Friday 25 August 2017

Bratislava

As my only full day in Bratislava ends, I have a slight sunburn and am overly tired from the heat, but I think I did okay seeing the town.

My first order of business today was to hit the drugstore around the corner and pick up some sunblock, which I forgot to pack, and which has been desperately needed to keep me from completely bursting into flames the last 3 days. Unfortunately, even SPF 50 wasn't enough to last all day in the August heat. The temperature while I was out was 33 C (around 92 F), which is good weather for nothing but being in a climate-controlled building.

Anyway. After applying my newly acquired sunscreen liberally, I took a walk down to the Slovak National Gallery, which houses an interesting collection of random art. Sadly, only 2 floors were open today -- one of the closed ones was an exhibit on Slovak fashion that I really wanted to see -- so I enjoyed the small amount that I saw, but was a bit underwhelmed and didn't spend long wandering through.

After my art viewing, I crossed the road and walked along the Danube for a while, my second visit to its shores this week. I must say, in both cases it has been pretty green, and I have to declare Johann Strauss a liar. One of the bridges across it is the Most SNP, which was built in the 1970s and looks like a concrete Socialist mini-Space Needle. But on a bridge. I read that the prices to go to the viewing deck were ridiculous, though, so I decided against visiting the tower and kept walking.

From there I wandered in the Old Town a bit and stopped at St Martin's Cathedral, which is under renovation, but still had some very picturesque angles. And then I started up the climb to Castle Hill. I don't know what makes me suddenly feel like being a tourist when it's a million degrees out and there are a thousand stairs to climb, but it just keeps happening. So I made my way up to Bratislava Castle, and view did not disappoint. The Castle was okay, but the views over the city are the real reason to endure the climb.

I spent quite some time wandering around, seeing everything on Castle Hill, and then slowly meandered back down to spend a lot more time just shopping and generally checking things out in Old Town. It's clear that it's a very touristy area, but it's also bustling and has a lot of interesting little shops. In general, the buildings in Bratislava remind me of Prague, in that it's a mix of shabby and beautiful, no matter where you go. But also in that it's just a cool city, not too expensive, and has a lot of good stuff to see.

At this point in the day, I was planning to head to a restaurant that had been suggested that I try, but after walking for hours, I was overheated and sweaty, and my feet hurt from wearing my (normally very comfortable for walking) sandals with thin leather soles on the jagged rock paths of Castle Hill. But more importantly, I wasn't hungry. So I decided to head back to the hotel just to clean up and and cool off in the air conditioning, before going out to eat later.

Well, here I am at nearly midnight and I haven't made it any further than the drinks terrace 2 floors below my room. But in my defense, it's so comfy in here. And so air conditioned. I'm okay with missing out on a big Slovak feast for dinner, because I think my day was generally a success.

So my evening may have been lazy, but I didn't miss anything I really wanted to see, I tried yet another delicious local rosé, and ya know what? I haven't sweated or climbed any stairs for hours. So I feel good about it.

No comments:

Post a Comment