Bratislava to Prague

The easiest way to get from Bratislava to Prague was via Vienna so we briefly retraced our steps before setting off in a new direction towards Prague.  Bratislava station can only be described as functional but in reality that is all you need.  Within an hour we were back in Vienna to get our connection to Prague.  It seemed that everyone else was going to Prague too and for the first time on our trip we had to play seat bingo with those who had already reserved a seat when us ‘lowly’ interrailers get in the way but we eventually got settled and just had mild anxiety every time we pulled into a station that someone would demand our seat.

We made a bit of a rookie error upon exiting Prague HBF and took the first exit from the platform without going through the station to the main entrance.  Had we done that our walk to our AirBnB would have been much easier but instead we found ourselves walking along a very busy 4 lane road with no obvious place to cross but we eventually made it unscathed to our new home for the next 4 nights.  Within half an hour the first load of washing was on so we set off in search of milk to make a proper cup of tea.  We had arrived in Prague on Victory in Europe day so most of the supermarkets were closed but we managed to find a mini market open so picked up some milk and nibbles to see us through until morning.  This was our second mistake of the day and we ended up paying 225 CK (Czech crowns) for milk and a large bag of crisps which is the equivalent of £7.50!  Lesson learned Lidl all the way from now on.

Washing all done (much needed) and hung out to dry we felt we could leave the apartment to start exploring Prague.  As  usual Tracey had a list of things we needed to see and on the list for today was Prague castle and the Charles Bridge.  Apparently Prague has the largest castle in the world and having now visited it we can confirm that is indeed the case.  It is set up above the rest of Prague so is clearly visible on the hill above the city.  A very impressive series of buildings and churches guarded by soldiers in a very Buckingham Palace style.  The guards are changed every hour in a rather impressive display of synchronised marching that always draws a crowd.  Being on a hill we also had great views over the Vltava river and the rest of Prague.

Day two and on the agenda was the rest of the old town including the astronomical clock, Wenceslas Square (he of the Christmas carol) and a walk in Letna Park.   On the walk down from Letna Park we were stopped from crossing the road by police outriders and there followed a convey of government cars & police vehicles one of which had the Italian flag on the front so we were obviously intrigued.  We later found out that the Italian prime minister was visiting the Czech president.

Day three and we decided to try and escape the chaos of the city and head to Petrin Park for some serious uphill walking.  We were also missing the flavours of home a bit so naturally had to get a take away curry for supper.

We have loved Prague but it feels quite chaotic after the relative calm of Vienna.  It was also great to have our own apartment for a while and I am sure our fellow train travellers will be pleased that we leave with bags full of clean clothes. 

We took a much better route to the station today for our journey to Regensburg in Germany.  It feels like we are starting to head homewards from now on.

Astronomical Clock

Charles Bridge

The Dancing Buildings

Top of Perrin Park

Vienna to Bratislava

The train journey from Vienna to Bratislava only takes an hour but the difference on arrival is immediately noticeable.  We have some experience of visiting Romania with our friends Cris and Jane and so in some ways it felt familiar but certainly very different from Vienna.  The first noticeable difference is the language and whilst we have been able to manage quite well so far with our limited French, German and Spanish, Slovak is going to be a whole new ball game.  Thankfully for us English is widely spoken as getting our tongues around these new sounds will be tricky.

Our hotel was again close to the station so it was easy to find and quickly get settled in.

Whilst the Slovak nation has a long and distinguished history, Slovakia as an independent democratic country is a very young one.  It was only formed following the velvet revolution in November 1989 having previously been part of Czechoslovakia and under communist rule since the end of the Second World War.  It is roughly 2.5 times the size of Wales and land locked.

Bratislava is the capital and it is obvious that new investment and building is taking place on the outskirts of the city but there is still much evidence of communist (functional) and older (more classical)architecture within the city which makes it an interesting place to visit.  

We decided to explore the old historic town on our first morning and came across a walking tour in English that was about to start so decided to join it.  We are so glad we did as the young woman leading the tour was so knowledgable and passionate about her city & it’s history that we learnt so much in the 3 hours we spent with her.  Thank you Martina!  

Slovakia shares a border with Ukraine and Martina reminded us all that democracy is a fragile and relatively new luxury in this part of the world and should never be taken for granted.  She asked us to remember her brothers and sisters in Ukraine and to be thankful we have a safe place to sleep with no air raid sirens sounding at night, a very sobering thought.  She also pointed out that whilst new investment is being made in Bratislava and is needed, it often comes at the expense of more rural communities and although she is a well educated working women she will never be able to afford to buy a home in one of the newer areas of the city.

It is a salutary reminder that we cross borders so easily now and really the only thing that alerts you to the fact that you have crossed into a new country is the text message alert on your phone to show you have switched to a new network.  Of those who attempted to cross the border from east to west under the communist regime only 25% made it with the others either being shot or imprisoned.

On a lighter note and it would not be a Whitfield blog if we didn’t talk about food, food in Slovakia can probably best be described as hearty.  Simple fair made from ingredients that were easy to grow and produce locally.  There is a strong soup culture and apparently the locals can spot the tourists by the fact that they don’t start a meal with soup but given that soup seems to always be served in a hollowed out loaf of bread which you eat afterwards I am not sure we could manage it.  Dumplings feature heavily too on most traditional menus, they are made from flour, egg yolks and potato somewhat similar to the Italian gnocchi or the German spaetzle.  They are often served with a sheeps cheese and sour cream or sauerkraut accompaniment and despite our initial reservations were actually really delicious but very filling.

They have a strong tradition of very strong spirits too, distilled from fruit and nuts and typically 52% proof.  Thankfully they come in very small servings and one is definitely enough.  As Cris’s mamma Dorina would say ‘on pic!’

