"Hey Ken, did you hear about the train crash between Krakow and Warsaw last week?" He didn't hear about it, so I explained what happened...two trains between Warsaw and Krakow collided head-on just 6 days before our train trip to Bratislava, Slovakia. Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up while we were actually ON the train, because literally within 30 seconds, our train slammed on its breaks and the horn sounded. Ken laid down in his seat with a panicked look on his face bracing for impact. "Look what you did!!!" he yelled at me, as we are still slowing to a stop. I could almost see in his eyes that he expected us to hit something. The train screeched to a halt. Then the announcement comes (in Czech, then in English): "Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain in your seats. There has been an accident on the track and we will be delayed for 3 hours." I totally jinxed it by bringing up the accident!!! At least WE weren't IN the accident, but really, I should have knocked on wood.
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We decided to go to Bratislava for the guy's weekend we didn't get when we went to Riga in January (aka the invasion of the girls). What started out as a potential group of 5 or 6 guys turned out to be just me and Ken again. Since we survived each other's company in Berlin, it wasn't going to be a problem in Bratislava. The real test will come when we go to a city whose name doesn't start with a B. The only disappointing part is that since everyone couldn't come, the dynamic of the trip changed. Instead of a "guy's weekend", it was like couple's weekend or something. At least that's what our friends in Poland joke about (they aren't very funny people).
The $100 round-trip train ride normally takes about 7 hours (with one transfer), but of course we were delayed because of the accident. We never found out for sure what happened, but people on the train were saying that we hit a person on the track. YIKES. I hope that's not true, but they made us get off the train, and when we did, we saw cops all around taking pictures of something towards the front. I didn't want to know what it was. They sent us on another train to take us to the next town, where we caught our connection to Bratislava. Overall, it added 2 more hours to the trip.
With the train delay, of course we wondered about a lot of random things - like the best ways to teach people how to swim (this came up because we are training for a triathlon with a swim coach), how cell phone technology knows when you cross into a new country and should start roaming (is there a big invisible bubble?), and our favorite Polish grammar tips (good thing we had our own compartment because I'm sure it was funny to hear us speak Polish to each other).
Everyone that I've asked says that Bratislava is super tiny, not crowded at all, and worth a visit. And everything about that is true. It's really off the beaten path, as far as European Capital cities go. Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia, formerly a part of Czechoslovakia. After the Velvet Revolution in which Czechoslovakia peacefully became independent from the Soviet Union in 1989, Slovakia worked towards separating from Czechoslovakia, which became official in 1993. Since Prague gives fame to the Czech Republic, Slovakia is the lesser known of the two.
Hockey is huge in Slovakia, like many countries in the region. Considering their small population, the national team does pretty well. They are normally ranked in the Top 10 in the world, and they finished 4th in the 2010 Olympics (no medal though, wah wah). Personally, I don't even know what hockey is, so I have to converse with Slovaks over other topics, like "So do you guys hate Czech people? Who has better beer? Who has hotter women?"
Another interesting thing about this region is that the language is somewhat close to Polish (like all Slavic languages). They say that Czech is pretty close to Polish (the closest in the family), but since Slovak is about 85% the same as Czech, Slovak is about 85% of "pretty close" to Polish. From reading signs and hearing people speak, we could tell what a lot of words mean (so I guess it takes a trip to Slovakia to realize I am not so Polish-illiterate). The Slovaks say that they can understand more Polish than Polish people can understand Slovak because of the Slovak understanding of Czech. You got all that?
Bratislava itself has a nice little Old Town. It's small and only takes a few hours to walk around, but it's really nice. There are many little cafes, bars and restaurants, and a nice walking path along the Danube River. Since Ken is doing a half-marathon in a couple weeks, he made me do a "running tour" with him when we first arrived, going about 4 miles around the city and across the bridges to get a feel for it. It was actually a nice way to get oriented, and the weather was great. There are little statues all over the city, which adds some nice character.
