Bratislava, Slovakia

On July 9th, 2018, I arrived at the third stop of a ten day tour through eastern Europe - Bratislava (n.d.), the capital city of Slovakia. This is a fairly compact city that is easy to walk and our tour bus parked letting all on board the freedom to go wherever one liked for about three/four hours. 

The weather was perfect for strolling. Feeling on this day I'd rather avoid the touristy things, I decided to walk to the Old Town, and from there, navigate around taking pictures as I went. Here are a few of the unique things I found that day; we'll start backwards, with the final photos being those of the main square.

A garden emerges within a courtyard. These are amazing in my mind as you see nothing like this here in Canada, unfortunately. 

I have friends in Japan who told me they enjoy reading my blog, and so, this photo is purely for them. It's the outside view of the Japanese Embassy in Slovakia; the location was in the Old Town of Bratislava. How I wish I could work here; seems like every office window's view is spectacular! 

What is Old Town in Bratislava exactly? According to bloggers, Couple Travel the World  (2020) the main square in Old Town is actually named Hlavne Namestie. Wikipedia (2021) mentions that Old Town Bratislava has retained much of its medieval roots, and so, you can see architecture throughout the area reflecting this. 

A medieval gate hangs over a street within Old Town.

Cafes along the lane. 

There was a market set up in the square on the day I visited; I checked out many of the local booths, of which, the majority were artists. 

Artisan booths within the square. 

One of the most beautiful views in Bratislava, in my opinion, is that of Michael's Gate & Tower (below). The city's official tourism site describes Michael's Gate as historically, "an integral part of the coronation route followed by the kings who were crowned in Pressburg as they left the city to where they would take their oath" (Michael's Gate, n.d.). Today, visitors can take coronation photos as a souvenir (I did not). 

As for the tower, a description of it is as follows: 

"The roof of the original gothic tower, built in the mid 14th century, was modified between 1753 and 1758 to give it its current, baroque style. The 51 meters tall tower has seven floors" and "at the top of the tower is a statue of the archangel Michael, slaying a dragon" (Michael's Gate, n.d.). 

Apparently, one can climb stairs inside the tower to enjoy views from the top; however, I also did not do that.  

Michael's gate & tower - considered a must see while in Bratislava. 

I decided to drink in the scenery and not wanting to leave it, I did what I could: I ended up purchasing a watercolor print of the tower from a local artist which now hangs on a wall in my home office (below). 

After leaving Slovakia, our tour bus moved southwest toward a city I was most excited to see. But first, we first had to pass by the old border checkpoint from Slovakia into Hungary (photo below). It was at this point in the tour where I felt I had truly arrived in eastern Europe, noting a shift in the architectural stylings. 

Before suppertime, our bus parked at the top of a viewpoint overlooking the capital city of Hungary - Budapest. It was crowded with other buses, tourists, and others enjoying the amazing expanse of the city below. Such is life, but, how amazing is that view?? (below) 

The next blog post will be solely on Budapest where I spent two days. I'm looking forward to sharing those photos with you soon. 

All photos by Cutenekko.

Travel information: 

Bratislava - Official city tourism site (in English and other languages)

Top 10 in Bratislava - Recommended by the official city site above

Visit Bratislava - Michael's Gate

Tour Radar - Travel site where you can input dates, regions, duration and budget and it will recommend tours you can join. Ideal for solo travelers or those with limited time. I used this company to find this particular bus tour of Eastern EU.