Outside the Andy Warhol Exhibit – Bratislava

Food and Drink Festival

Bratislava Park

St. Elizabeth’s or better known as ‘Blue Church’

Rub his head for luck

Slovakia History Museum

After wrapping up Budapest we ventured into Bratislava, Slovakia for one night on our way to Prague.  Some people confuse Slovakia with Slovenia and many probably have not even heard of Bratislava.  It’s a city that is often overshadowed by its more notable neighbors Prague, Vienna and Budapest. Part of the reason Bratislava has not grown in popularity may have to do with its relatively small size. During Communist occupation, the Soviets decided to build a super highway directly through Bratislava’s historical old town.  This regrettable decision inevitably destroyed many of Bratislava’s most beautiful buildings and effectively shrank the old city. This action at least explains why the rear of a beautiful church backs right up to the highway. Regardless, if you happen to be in the area, Bratislava is a great overnight stop or even a day trip from Vienna, Austria.  Since we were only in Bratislava for one night we spent most of our time discovering the authentic food and beer of Slovakia.  We did not take this task lightly and headed outside of the touristy old town to a local food festival that happened to be taking place the night we were there. The food festival was very similar to what we have in Denver where you buy tickets and then go around tasting samples of different restaurants specialties while sipping wine and drinking beer as you please.  It was a great way to see an amazing city park and take advantage of drinking publicly while trying some local food.  Yes, we do plan most of our time in cities around food, but in our short time here we also managed to fit in a free walking tour where we learned about the Prague Spring that actually started in Bratislava as well as learned that the movie ‘Hostel’ resulted in drastically lower tourism the year after it was released (even though it wasn’t even filmed there). We had a great 24 hours and would not hesitate to recommend it to other travelers on their Eastern European route.

After our quick stopover we headed to Prague via a very luxurious Eurolines bus.  We stayed in Prague a total of 5 nights and 6 days; therefore, we really felt like we had a great feel for the city and not just the touristic main square and the Charles Bridge.  Despite having a day of rain, we had a few great days of sunshine where we were able to enjoy Prague’s many beer gardens and discover a new found love for dark pilsner beers.  Prague is the type of city where you walk around with your head up because every building you look at has breathtaking Austro-Hungarian architecture and many of our days were spent exploring different neighborhoods around Prague and just soaking in the scenery.  However, one night we did decide to treat ourselves to a Segway tour around the Castle area.  If you haven’t been on a Segway, you absolutely need to try it, not only is it a great way to cover lots of ground in a short amount of time while exerting zero energy, it’s just plain fun to drive and super simple as well!  Adena had a permanent smile on her face for the duration of the trip. If you find yourself in Prague with an hour or two to spare, Prague Segway Tours is a great option for a tour. Prague also has a rich history, especially with the Jews and we were able to conduct a self-guided walking tour (thanks to Frommers online) around the Jewish Quarter and catch a glimpse of the Jewish Cemetery where they layered bodies and tombstones vertically due to space constraints as the Jews were relegated to bury their dead in a very small area.

Honestly, a large part of the Czech culture revolves around drinking delicious beer (pivo) and we actually did this quite often each day and therefore do not have much to update you on!

Countless stunning churches

“Dancing House”

Staying fit in one of many Prague parks

Cruising near the Prague Castle

Segways Rock

Old Town

Old Town

Old Town

Old Town

Beautiful Prague Architecture

Jewish Cemetary

Leetna Beer Garden in Prague

Clocktower