We stayed in a 2 bedroom apartment, just outside the city center (via Bratislava Apartments). Since we expected more people to come, we had a big space, but it was actually nice to have our own rooms. In case you don't remember, Ken and I have shared a bunk bed and a king bed on our last 2 trips, to Berlin and Riga (hence the "couples" jokes)...so having more space was nice. The place was a couple minutes walking to the Old Town, on a main shopping street, Obchodna. The only real complaint is that the internet stopped working in the middle of the weekend, so we had to go on 3G roaming to do important things like update our Facebook statuses.
After relaxing a bit, we met Ivan, Martin, and Rado, friends from the PwC office in Bratislava, who took us out to a nice restaurant called Bratislavska Restauracia, which was formerly a theater. Martin and Rado are both married with two kids, so it was one of their 3 allowed nights out for the year. I tried the official Slovak national dish, Bryndzové Halušky (no idea how to say that), which was some potato dumplings with a sheep cheese sauce and bits of bacon. I wasn't worried about it until Ivan told me to order it only if I was "feeling brave". It doesn't look like much, but it was really good...a bit like macaroni and cheese with pieces of bacon, so what's not to love (if you have a lactaid)? We also had some Slovak beer and some shots of pear and apricot flavored stuff that was 52% alcohol. It tasted like gasoline with a bit of fruit juice in it, if you can imagine that, although the pear one was much better. Ken didn't drink his, so I finished it. To make a long story short, I probably shouldn't have.
On Saturday we slept in a bit (due to the results of the previous paragraph), wandered around the city and decided to rent bikes and ride them to Devin Castle, some ruins about 10 km outside of the city. Then we looked at the calendar and realized that it's March, and you can't rent bikes in March. Even though the weather was pretty good (maybe 50 and clear blue skies), I guess they don't expect it to be warm enough for bike rentals. So, instead we took a bus. While waiting for the bus we saw these guys on bikes with no seats, jumping their bikes from a stand still onto a ramp at least 3 feet high, then hopping on their back wheels on the ledge of the ramp. I couldn't decide if I was more amazed by the jumping, the landing, or the fact that their bikes had no seats! Ken and I must be getting old, because we were perfectly happy sitting on the bus bench for 30 minutes, doing nothing.
Devin Castle was an old castle built in the 9th century, but destroyed in the early 1800s by Napoleon (he probably used Dynamite...get it? Napoleon Dynamite? Ok, nevermind). There isn't much we could see inside because it was closed, but it was interesting to see the ruins, the trails all around the castle were nice to walk around, and it was fun to imagine what it was like to live in the old days when the castle was still intact, defending itself from intruders. I imagined storming up the hill, dodging flying arrows, massive boulders, and boiling tar to climb the walls and claim the castle. I think I've seen Lord of the Rings too many times.
In another eerie coincidence, as I was thinking about this, I heard news that another castle in Slovakia, Krasna Horka, burned down. These psychic coincidences are freaking me out!
After more wandering back in the city, we ate at another Slovak restaurant that was recommended by a few different people, Mestiansky Pivovar. I got to have some goulash finally! And earlier in the day we also found a bagel place (Bagel and Coffee Story)...and I got a bagel sandwich for the first time in a year and a half! It was so delicious, we had it again the next day.
For night life, the Old Town has tons of bars and restaurants. The streets never seem crowded (day or night), but all of the bars were packed. There seemed to be a few foreigners mixed into the crowd (probably guys on bachelor parties, or "stag dos" as the English say), but my guess is that they were mostly Slovak. People were pretty friendly, spoke English, and even joked around with us. One of the bartenders yelled at Ken for not saying "please" when he ordered a drink. I think Ken might have avoided receiving a spit-jito by being more polite after that, but he was clearly annoyed. I thought it was funny. The bars were more casual than the clubs in Warsaw, but nicer than the pubs. They were a nice mix of bar/lounge/dancing, while keeping a casual feel....and there were a ton all within 5 minutes walking of each other within the Old Town. We need more of these places in Warsaw (says a nearly 34 year old with greying sideburns).