Sunday was a beautiful sunny day so once we had breakfasted and found somewhere to satisfy Mark’s need for coffee we re-walked the old town to take some photos of the places we had been on our walk yesterday and to find the blue church.  We then walked along the Danube from one bridge (tram bridge) to the next (ufo bridge) enjoying a different view of the castle from the other side before returning to the old town to sit in the shade and enjoy an ice cream.

We are so glad we included Bratislava in our itinerary, it was very different to most of the places we have visited but none the worse for that.  It has also reminded us of many of the things we take for granted.

Next stop Prague and an Airbnb with a washing machine!!!!!

The Blue Church

Slovak Radio Building

On our walking tour

2.5 euro a pint!

UFO bridge

Our hotel room

Oh Vienna!

 Oh Vienna!

After so many gorgeous train journeys through amazing scenery the final leg of the trip into Vienna was fairly boring and not helped by the miserable weather.  We know there will be lots of great things to see once we get there though so that spurred us on.  We had decided to stay near to the station and use the local transport system to get around and had pre-purchased a 48 hour travel pass to start the following morning so once we had checked in we settled in for the night looking forward to a great day tomorrow.

We awoke to much better weather this morning with the prospect of two full days to explore Vienna.  The tram stop to take us into the historic centre of Vienna is just a short walk from our hotel and we set off armed with a list of things to see today.  First stop after getting off the tram outside the gorgeous opera house was coffee and breakfast.  We managed to find a lovely little French cafe and enjoyed our first porridge since leaving home, it was delicious and set us up nicely for a day of exploring.

Next stop, St Stephen’s cathedral, a stunning building with two towers.  As is sometimes the way, the outside with its Gothic architecture was more impressive than the inside but that is only our opinion.  The tallest of the two towers is the south tower and we simply had to go up.  We huffed our way up 343 steps to the top but it was definitely worth the effort and helped us orientate ourselves.  You are surrounded by amazing buildings everywhere you look and they reminded us of old fashioned wedding cakes with pillars and intricate royal icing.

Next stop was the Hofburg Palace, the former principal imperial palace (winter residence) and since 1946 has been the official residence and offices of the Austrian president.  The Hofburg is also the home of the Spanish Riding School and where the Lipizzaner horses are trained.  We had missed their training session for the day so headed off to our next stops:

The Museum quarter

The Rathaus (city hall)

The Austrian Parliament

The Votive Church

By this stage we were peckish again and you simply cannot come to Vienna without having Sachertorte so we headed to Cafe Demel to sample some.  It was delicious and eaten in this historic cafe made it all the more special.  Apparently the original Sachertorte was invented by mistake after an apprentice chef came up with the cake after the pastry chef was taken ill and the Kaiser needed something special to end his meal.   There has been much rivalry between the Hotel Sacher and Cafe Demel about the true origins of the famous cake as the current version was perfected by the grandson of the original chef and he worked for both places in his time.  Eventually Hotel Sacher one a legal battle but both are famous for serving it and we weren’t really dressed for Hotel Sacher.

After our very indulgent cake and a quick siesta back at the hotel we didn’t really need dinner and Mark had a craving for a curry wurst and had done some research on the best curry wurst stands in Vienna.  With our travel passes in hand we set off in search of the perfect curry wurst, apparently it was very good.  I on the other hand stuck to a plain bratwurst with senf (German mustard) which was equally delicious.  There is only one thing to do after a ‘bratty’ so we went in search of a watering hole stumbling into a book shop (Pickwick’s) that also serves as a bar/cafe.  What a great idea! 

After a good nights sleep we were ready to go again and had decided to visit the Schonbrunn and Belvedere palaces today.

The Schonbrunn palace is a little way out of the city so we decided to do that first returning to do the Belvedere later in the day.  We are getting very used to the public transport system now and were soon on our way.

The Schonbrunn palace complex is huge but started out as a ‘humble’ hunting lodge eventually becoming the summer residence of the Imperial family.  We spent a very happy couple of hours exploring the palace gardens and marvelling at the scale of it.  Then it was back on the underground to find the statue of Mozart that we had failed to find the day before.  Mission accomplished, he was looking resplendent in the sunshine, we got back on the tram to go to the Belvedere palace.  Another stunning complex of baroque buildings with formal gardens ended our day of palaces perfectly.  These buildings really do shine in the Austrian sunshine and we feel very lucky to see them at their best.

After a quick siesta, we are getting quite good at these, we headed out again for our last night in Vienna.

Our train to Bratislava only takes an hour and as we didn’t need to be out of our room until midday, we decided to leave our bags and go out for breakfast this morning.  Our friends Margaret & Arthur had recommended that we try KaiserSchwarm (Kaiser’s mess) whilst here and it seemed like a great thing to have for breakfast.  It is basically a light, fluffy pancake ‘messed up’ and served with apple sauce although we think ours had plums with it too.  It is always made to order so took a little while to arrive but was worth the wait, it was delicious and should sustain us beautifully on our journey.

We have loved Vienna, it is everything and more than we expected.  There are lots of new buildings here but the old heart of the city with its stunning architecture and culture is truly stunning.  It is probably the biggest city we have visited on our trip but as with everywhere we have been we felt very safe and loved wandering around and getting lost.  So sadly it is ‘Goonight Vienna’, next stop, Bratislava.

Opera House

Mozart Statue

Parliament 

Maria Theresian Platz

Belvedere

Belvedere

Schonbrunn Gloriete

View from St Stephen’s Cathedral

Rathaus

Schonbrunn Palace

KaiserSchwarm

Cafe Demel

St Stephen’s Cathedral

Sachertorte