoda Cold War Tour’. Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and has a population of around half a million, sitting on the Danube just 80km from Vienna, in fact they are the two closest capitals in the world.

Poitr, a 40 year old Slovak man who has spent most of his life in Bratislava, met us in his proudly owned 1988 grey Skoda sedan which was impeccably maintained. It was the last of the Skoda made during the communist era which lasted from the end of the 2nd World War through to the Velvet Revolution in August ‘92. It’s called that because it was soft – i.e. no violent uprising or retaliation, basically the Soviets let the then Czechoslovakia become a democracy. That democracy seems quite fragile now, with a high rate of corruption, low wages and it appeared a fair amount of poverty, in contrast to the apparent affluence of Vienna.

Poitr drive us (and our bags which just managed to fit in the boot in the front of the car) to a variety of locations, all significant to the communist era and stopped to explain the significance of each. We saw mass produced apartment blocks, memorials, government buildings and sites where local partisans died fighting communism. It was good to hear from a local, what life here was, and is like, and the impact of political turmoil on the lives of everyday people. An interesting fact I learned – Slovakia is one of the largest car manufacturers in the world building more then 1 million cars a year including Skoda, Volkswagen, Kia and even Land Rovers!

After checking in to our James Bond decorated apartment (we would have chosen it anyway so that was a bonus) we grabbed some lunch at a nearby café (cold meat and salad for me – chicken and vegetables for Dave) we spent the afternoon washing clothes and resting. It was so good to have a washing machine and be in a fully self contained apartment. Both of us are a little under the weather (not Covid) so it was really lovely to rest for a few hours.

By late afternoon, with drying clothes spread throughout the apartment, we set off for some city exploring. It’s certainly not got the beauty and majesty of Prague or Vienna, but is still a pretty spot with a growing tourism industry and plenty of hustle and bustle in the old town centre, which is restricted to cars owned by homeowners’ only.

After about an hour walking (remember rule #3 is walk lots, eat lots 😉 ) we found a nice little Taverna where I ordered a squid ink risotto and Dave a steak. The best part was €4 drinks – my Gordon’s Gin and Tonic went down a treat! Nearby was a loud demonstration supporting the Ukraine’s with a small police presence – which was interesting to watch while I ate a delicious Passionfruit gelato cone 🙂

A long bath before bed (ranked #1 bath so far, by the way) and then the best night’s sleep so far, listening to the rain falling steadily outside in the courtyard and looking forward to tomorrow’s trip to Hungary 🙂