The next day starts with a nice easy run along the river first through the city and later on the dam through some nice natural areas.
After breakfast we continue our travel. Before leaving the city we stop at a supermarket to shop for some fruits and water. It's a big supermarket a bit like Carrefour in Bucharest but on the other hand so different - no fighting with other customers or the cleaning people; you just can walk through the spacy aisles whithout millions of carts and people blocking your way; no long queues at the cashiers. How relaxing grocery shopping can be! ;)
The next uneventful hours we mostly spend on the highways leading to Slovakia. Crossing the border is no big deal - we don't even need to show our passports, just the German id is enough. Finally, we reach Bratislava and after crossing the city center we find our hotel (Holiday Inn). It's quite ok. The building itself has probably already seen better times though. ;-)
|
By taxi we go to the city center which is a 5km drive and quite expensive (at least compared to Bucharest). We have a nice walk through the lively historical city center. Our way leads us through the tiny beautiful alleys that are framed by nice, well maintained historical buildings.
|
|
|
Everywhere we meet some metal guys sitting on benches, standing on corners and ''watching'' the tourists or having a look out of a canalzation whole on the street -- funny idea and probably those guys are on as many pictures as some famous VIPs. ;-)
|
|
Bratislava has been wrongfully in the shade of Prague for many years. Now, where Slovakia has regained its independence and it joined the EU the city gets its deserved attention. |
|
|
We end the day with some Mexican snacks at a street cafe and go back to our hotel by taxi. We already thought we got ripped of by the taxi driver that brought us to the city but compared to the drive back the first one was a real bargain.
|
|
On the next day we visit the castle (Hrad) of Bratislava. It's not as impressive as the one of Prague but you have a beautiful view over the city from castle hill.
|
|
