Bugsislava

Its now 8pm in lazy Bratislava, Slovakia. I am sitting in a small internet bar with a beer and a computer listening to some American rap, waiting for my appetite to pick up for dinner. The old town is beautiful and we just made it to the castle hill to get a few great shots of the city. The Danube flows through sleepy Bratislava which is full of art and yearning for a part of the EU...

Slovakian's seem a little more laid back and self-involved than the Austrians. Cafes and bars spill out into the cobbled old town attracting the tourists that are here. It is a relatively tourist-free haven that is just waiting to pick up, but is sort of stuck halfway between Vienna and Budapest, with sturdy tourist destination Prague only 5 hours away and Krakow, "the new-Prague", just to the North.

Upon checking in to our lovely pension room we were delighted at the size (amused by the toilet though, squished in the corner). However, lunch and an early wake made us siesta-seeking by 3pm and so we retired to our suite, only to find after half an hour of snoozing that the bed was a nest for bed-bugs (as Kath's arms and legs will testify in the form of bites). Terrified, we complained, got our money back and checked into another private apartment, which is (so far) a beautiful room in a cosy appartment on the second floor.

We are only here a night but I think Bratislava could be a good destination for maybe a week or more if you wanted to explore the countryside. It is certainly quietly lively and trendy, not so touristy, and a good break for the pocket and credit card compared to Austria (and, I suspect, Hungary). Hope you are all well and thanks for checking the blog! Love to you all... Andrew