Recently it seems that every Friday afternoon I find myself in a new country. This is not as exotic as it seems – Bratislava is only an hour away by train – but it certainly has been fun. Vienna (Austria), Istanbul (Turkey), Budapest (Hungary) and Bratislava (Slovakia) have all entertained my past 4 Fridays. It’s a bit surreal.
Most recently was Bratislava. Everything about Bratislava surprised me. I went into the weekend with no expectations and have been pleasantly surprised at the beauty of the historical part of the city.
Like many European cities, Bratislava has an ‘old town’ within the more modern city that has grown around it. Outside this historic old town the building are what I had expected – dated, tired and decidedly…communist. However inside the old city was totally different.
Cafés full of vegetarian and vegan food were everywhere. It’s like the city is on a permanent health kick. We sat in coffee shops that doubled as book shops and spent the afternoons eating hommus and drinking chai latte. Beautiful old buildings looked down on all the streets.
(Theatre)
I can honestly say this isn’t what I was expecting. The old town buzzes with tourists, locals and unfortunately, bus tour groups. But the vibe is great. We ate great Slovakian food and drank the local wine. It is easy to see why it is a destination of choice for bucks and hens parties and weekends away.
A fun night away which ensured I will be back. After all, it’s only an hour on the train.
