First impressions of Bratislava

From the White City (Lisbon) to the Golden City (Prague) we have now moved on to Little Big City! Yes, that is apparently one of the nicknames for Bratislava and I think it suits it quite well. With a population of only 450,000 it is small as capital cities go, yet it still manages to impress. Already on our approach, we could spot Bratislava Castle from miles away. It is not particularly large, in fact, compared to Prague Castle it is downright tiny. Nevertheless, painted white, and perched in its dominating position on top of a hill overlooking the city, you certainly can’t miss it.

The contrast of the old town with the enormous complex of panelák, Communist era apartment blocks, is dramatic. I have never seen so many apartment blocks in one place! I can imagine that these partly account for the city’s nickname as this is something that you would expect to see in a much larger town. I overheard a few tourists making disparaging remarks about the panelák, but I have to say that when we inspected these buildings a little closer we saw that a great many appear to have been recently restored and upgraded. There is surely a lot more work to be done, but it looks like they are already making great progress.

I loved this ‘UFO’ tower on the Bridge of Slovak National Uprising and wanted desperately to check out the restaurant at the top. The views must be amazing from up there! But the Oldies opted for traditional Slovak restaurants every time, the rotters! The food was excellent though and great value too.

I think the Oldies wished they were students again. In one restaurant, the students’ meals started at €0. Yes, a free meal if you’ve just got an A in your exam. But even B students can’t complain. One item on the students’ menu – fried cheese, tartare sauce and French fries – was just €1.00! The waiters were a little cheeky though, wearing T-shirts with a picture of a brassiere with ‘tislava’ underneath. The BRAts!

The old town centre is such a nice relaxing place to stroll around in and explore! The Oldies were quite happy to crawl along at their usual slow pace, popping into market halls and café houses, courtyards and cathedrals. No rush, no bustle, and plenty of time to take in details such as Gothic gargoyles, Baroque balconies and, as we moved further out of the town centre, Communist concrete.

Nice, friendly locals too. I certainly saw eye to eye with them!

Bratislava is a little gem. Or should I say, a Little Big Gem.