Off to Bratislava, Slovakia today!! I have no idea what's there. I'm stopping there more to tick off another country and plus it's on the way to Prague. Noticed that there was an inconsistency between the Eurail app and the book regarding the need for reservation, so decided to check that out in case I had to stand for hours again like my Stockholm to Copenhagen trip. Turns out you could just jump on. Done. No dramas on the train trip. Almost had a heart attack when the guard said I hadn't filled out the travel date on my pass (you get fined if you haven't). Turns out she was just blind and couldn't see the black pen. Afterwards she complemented me on just how perfectly filled out my pass was. Guess that was a plus.
It was raining pretty heavily when I got into Bratislava, and given that I had to walk a bit, decided to hang around the station for a while. An hour later it eased and I made a dash for it. After checking into my room (only a four person room which was good), I headed out to check out the city's main attraction, Bratislava Castle, located conveniently right next to the hostel. It was definitely a more modern castle having undergone recent renovations and restorations. Nevertheless an interesting castle, but only really took up an hour of my time. Spent some time walking the old town but the constant rain was really annoying so I headed back to the hostel. A Chinese restaurant offering an extremely cheap buffet caught my eye, enticing me in. And then I discovered that it was only for lunch. Oh well. The food was still cheap and I pigged out fried rice and sweet and sour pork ribs. Very traditional Slovak cuisine indeed.
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To counteract my dinner last night, I went to a very traditional Slovak restaurant tonight right at the foot of the castle. Had a Slovak specialty similar to gnocchi with sheep's cheese; apparently sheep's cheese is only produced in Slovakia. My main was a very hearty roasted wild boar with bread dumplings and a mushroom cream sauce. The boar was so tender and just melted in my mouth. Dessert was ice cream which could have been better, but a very satisfying meal and for a very reasonable price. It was definitely a challenge to get back up to the castle on the hill and descend the other side to get back to the hostel with such a full stomach. And it was freezing too. Even with my coat and hoodie, I was actually really cold. Clearly winter is coming. Can't wait for snow.
Day 50
Only full day in Prague and since I had seen the city previously, I was pretty relaxed about what I wanted to do. Ended up just walking around the city and exploring the Old Town, before walking up to the castle and checking out the awesome views. Shame though that there wasn't snow around like last time, but definitely safer knowing that shards of ice wouldn't come sliding off the roofs and stab you in the head. As my stomach growled as I walked around the town, I realised that I could have what I've been craving all these years. Potato soup!! The last time I was here, I had it so many times and after getting back to Sydney, couldn't find a place that made it anywhere near as good as they did here. As I walked the streets looking for a cheap restaurant (technically all cheap, but I wanted the cheapest of the cheap), I realised that most were offering really good value lunch menus. But only a few were offering the choice of potato soup. And those restaurants were the ones offering more expensive menus. Guess that just shows how good the potato soup is. Ended up finding a good restaurant called Three Violins which offered a three course meal for the equivalent of $14AUD, including my beloved potato soup, roasted duck and chocolate mousse. And what a wait! Potato soup was just as I remembered it. Totally worth the wait and the travel back to Prague. At least, that's what I'm choosing to believe haha.
Spent the rest of the day walking the city before seeing/hearing an organ concert in an old church. Just for the novelty. The person selling me the ticket tried to get me to buy front row tickets so that I could "see more". The bloody organ was above and behind us!! Those at the front were looking at the altar where nothing was happening. Granted it was an impressive altar but not worth the extra cost (and besides I went up and looked at the altar afterwards anyway. The concert was...interesting. And different. It was definitely haunting for most parts with the whole dramatic loud organ tones that you're used to hearing in horror films. The fact that we were in an old church (with about only 15 people) added to the horror film atmosphere. What was surprising though was that the organ actually sounds really nice when it's played softly, much like a piano. But I guess if you can be dramatic, then why not.
Scoped out another good restaurant for dinner, having potato soup (of course) and roast rabbit. The rabbit was quite tasty. The texture was much like tough chicken/duck meat in that it shredded pretty easily. Taste-wise, it reminded me of pork slightly. What was interesting was that it was served with gravy, cranberry sauce and whipped cream. Tried one mouthful with everything. Did not go down well. Who puts whipped cream on meat?! Anyways, whipped cream aside, it was a great meal and so cheap too. Gotta love Eastern European prices. After such a filling meal, I had to walk it off. In my wandering, I found that I subconsciously walked back to the hostel I had stayed at last time. Ah good times. It's so weird how you just remember things from way back. I hope that thirty or forty years down the track when I return to all these European cities, I'll be able to walk the streets and feel like I know them and have all these memories flood back. Looking forward to that day.
HBL signing out from Prague, Czech Republic.
Up next: Paree 'olds ze key to your 'eart...
Previously: From crawling in caves to relaxing in thermal baths...
Day 48
As I got ready to head out this morning, a guy in my room asked me if I needed a lift to Budapest since he was driving that way (he had overheard me talking to another guy about how great Budapest was the previous night). Was so tempted to join him. Could have counted that as a hitchhiking experience. If only he was going to Prague. And if only he was going tomorrow. Sigh. Devastated that I had to decline his kind offer.
