Bratislava according to Jakub

I had booked us into the earliest possible city and castle walking tour, as it was forecast to reach 36 degrees by mid afternoon. Whilst waiting, I explored the square with its fountain and old town hall. Once the group gathered, it turned out we had a choice of two tours starting at the same time. After a quick discussion, we shifted to the 20th Century Tour which covered the stories of the Slovak people over the past 100 years, led by Jakub, who had created the tour and was passionate about the recent history of his country.

The large statues we had passed the night before turned out to be a partisan and two peasant women. The statues are a memorial of the Slovak National Uprising, the second-largest anti-fascist uprising in Europe during World War II. 

We spent some time outside the only remaining Jewish synagogue in Brastilava learning about the Holocaust before continuing.

Nearby was Freedom Square, with its centrepiece, the Druzba Fountain, shaped after the linden flower which is a symbol of Slavs.  A little further on we spent some time in the Slovak Radio Building, shaped like an upside down pyramid, and rated one of the ugliest buildings in the world.  It was G’s favourite stop of the tour. 

Our final stop was the Presidential Palace, where our arrival coincided with the midday changing of the guard. 

We had lunch at the nearby Meanto restaurant, which offered traditional Slovak food.  We opted for cheese filled pockets (peroigis), fried cheese and chips and potato pancakes.  Enough carbs to see us through the afternoon. 

Having enjoyed the morning tour so much, we decided to take the afternoon City and Castle walking tour – again with Jakub.  We had a little bit of time before the 3pm tour and explored some of the streets of the old quarter, finding our way to the Blue Church, or Church of St Elizabeth which was unfortunately closed for renovations. 

Despite the hot afternoon, as the temperature reached the forecast 36 degrees, there were a lot of people on the afternoon tour.  We started at the old town hall, with a cannonball embedded in the building, one of 12 fired by Napoleon’s troops that can be found around the city. 

Cumil, a bronze worker, emerged from a manhole cover in the pavement. Known as ‘the watcher’ the statue invites viewers to look beyond the surface and appreciate the humour of everyday life. 

We had time for an afternoon tea stop to try the local specialty, Bratislavsky rozok, a crescent shaped pastry filled with poppy seeds, walnuts or almonds.  We bought one of each and tried the almond first.  It was stodgy and filling and we decided to keep the other two to enjoy with a cup of tea. 

St Martin’s Cathedral was also known as the coronation church, given the number of coronations that took place there during the 200 years that Bratislava was the capital of Hungary.  Nearby was the old Apotheke which contained a museum that may have been interesting to visit had we been staying longer.  We passed the UFO bridge, and the memorial to the synagogue that had been destroyed to make way for the roadway onto the bridge. 

The final stop of the tour was Bratislava castle with extensive views along the Danube. We had a quick wander around some of the grounds before returning to the apartment via the supermarket where we had a quiet night in, absorbing all we had learnt that day.

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