Sunday, 4 June 2006
On the sparsely populated train, I chanced to sit across from an old man, and started chatting with him. He was at once a citizen of UK, Australia, and New Zealand. He spoke at least six languages, and in his life he had travelled throughout all part of the world (now he was on his way to Břeclav, Czech Republic, where he would change trains to Warsaw, then proceeding to Tallinn in the north. Though he had never been to Bratislava before, he gave me much later-turned-out-useful advice on Vienna, which he had visited many times.
The countryside of Slovakia rolled away gently, and by about 9:10 the train pulled to a stop in the Bratislava main station. Coming out of the main station, as long as one gets the bearings right (just follow the only road south), walking for about one kilometre or so would easily bring one to the historical centre of Bratislava. It was sheer joy getting lost in Bratislava, wandering past places such as the Michalská veža (a modest gate marking the entrance into the old town area), the Hlavné (the city's main square), the Old Town Hall, the Jesuit Church, "Man at Work" ( sign and figure), and--surprise--a Chinese restaurant.
It was early Sunday morning, and the streets and squares were mostly deserted. Thus, I got to enjoy moments of unique charm of this town in solitude before the tourists arrived (at least 3 tours). My impression was that the town was nice and neat--the irregular array of cobbled streets and buildings in the medieval style was small in size enough to walk (indeed, walking was probably the only way to experience the downtown area). I went into a church and, lo and behold, a Mass was being held. As quietly as possible, I (with other tourists) tried to film an excerpt of the Mass, until the old ladies at the back row looked back, scandalised. Coming out of the church, I wandered off into the building across the street. A line-up caught my attention, and after some inquiry I learnt that a recital was being held upstairs. I bought a ticket and was admitted. The recital was modest in size, and soon I realised that I was probably the only non-Slovak in the room. The pianist started playing some modern Slovak pieces that I couldn't understand very well (I didn't so much have trouble that it was Slovak than it was set in the modern style), so after two movements of the ten-movement piece, I walked out.
I also entered the Primate's Palace, where an exhibit of artwork was displayed. "No photos," the old lady admitting me told me. But the styles of some rooms looked too alluring to resist making some pictoral records. At the instance my camera went off, the old lady suddenly appeared at the end of the hall, yelling "no photos!" Henceforth, for some reason, I crossed her path five times during my visit.
Proceeding southwards, I eventually hit the Hviezdoslavovo Námestie, a wide walkway lined by tree, overlooking the impressive Slovak National Theatre and the Ganymedova Fountain. The way led towards the Danube (Dunaj) River. I went under an underpass westwards, and soon found myself climbing a steep flight of stairs that would lead the way to a fifteenth-century castle. According to the Rough Guide (p. 888), the castle was built by "Emperor Sigismund, burnt down by its own drunken soldiers ... and restored in the 1950s". Interesting.
Soon I reached a plateau, which offered nothing but a sweeping view of the Danube and the woodlands to the south of it. Entering the the castle, which was also converted into a museum, I found my way to the top of the tower, and was rewarded with a commanding view of the red-roofed town, and the greater Bratislava built upon hilly lands.
Coming down from the castle hill, I entered the old centre again, this time to have lunch at a cafe and say farewell to Bratislava. The lunch consisted of pork with rice, and vinea, a curious, non-alcoholic, non-gaseous, Slovak drink. Things at Bratislava were pretty cheap, and as a result after the morning and lunch I still had about 1500 Slovak crowns left over (I treated a Slovak crown roughly one-to-one with New Taiwanese Dollar, NT$, with which I am used to; at the time of writing, a Euro would get about 40 of either).
I departed from this lovely city (at least the parts I had visited) by train at about 13:30. A morning of walking sufficed to get the most (i.e. 70%) out of this town.