My only full day in Bratislava. Having heard reviews from other travellers, I had only allocated one day to this city, which in comparison to other European cities was pretty small. Did the usual walking tour, and actually found the history of Bratislava extremely fascinating, especially with its involvement in WWII, its links with the Czech Republic and its history of revolutions and protests. And found out that the reason Bratislava's old town was so small was that 70% had been destroyed in order to make room for the "modern" buildings, as Prague had been selected to be the beautiful old city while Bratislava was to be the new modern and efficient city (when they were both the major cities of Czechoslovakia). Taking advantage of the clear skies, I headed up the tower of Michael's Gate for a bird's eye view of the old town before heading back up to Bratislava Castle for a nice view of the river and the UFO bridge. In that one day, I pretty much saw most of Bratislava's main attractions including the famous "watcher" statue, a sculpture of a man coming out of a manhole and just watching the passing people.
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Day 49
The roommates you get in a hostel can either make or break your experience. This particular roommate in Bratislava was nice as a person, but once he hit the hay, he was a nightmare. I don't know if he was choking in his sleep or not, but the noises coming out of him were so bloody loud. I could hear him snoring from outside the room. There were times when he would quieten down and I'd get a few minutes of peace before he'd start up again, startling all of us in the room. I had to fashion some earplugs out of toilet paper and stuff my ears in an attempt to block out his echoing snores. No luck. I still heard him. But yeah, a very restless night.
Travel day to Prague today. No dramas with train, spent the first hour with some guy in my compartment, but then had it to myself for the remaining three hours. Got into Prague around 5pm and checked into my hostel which was surprisingly like a hotel. It even had a swimming pool and a sauna. Really good for five euros a night!! Ended up just chilling in the hostel, was too lazy/tired to head out. Met some Aussie girls and we just spent the night drinking and exchanging travel stories. One was particularly chatty which got a bit frustrating after a while. It's not that I don't like talking. But this one was just so opposite to me in terms of view and opinions on everything that it made one on one conversation really tiring. I'm just glad there were others around. Haha this makes me sound like someone who prefers to be alone. Tis true to an extent, being the introvert I am I guess. And just my luck that she ended up being the same room as me. Joy.
The roommates you get in a hostel can either make or break your experience. This particular roommate in Bratislava was nice as a person, but once he hit the hay, he was a nightmare. I don't know if he was choking in his sleep or not, but the noises coming out of him were so bloody loud. I could hear him snoring from outside the room. There were times when he would quieten down and I'd get a few minutes of peace before he'd start up again, startling all of us in the room. I had to fashion some earplugs out of toilet paper and stuff my ears in an attempt to block out his echoing snores. No luck. I still heard him. But yeah, a very restless night.
Travel day to Prague today. No dramas with train, spent the first hour with some guy in my compartment, but then had it to myself for the remaining three hours. Got into Prague around 5pm and checked into my hostel which was surprisingly like a hotel. It even had a swimming pool and a sauna. Really good for five euros a night!! Ended up just chilling in the hostel, was too lazy/tired to head out. Met some Aussie girls and we just spent the night drinking and exchanging travel stories. One was particularly chatty which got a bit frustrating after a while. It's not that I don't like talking. But this one was just so opposite to me in terms of view and opinions on everything that it made one on one conversation really tiring. I'm just glad there were others around. Haha this makes me sound like someone who prefers to be alone. Tis true to an extent, being the introvert I am I guess. And just my luck that she ended up being the same room as me. Joy.
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Only full day in Prague and since I had seen the city previously, I was pretty relaxed about what I wanted to do. Ended up just walking around the city and exploring the Old Town, before walking up to the castle and checking out the awesome views. Shame though that there wasn't snow around like last time, but definitely safer knowing that shards of ice wouldn't come sliding off the roofs and stab you in the head. As my stomach growled as I walked around the town, I realised that I could have what I've been craving all these years. Potato soup!! The last time I was here, I had it so many times and after getting back to Sydney, couldn't find a place that made it anywhere near as good as they did here. As I walked the streets looking for a cheap restaurant (technically all cheap, but I wanted the cheapest of the cheap), I realised that most were offering really good value lunch menus. But only a few were offering the choice of potato soup. And those restaurants were the ones offering more expensive menus. Guess that just shows how good the potato soup is. Ended up finding a good restaurant called Three Violins which offered a three course meal for the equivalent of $14AUD, including my beloved potato soup, roasted duck and chocolate mousse. And what a wait! Potato soup was just as I remembered it. Totally worth the wait and the travel back to Prague. At least, that's what I'm choosing to believe haha.
Scoped out another good restaurant for dinner, having potato soup (of course) and roast rabbit. The rabbit was quite tasty. The texture was much like tough chicken/duck meat in that it shredded pretty easily. Taste-wise, it reminded me of pork slightly. What was interesting was that it was served with gravy, cranberry sauce and whipped cream. Tried one mouthful with everything. Did not go down well. Who puts whipped cream on meat?! Anyways, whipped cream aside, it was a great meal and so cheap too. Gotta love Eastern European prices. After such a filling meal, I had to walk it off. In my wandering, I found that I subconsciously walked back to the hostel I had stayed at last time. Ah good times. It's so weird how you just remember things from way back. I hope that thirty or forty years down the track when I return to all these European cities, I'll be able to walk the streets and feel like I know them and have all these memories flood back. Looking forward to that day.
HBL signing out from Prague, Czech Republic.
Up next: Paree 'olds ze key to your 'eart...
Previously: From crawling in caves to relaxing in thermal baths...
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