We heard the strident whistle of the train as we found ourselves on a 5-hour stopover en route to Prague from Budapest via the Eurorail. Welcome to the fine city of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia.
Snuggled between the countries of Austria and Hungary, Bratislava is Slovakia’s compact capital. It is the kind of city that feels like a little town, with quaint shops, medieval streets and town squares minus the cacophony of heavy city noise or maddening traffic.
By the way, it is worth noting that the denizens of Bratislava are not called "Bratinellas."
The train station that greeted us was a humble structure compared to grandiose cathedral-like rail stations of other European cities. It was a grim, dark concrete structure that seemed to let it no daylight. It showed signs of Soviet-era weariness and abandonment. I’ll be honest, the station can pass as a transit hub for the Philippine National Railway.
From the train station, we leisurely wandered into the city hall grounds, then along the Danube River and headed into center of the the nicely renovated Old City. There we found a collection of baroque palaces, Gothic churches, medieval towers and welcoming plazas. For lunch, we decided to stop at a cozy restaurant, sat outside and helped ourselves to a sampling of Slovak cuisine – some smorgasbord of breaded and fried chicken, pork, beef and other game meat, covered in some type of heavy sauce, fries and veggies. I wish I took down the name of such culinary monstrosity.
After downing lunch with some fairly inexpensive Staropramen beer, we continued to stroll along Bratislava’s streets. Other than the imposing Bratislava castle rising from a nearby hill, the major city landmark is a bronze statue of a construction worker peeping up from a manhole.
Speaking of manholes, here’s a Bratislava fun fact: the city is a popular destination for wild, weekend stag parties. Advertisements and posters litter the city surroundings promoting special stag nightlife packages, promising rowdy pub crawls, and access to the city’s finest strip clubs filled with beautiful Eastern European vixens in all their glittered glory. The signage was everywhere. You can't escape it, like the time Color Me Badd was number one with "I Wanna Sex You Up." Predictably, there were sightings of wolf packs of limeys nursing last night’s hangover in the city cafes, who all appear to be satisfied patrons of the aforementioned bachelor night packages.
Do not be misguided by your impression of Bratislava from the modern classic “Eurotrip” movie, where a group of American teenagers ultimately end up in the city, horrified by the dire desolation of Eastern Europe in the aftermath of the Cold War. Bratislava is undeniably a charming little European hamlet with that tiny hint of a wild streak. The train station is a bit of a fixer-upper though.
