Another weekend, another city ticked off the list! This time, my partner Kae and friend Ashley went to Bratislava, Slovakia for a short day trip, eight hours to be specific, because everyone we talked to who had been to Bratislava claimed that one day is plenty to see what the city has to offer, but after those eight hours, I don’t know if I’ve seen enough.
Bratislava Castle
The Bratislava Castle had a lot to offer both inside and out. We walked to the castle on the most treacherous trails I’ve ever traversed, which my asthma did not appreciate, but the walk was worth it to see the surroundings of the castle as well as the inside of the castle.
Outside
The outside of the castle had an amazing garden and an even better view, one that oversees what is practically the whole city, from the few skyscrapers to the one McDonald’s I could point out (I was hungry). When we had gone, it had been raining just a few hours prior, so the view was slightly foggy, but the city still looked wonderful, and the garden was properly watered which was an upside!
Inside
The inside of the castle housed a nice museum, filled with many historical relics from the city that led to what Slovakia looks like today. It was very interesting to see the different pieces of art, the staterooms, the Vespa room (which, why?), and a panoramic view from the watchtower of the castle, which required going up the steepest stairs I’ve ever been up and down (again, my asthma did not appreciate).
We spent about two hours in the castle before we decided to leave because we felt hungry and mentally drained from the history. Not that there’s anything wrong with Slovakian history, but the castle had so many layers to it that we didn’t know when it would end, so we decided to call it ourselves even though we didn’t get to finish looking around the whole castle.
Sightseeing in Bratislava
After the castle, we went to look at some buildings, statues, and other cool things around Bratislava. This city happened to have a good chunk of statues, which we kept joking was something they really liked there.
Námestie Slobody (Bratislava’s Freedom Square)
Just like Brno, Bratislava has its own Freedom Square, but it looks nothing like Brno’s. Námestie Slobody was a nice looking park with a big fountain in the middle of it, which resembled a flower. Unfortunately, the fountain was off so it simply looked like a concrete flower, but we did see people climb onto it which was pretty nice. Adjacent to the “flower” is the Episcopal Summer Palace, which has a lot of rich history attached to it, but is now used as a government building for the country of Slovakia, which is pretty neat.
The (new) city of Bratislava
After walking around the Old Town, we walked into the New Town (sorry). Kae, Ashley and I joined some friends who happened to be visiting Bratislava while we were and we met up with them to look around the more modern part of the city, the part with all the skyscrapers and business buildings. It was very neat to see the city have something like this, but at the same time, it felt weird. Compared to the other cities I’ve been to so far, it felt as if Bratislava was split into two, the newer, futuristic city, and the former, historical town with heart to it. Other cities that I’ve been to I feel have melded modern and historical together seamlessly, but this one felt odd to me, but looked cool nonetheless.
What’s next
As mentioned earlier, everyone I know that has been to Bratislava say that it’s a “day trip city,” and that there’s not a whole lot to see, but I feel like I missed some important things, so I may end up going back for another day trip. Besides that, I have plans to go visit Budapest and even some wildcard cities like Athens or something, but only time will tell where I end up going. In the meantime, check out my blog posts on Prague and Vienna! See you soon 🙂
Photos: Ahad Khan
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