Day 10 – Budapest to Bratislava by Train

Our Train in Keleti Station, Waiting for the Engine

Today we did a partial repeat of the trip two days ago in that we are taking the same basic Czech train, this time back towards Prague and we are getting off in Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia. As it is a partial repeat, I can be a little more descriptive of the train itself. First, we were planning on catching the 11:25 train and so we left the hotel at 10 am because the taxi ride can be slow and I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get tickets. As it turned out, the taxi was quick and the tickets were a breeze as everyone spoke English. So we had an hour wait at the station but we were able to spend most of the time on the train. The taxi cost 3600 HUF from the Hilton on the Buda side to the Keleti station in east Pest. That is about $13 for a 20-minute ride. The train tickets were 10,670 HUF so about $39 for the two of us in second class. Bratislava is about 2 hours and 40 minutes away by train.

Train alongside the Danube in Hungary

The train consists of 6 second class cars one of which is a handicapped equipped, one restaurant car and two first class cars. From what I could tell from the outside, all the second class cars are the 6-passenger compartment type. We shared our compartment with a girl named Misha (short for Mikelle) from Romania who is going to university in Slovakia. She spoke excellent English and she is studying tourism along with English and Russian languages. One funny note. When I asked if I could help put her luggage up, she said, "No thanks. I’m carrying eggs and I don’t want to break them." She can get fresh eggs at home but apparently not at school. She gave us lots of advice on local foods to try in Slovakia.

Arrived essentially on-time in Bratislava and took a 10-minute taxi ride to the hotel for 23€. That is about double what we had been paying elsewhere but there is no other option with luggage. Hotel is the Radisson Park Inn and we have a nice view of the Danube but the room is pretty basic, especially after staying at a couple of Hiltons on the Executive Floor.

Old Opera House in Bratislava

Of the three national capitals we have been in, Bratislava is the smallest, has by far the fewest tourists and seems like the one recovering from communist rule the slowest. That said, Bratislava has it charms. Everything is less crowded and at a slower pace. Almost everywhere we went everyone spoke English to us. You don’t get that in the bigger countries like Germany and Italy who expect you to speak their language. We heard English music on the street and in the restaurant tonight. It is actually amazing how pervasive it has become. We have heard “Let It Be” in three different countries so far.

Bryndzové Halušky

In the evening we went to the hip-hop ballet “Julio a Romea” at the old Opera House. It is a retelling of “Romeo and Juliet” through modern dance interspersed with what I would call unrelated European TV Variety Show acts. That is as close as I can come to explaining it. You kind of had to see it to believe it. Bizarre at times, funny at times, crude at times but always with excellent dancing, and in particular some pretty amazing break-dancing. We both really enjoyed it. After the show, we went to the Zylinder Restaurant for some authentic Slovakian cuisine. We split two local dishes, the very popular Bryndzové Halušky (sheep cheese gnocchi), and Szeged Guláš, their take on Goulash with sauerkraut and spätzle.