Twenty-two days of one journey. Second day
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The second day from the very morning pleased with the sun, gorgeous autobahn and very beautiful landscapes. Here, on the left, the largest thousand-year-old Spiš castle in Slovakia appeared on a hill.
I managed to take a few pictures on the go with my smartphone, turning it to the side glass - it’s convenient, because the tripod is telescopic with a turn. And on the right, the High Tatras accompanied us almost all the way...
. . . behind which Poland and Zakopane are only 50 km away. When I go to Austria - Vienna, Salzburg, Graz and somewhere else - I will definitely go to the High Tatras for a couple of days to climb mountains, admire waterfalls, panoramas. Join, gentlemen, join!
After driving no more than 100 km, we stopped to have breakfast and decide where to go - to Vienna or Bratislava, because there were “extra days”, the Austrian hotel should be there until 18.00 tomorrow, August 3rd. I remembered a recent question on TurPravda about the same thing, then many advised me to go to Vienna. We decided to get acquainted with Bratislava. So the route for today is:
I must say that there were no problems with Internet access at all roadside recreation areas. Therefore, they asked Booking to find something cheaper in the center and he offered an apartment (an apartment on the second floor) for 49 euros with the name Apartments Blue Danube.
I agreed, Booking swiped the money off the card in five minutes, an hour later the owner named Igor called and told in good Russian about the meeting place, the navigator brought him there, however, for some reason he decided that he needed to stop by the city Trnava, where to wash the car and refuel (I thought to do this, but in Bratislava). We were there at about 3:30 pm, the owner came and said that from Friday 4:00 pm until Monday, you can park on the street for free, but you won’t be able to find a place and you have to go to the underground parking (we were standing outside the roadway in a free private place) . Suddenly I saw that one place was vacated fifty meters away. Igor shouted: “Quickly, you have five seconds! ". I did.
With slippage and smoke from under the rubber, rushing off, seeing that two more cars were rushing there from two other directions. The owner liked it, he pointed out that the dimensions of the car should not protrude beyond the marking line (they can be evacuated), the same “disgrace” happened in Austria and Italy (not everywhere).
I liked the apartment - everything is there, clean, pleasant smell, safe, second floor, quiet street, five minutes walk to the theater with its fountain of Ganymede, if you don't pay attention to anything along the way (it won't work).
First we went to the embankment, looked at the muddy waters of the Danube, at the original bridge. . .
. . . with a restaurant at the top and went to the center, stopping near almost every building - original, beautiful, sometimes pompous, sometimes modest, but pleasing to the eye and understandable to the mind.
The Slovak National Theater with its facade looks at Hviezdoslav Square, on the left and on the right, Gorky (Maxima) and Janko Jesensky Streets, both were writers. In front of the theater is a small but very pretty fountain of Ganymede, the butler of the gods.
After passing through the square, we get to the boulevard, at the beginning of which there is a monument to the poet Pavol Orsag Gviezdoslav.
Many children with their parents, tourists, local neat grandparents. Two cyclists drew attention to themselves:
As it turned out, against the backdrop of an elegant house.
Another fountain:
The bronze man seemed familiar, but the inscription was not found, and only when they saw Ole Lukoy on his shoulder, they recognized him in chorus, shook hands with gratitude, Hans Christian Andersen earned eternal respect.
Behind you can see the house where he lived for some time.
Slovaks have a good memory: there were a lot of posters, drawings and photographs hanging on banners, reminiscent of the Prague Spring and the Danube operation of 1968, about more than 100 killed and about 500 maimed by "peace-loving" Soviet soldiers, about boundless meanness and betrayal.
Rybnaya Square Boulevard and the monument "The Plague Column of the Holy Trinity" completes. . .
. . . built in memory of those who died during the plague at the beginning of the 18th century - a sad event and a monument to match.
Another three or four dozen steps - and on the right, in all its glory, the Cathedral of St. Martin appeared:
While we were approaching it, this building caught my attention:
The hospital, the Salvator Pharmacy, was built just over a hundred years ago, but the history of the pharmacy is much older.
We approached the cathedral, barely recognized the bust of Franz Liszt.
We walked around the cathedral, went inside. Huge space, strict beauty.
I don't know how to take photos in this kind of premises, and it's somehow embarrassing, although there is no ban.
To get to Bratislava Castle, you need to return to Rybnaya Square and cross the Staromestská road under the interchange, or go further and cross it over the bridge.
What we did without going deep into the Old City.
You can walk the streets of the Old Town endlessly, I was attracted by the gate by which you can judge the owners.
Streets of the Old Town
Castle of Kings:
His patio, park, monuments:
You can watch everything with pleasure, you can safely spend up to two hours on it, just walking around without delving into historical details. Located on both sides of the Danube, Bratislava is similar to Kyiv (Kyiv is better, and it is useless to argue with this, especially with me), the Old City is on a hill, the New City is on the opposite side of the river on the plain.
Then go to the observation deck and see almost all of Bratislava in front of you.
Then we had dinner:
We bought something in the store on the road and stomped on the street. Medena, 25 relax in front of the Alps. While stomping, we found out that our Grigory Skovoroda. . .
. . . also stomped along these streets at one time.
And as if in parting, Bratislava asked this question:
Try to answer!
In the morning we went to a retro cafe. . .
. . . located in "our" house, they offered a piece of bacon and the most brutal minced meat, drank coffee, paid for all 6 euros and left.
Don't hesitate to go to Bratislava, you won't regret it, for two full days, maybe three. The city is not overpopulated (about 500 thousand), like the whole of Slovakia (about 6 million). The prices are "divine", Kiev, met even lower, but there is where to boo.
When driving on the roads of Slovakia, from time to time you will come across the inscriptions "POZOR", don't take it personally, just be careful. And if such...
. . . then turn off and rest, refuel, get rid of everything superfluous.
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