May 29, 2016
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| Bratislava, Slovakia |
After six days of travel, Jen & Mark took the chance to sleep in while Jim went on a hunt for breakfast. We ran into each-other mid-morning and headed towards the old city to explore the fabulous city of Bratislava. A large mass of people were having an outdoor mass in the old city, then taking it on the road for a tour of local churches with outdoor shrines and altars along the route leaving only a path of flower petals.
The town square is kind of quirky. It is compiled of little alley ways filed with shops, restaurants and cafes. We hoofed it up to the Bratislava castle that overlooks the city for some nice views of the city of Bratislava and the Danube. The Bratislava castle is now home to the Slovakian History Museum. After that we hailed an Uber for a ride up to Slavin, which is a memorial for fallen Soviet soldiers from World War II. We rode back into town and visited the Blue Church/St. Elizabeth. St. Elizabeth’s looks like it is something out of a video game – maybe Super Mario Brothers - you be the judge. Our exploration of Bratislava continued to a street that has not been altered or updated. The road happened to lead us to St. Martin’s Cathedral.
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Town Gate
Bratislava, Slovakia
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Bratislava Castle
Bratislava, Slovakia |
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Slavin
Bratislava, Slovakia |
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Saint Elizabeth Church
Bratislava, Slovakia |
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Saint Martin's Cathedral
Bratislava, Slovakia
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The three of us wandered back downtown and had lunch at an outdoor brewery where we people watched and enjoyed cold drinks with our good food. Mark had pork belly with potato pancakes, Jim had pork neck sandwich and Jen had a grilled chicken salad.
After lunch we stopped by a grocery store on the way back to the hotel for a relaxing afternoon. Why is the pit stop at the grocery store notable? Because we needed to stock up on strawberry juice (who knew it was a thing in Slovakia!)!! The lazy afternoon felt really good: naps were taken, packing was started and the hotel fitness center was utilized. Our last meal as a group was dinner at one of the top ranked restaurants in Bratislava. The restaurant was down an alley, through a courtyard and around a corner – it’s amazing there wasn’t a secret knock involved. Jim had veal medallions, Mark had pork schnitzel breaded in potatoes and Jen had weiner schnitzel. This meal was one heck of a way to end our time in Europe.
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Potato Breaded Pork Schnitzel
Bratislava, Slovakia |
After dinner we went for a walk around the Old Town – the atmosphere was something out of a movie. Spirited Slovakians were singing random American pop songs at the tops of their lungs everything from Nirvana to Que Serra Serra. The memories of this experience will stay with us forever.