In the end, guys weekend for two was a fun time. Another country checked off the list. We did some interesting things, met some nice people, and ate some good food. We just didn't get much rest, but I guess that's not why I live here.
Next up, Vilnius, Lithuania in 2 weeks with Conway!
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We decided to go to Bratislava for the guy's weekend we didn't get when we went to Riga in January (aka the invasion of the girls). What started out as a potential group of 5 or 6 guys turned out to be just me and Ken again. Since we survived each other's company in Berlin, it wasn't going to be a problem in Bratislava. The real test will come when we go to a city whose name doesn't start with a B. The only disappointing part is that since everyone couldn't come, the dynamic of the trip changed. Instead of a "guy's weekend", it was like couple's weekend or something. At least that's what our friends in Poland joke about (they aren't very funny people).
Bratislava Castle and town, from across the Danube
Getting off the train to walk to where another train can pick us up
With the train delay, of course we wondered about a lot of random things - like the best ways to teach people how to swim (this came up because we are training for a triathlon with a swim coach), how cell phone technology knows when you cross into a new country and should start roaming (is there a big invisible bubble?), and our favorite Polish grammar tips (good thing we had our own compartment because I'm sure it was funny to hear us speak Polish to each other).
Everyone that I've asked says that Bratislava is super tiny, not crowded at all, and worth a visit. And everything about that is true. It's really off the beaten path, as far as European Capital cities go. Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia, formerly a part of Czechoslovakia. After the Velvet Revolution in which Czechoslovakia peacefully became independent from the Soviet Union in 1989, Slovakia worked towards separating from Czechoslovakia, which became official in 1993. Since Prague gives fame to the Czech Republic, Slovakia is the lesser known of the two.
Bratislava's main square
Hockey is huge in Slovakia, like many countries in the region. Considering their small population, the national team does pretty well. They are normally ranked in the Top 10 in the world, and they finished 4th in the 2010 Olympics (no medal though, wah wah). Personally, I don't even know what hockey is, so I have to converse with Slovaks over other topics, like "So do you guys hate Czech people? Who has better beer? Who has hotter women?"
Another interesting thing about this region is that the language is somewhat close to Polish (like all Slavic languages). They say that Czech is pretty close to Polish (the closest in the family), but since Slovak is about 85% the same as Czech, Slovak is about 85% of "pretty close" to Polish. From reading signs and hearing people speak, we could tell what a lot of words mean (so I guess it takes a trip to Slovakia to realize I am not so Polish-illiterate). The Slovaks say that they can understand more Polish than Polish people can understand Slovak because of the Slovak understanding of Czech. You got all that?
Bratislava itself has a nice little Old Town. It's small and only takes a few hours to walk around, but it's really nice. There are many little cafes, bars and restaurants, and a nice walking path along the Danube River. Since Ken is doing a half-marathon in a couple weeks, he made me do a "running tour" with him when we first arrived, going about 4 miles around the city and across the bridges to get a feel for it. It was actually a nice way to get oriented, and the weather was great. There are little statues all over the city, which adds some nice character.
Going for a run in my too-big Sonics t-shirt, across from the Castle
One of several little statues around the city
We stayed in a 2 bedroom apartment, just outside the city center (via Bratislava Apartments). Since we expected more people to come, we had a big space, but it was actually nice to have our own rooms. In case you don't remember, Ken and I have shared a bunk bed and a king bed on our last 2 trips, to Berlin and Riga (hence the "couples" jokes)...so having more space was nice. The place was a couple minutes walking to the Old Town, on a main shopping street, Obchodna. The only real complaint is that the internet stopped working in the middle of the weekend, so we had to go on 3G roaming to do important things like update our Facebook statuses.
The apartment had the SAME picture of NYC that I have in my apartment!
