A Rainy Day in Bratislava

Waking up this morning, there was still fog across Bratislava and then the rain came, and definitely no sign of the sun coming out anytime soon.

So, we donned our waterproofs and headed out along the Danube, passed the tourist boats all moored up and on to the UFO bridge (SNP Bridge by its proper name).  It was built between the late 60s/early 70s in honor of the 1944 resistance movement against the Nazi forces.  You can go up the 95 metre high lookout for €7.50 per person and apparently on a clear day you can see for miles.  But it wasn’t a clear day and along with my fear of heights we decided to give it a miss.

UFO Observation Tower and Bridge

St Martin’s Cathedral sits on the edge of the old town just across the bridge, with a gilded replica of the Hungarian royal crown proudly siting on the top.  A reminder of when Hungarian kings were crowned here.

Bratislava is a charming city, the old town is mostly pedestrianised with cobbled streets, churches, baroque palaces, pretty pastel buildings and lovely old squares.  Nearly every other building is a café or restaurant and they were having no trouble filing them as so many tourists were in town - your usual suspects of mostly Japanese, Americans, Germans, Brits, but there were also lots of Austrians, Hungarians, and Czechs here.  We were really surprised how busy the town was given the time of year, but a lot come to the city via the boats that sail up and down the Danube all year round and it also seemed a popular town for 'stag parties'.
In the main square sits the colourful old town hall.

Old Town Hall

Primate’s Palace, built in 1778 and topped with various marble statues and a large cast iron cardinal’s hat (a symbol of the Archbishop for whom the palace was built).

Roland Fountain

There are a lot of statues dotted around the town, with the Čumil Statue being the most famous.  It’s of a man whose upper body peaks out from the sewer.  The literal translation of the word Čumil is 'the watcher'. There are two opinions of what the statue depicts one says that he is a typical communist era worker who is not bothered about the work he’s supposed to be doing. The second is that he’s looking under the women’s skirts, hence the smile on his face.  So glad I had trousers on today if the second one is true!

Then there is Schone Naci – he was a well-known local man in the 20^th century, poor and very eccentric he paraded the streets of Bratislava in old but elegant attire, greeting passers-by with his top hat and bowing courteously to ladies.  He sounds a lovely old man to me.

The rest of the city is a mix of post-war high rise buildings that are typical in former Eastern bloc countries and some very strange looking buildings like the one below, with some odd looking characters on the top.

Bratislava castle sits on the top of the hill overlooking the city– a huge white building with four corner towers.  In 1881 it was reduced to rubble and was reconstructed in the mid 1900s. It looked very drab from the outside and we opted not to go in it but just had a wander around the outside to admire the panoramic views of the city.  On a clear day you can see neighbouring Austria and Hungary.

Bratislava Castle

On the outskirts of the old town is Grassalkovich Palace (Slovakia’s White House) -  home to Slovakia’s president.  Built in 1760’s, it was once the home and meeting place for several members of the Austro-Hungarian and Habsburg aristocracy. 

Behind sits a large park, that unfortunately looked a bit sad and run down.  Mel, however, was impressed with the ladies frolicking in the fountain.  As it continued to chuck it down, we were getting as wet as they were!

From here we took a steep walk up to the Slavin Memorial.  It is the largest war memorial in Central Europe, standing 52 metres high and at the top there is a statue of a soviet soldier raising the flag. There are 6,845 soviet soldiers buried here, who died during the liberation of Bratislava in World War II.  Around the monument are boards with the names of Slovakia cities that were liberated by the Red Army.

Slavin military monument

Walking back down to the city we encountered the Blue Church, also known as the Church of St Elizabeth and dedicated to Elizabeth of Hungary, a medieval princess and native of Bratislava who risked her position by giving charity to the poor.  We have seen some unusual churches during our travels but this has to take the biscuit.  It looks a bit like a wedding cake rather than a place of worship.  Constructed in the 20^th century the church reflects an Art Nouveau style of architecture, with some oriental, Romanesque and classical features thrown in for good measure.  Even the interior has blue pews and paintwork – all a bit too bizarre for us!

The weird and wonderful Blue Church

Walking back across the tram bridge to the motorhome, there were still lots of boats parked up on the Danube.  It seemed that no sooner had one left, then another arrives full of lots more tourist ready to descend on the city!

We have had a lovely couple of days/nights at Bratislava and a fantastic free motorhome parking spot right on the river overlooking the old town and castle - thank you Slovakia!

Sally x