Day 11 – Bratislava and the “Let It Be” tour

The Blue Church

On the surface, Bratislava doesn’t seem to be too well set up for handling tourists or maybe it is still early in the season for them. I had made a reservation for one tour but they never responded. I had the hotel call and they got no answer. No money was exchanged, so no problem. We looked at some other tours in the lobby but nothing appealed to us. So then we took our fall-back tour which was a “Free Walking Tour” where they work only for tips. That worked well. The girl running the tour was Andrea, a university student, and she spoke decent English. She had some interesting stories to tell about Slovakian culture and the lifestyle, so it was entertaining. The walking tour was only 2 hours 15 minutes so not too bad for us and Old Town Bratislava is pretty small. The Blue Church, aka the Smurf Church, built in Gaudi style, was the highlight of the tour.

Easter Tuesday?

One of the stories Andrea told was about the Slovakian custom where on Easter Monday, the men of the town can throw buckets of cold water on the younf women and whip them with homemade willow whips. This is to give the young women health and beauty and the women have to respond by giving the men a gift, usually money or alcohol. She said the men are usually drunk by noon. It is even worse in the villages where the men throw the women into the river and sometimes they are wearing big peasant skirts so it is difficult for them. She said it happened to her when a friend called her and asked where she was. She said she was shopping and told him the store and he came in with a bucket of cold water and threw it on her in the store. Women supposedly can return the favor on Tuesday but she tried it and it didn't work so well. I know this story sounds made up but I checked in on the Internet and it is true, but also a dying custom.

View From The Castle (Our Hotel, The Danube and the UFO Bridge)

She also talked about Slovakia's close history and on-going rivalry with the Czechs. It was always things like the Czechs get credit for starting the Velvet Revolution but we started it one day earlier, the photo of the man in front of the Soviet tank, it was taken in Bratislava, we can beat them in ice hockey, etc. By the way, she said George W. Bush came here and gave a speech and mixed up Slovakia and Slovenia, which happens with tourists all the time.

We had lunch at a hole in the wall restaurant that Andrea recommended and it was pretty good. I tried the garlic soup that she raved about but that must be an acquired taste. I couldn’t finish it. I did get to try the “Česká Trilógia” (i.e., the Czech Trilogy of pork, braised cabbage and bread dumplings) one more time and it was still excellent.

Spire of St. Martin with Gold Crown on Top

After recovering from the walking tour, we walked by St. Martin's Cathedral on our way up to the castle, which is straight uphill from our hotel. Supposedly the gold crown on the top is the size of a VW Beetle. The cathedral, which was closed for a wedding, was where the Kings and Queens of Hungary were crowned for almost 300 years. There were some good panoramic shots from the castle but still a tough climb just for some photos.

Finally walking the streets of Bratislava on a pleasant Saturday evening is like being in the middle of one huge party. All the outside tables at the restaurants and cafes are filled and everyone seems to be out and enjoying themselves and there is live music everywhere. Very enjoyable.

I forgot to explain the “Let It Be” tour comment. That is what we are now unofficially calling this circle tour as we have heard that song performed by street musicians in 4 of the 5 cities we have been to. We didn’t hear it in Budapest only because we chose to go to the traditional music dinner show. I’m sure we would have heard it somewhere if we had gone into town that evening instead.