Eastern Europa Phase 1b

Before I dazzle you with pictures of Bratislava and some more Budapest, I would like to mention that since my previous post, I have reconsidered. Budapest has claimed a spot in my top 5 places I would like to revisit at spot nr 5, replacing Stockholm. Now you might think Stockholm is a silly city to have on my places to revisit since I'm less than an hour away, but I've only seen Stockholm in Autumn/Winter colours. I would very much like to see it in its summer glory, which is hopefully not too far in the future. Anyway, because Stockholm is on a "plan to visit" list, it has been dropped from this list, making way for Budapest.

Now on to the main event.
I really love the train stations in Europe. Well, the older ones mostly. They have such remarkable buildings.

That is Budapest Keleti Pu station. Almost churchlike on the inside, hey?
The following are some pictures taken during the three hour train ride between Budapest and Bratislava.

An old castle on very defensible spot, but I'm glad I didn't need to haul anything up or down. Being fascinated by fantasy and medieval environments, I've often imagined myself living in those times, but I am very glad I did not. I would most certainly have been a peasant. And lazy peasants like me didn't survive for long!

I think I saw four or five of these towers dotted around a small town.

They also have some squatters.

Small Train station.

Only after I took the picture of the tower (weather tower I think) did I notice the strange figures in the foreground. Very Random.

I don't know if it is a church or a mosque or what, but it is close to a small town and looks huge.

The type of green I'm longing to see a lot more of.

The Danube.

I suppose I don't have to say that there was enough to keep the eye entertained to make the three hours pass by quite quickly, so I won't say so.

My first impression of Bratislava? It felt...normal. I don't really know how big it is (a quick google search reveal some 431000 people), but I really didn't get a city feel whilst walking down the streets.

I suppose it isn't really a "tourist" attraction. I doubt many people even know of the city and where it is. I mainly knew it as the capital of Slovakia, the country that was really, really angry at the Hostel movies.
Aparently it is quite a popular party town (along with Budapest) for birthday or bachelors parties by the English Chaps.
And like most European cities it has a cobble street old town area with lots of entertaining shops, spots, sights, bars and restaurants.

And some whacky statues.

Unfortunately, due to rain, I couldn't visit three spots I had wanted to visit.
The castle, the UFO restaurant and the Slavic monument, but I did get a chance to admire them from afar.

The next morning on the way to the train, I passed by the hospital and the radio building.

Back in Budapest, I had about 3 hours to visit the last few spots before heading back to the Airport.

First was Freedom Square. Where I also grabbed a quick lunch at an awesome Turkish restaurant. The tastiest toasted turkey and cheese sandwich I've ever had. I think the secret was that it had sliced cheese inside, and grated cheese on top that melted onto the warm bread. mmm...
Then I took a walk down Andrassy Avenue, past the Terror Museum, filled with Communism paraphernalia.

Finally, I stopped by the second largest synagogue in the world.

I reached home with thoroughly tired feet, but all in all a very satisfied person after my first visit to Eastern Europe.
Where to next?
Well, I didn't call it Phase 1 for no reason. At the moment, I'm planning Phase 2.
If everything goes according to plan, I'll spend a day in Krakow, Poland, two days in Prague, Czech Republic, and on my way back visit Auschwitz. But from experience I know that plans can always change at the last minute. Hopefully for the better!

Till the next time.
Njoy!