After relaxing a bit, we met Ivan, Martin, and Rado, friends from the PwC office in Bratislava, who took us out to a nice restaurant called Bratislavska Restauracia, which was formerly a theater. Martin and Rado are both married with two kids, so it was one of their 3 allowed nights out for the year. I tried the official Slovak national dish, Bryndzové Halušky (no idea how to say that), which was some potato dumplings with a sheep cheese sauce and bits of bacon. I wasn't worried about it until Ivan told me to order it only if I was "feeling brave". It doesn't look like much, but it was really good...a bit like macaroni and cheese with pieces of bacon, so what's not to love (if you have a lactaid)? We also had some Slovak beer and some shots of pear and apricot flavored stuff that was 52% alcohol. It tasted like gasoline with a bit of fruit juice in it, if you can imagine that, although the pear one was much better. Ken didn't drink his, so I finished it. To make a long story short, I probably shouldn't have.
Bryndzové Halušky
On Saturday we slept in a bit (due to the results of the previous paragraph), wandered around the city and decided to rent bikes and ride them to Devin Castle, some ruins about 10 km outside of the city. Then we looked at the calendar and realized that it's March, and you can't rent bikes in March. Even though the weather was pretty good (maybe 50 and clear blue skies), I guess they don't expect it to be warm enough for bike rentals. So, instead we took a bus. While waiting for the bus we saw these guys on bikes with no seats, jumping their bikes from a stand still onto a ramp at least 3 feet high, then hopping on their back wheels on the ledge of the ramp. I couldn't decide if I was more amazed by the jumping, the landing, or the fact that their bikes had no seats! Ken and I must be getting old, because we were perfectly happy sitting on the bus bench for 30 minutes, doing nothing.
Guys doing crazy jumps on their seat-less bikes
Devin Castle was an old castle built in the 9th century, but destroyed in the early 1800s by Napoleon (he probably used Dynamite...get it? Napoleon Dynamite? Ok, nevermind). There isn't much we could see inside because it was closed, but it was interesting to see the ruins, the trails all around the castle were nice to walk around, and it was fun to imagine what it was like to live in the old days when the castle was still intact, defending itself from intruders. I imagined storming up the hill, dodging flying arrows, massive boulders, and boiling tar to climb the walls and claim the castle. I think I've seen Lord of the Rings too many times.
The remains of Devin Castle
In another eerie coincidence, as I was thinking about this, I heard news that another castle in Slovakia, Krasna Horka, burned down. These psychic coincidences are freaking me out!
After more wandering back in the city, we ate at another Slovak restaurant that was recommended by a few different people, Mestiansky Pivovar. I got to have some goulash finally! And earlier in the day we also found a bagel place (Bagel and Coffee Story)...and I got a bagel sandwich for the first time in a year and a half! It was so delicious, we had it again the next day.
For night life, the Old Town has tons of bars and restaurants. The streets never seem crowded (day or night), but all of the bars were packed. There seemed to be a few foreigners mixed into the crowd (probably guys on bachelor parties, or "stag dos" as the English say), but my guess is that they were mostly Slovak. People were pretty friendly, spoke English, and even joked around with us. One of the bartenders yelled at Ken for not saying "please" when he ordered a drink. I think Ken might have avoided receiving a spit-jito by being more polite after that, but he was clearly annoyed. I thought it was funny. The bars were more casual than the clubs in Warsaw, but nicer than the pubs. They were a nice mix of bar/lounge/dancing, while keeping a casual feel....and there were a ton all within 5 minutes walking of each other within the Old Town. We need more of these places in Warsaw (says a nearly 34 year old with greying sideburns).
Where is everybody?
In the end, guys weekend for two was a fun time. Another country checked off the list. We did some interesting things, met some nice people, and ate some good food. We just didn't get much rest, but I guess that's not why I live here.
Next up, Vilnius, Lithuania in 2 weeks with Conway!
Never a truer statement said: Ken and I must be getting old, because we were perfectly happy sitting on the bus bench for 30 minutes, doing nothing.
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