In honor of Slovakia securing its place in the 2012 World Cup Finals – its first ever!

In Summer 2006, after spending a term studying in Denmark, my Aussie pal Jules and I traveled around Europe to kill time before heading back to real life. After some time in Vienna we took a ferry down the Danube to Bratislava.

We had done some research and found the cheapest place to stay in the city was University Housing which cost us about $3/night. Nearly all the students were away for the summer so the University rented out the dorms as a hostel. Sweet, so far so good.

After a nice very old man (with a curious bucket of purple water and a small hatchet) figured out where we trying to go, we boarded a local tram and headed north. About 40 minutes later we arrived at the University. Ok, so maybe its not quite in the city, but whatever.

The University buildings were literally crumbling and the facade was riddled with bullet holes. The property on a whole looked like something out of bad horror movie; isolated, dark, dilapidated, cold. A forgotten place. Well this is cozy.

Our dorm was sparse at best, but was absolutely what we paid for. There was a small bar on the main floor that showed signs of life, but the general vacancy of the property was a bit eerie.

Exploring the digs we were shocked to discover a virtually new athletic track on the far side of a small hill. It seemed very out of place and made me think that perhaps the budget committee could have put the money to better use in the form of general upkeep.

We opted not to head back into the city and instead had some bread and Nutella for dinner and then checked out the bar. We met the most diverse group of people; locals who lived nearby, Italian, Hungarian and Chinese students who decided not to go home for the summer, a Syrian student whose father had driven out to visit him for a few weeks.

Each wanted to share their story and a few offered us some beverages from their home country. So while the aesthetics weren’t anything to brag about, the atmosphere among the few inhabitants made up for it. (That is, aside from the Syrian father who kept feeding us drinks and then wanted us to stay the night in his room so he could drive us to the country the next day – we passed on this opportunity).

The days that followed were spent wandering the city and surrounding areas. Bratislava’s city center is very much like most other EE cities; beautiful old buildings line meandering cobbled streets and various squares and plazas litter the way. What struck me though about Bratislava was the general lack of tourists, particularly given it was the middle of summer – high season.

Maybe many people still view Slovakia through the guise of the Former Yugoslavia and think it an unwelcoming or unsafe destination? Quite the opposite is true. Sure Slovakia hasn’t made grand efforts to rapidly modernize and attempt to join the EU like Slovenia (in 2004) and Croatia (still trying), but its far from unsafe and even farther from unwelcoming.

In fact, nearly everyone we encountered was in a good mood and eager to help. Many were quite taken with Julia – a real Australian (with a strong accent to boot). The general vibe of the city was warm and calm; it seemed things operated at a slower pace than other European cities. Being some of the few travelers out and about, we felt like we had the city to ourselves.

Instead of spending money at a restaurant (god forbid we pay $4.00 for a meal!) we ventured to a grocery store for sandwich fixings and some local fare. Grocery shopping abroad is always an experience and here we found all kinds of oddities to keep us amused. After picking up some bread and mystery meat at the deli we tried our best to ask for a woman’s opinion on what kind of cheese we should buy. She pointed us in the direction of strings of cheese in a jar and circular slabs of cheese in a cellophane tube.

The cellophane tube cheese was not the right choice apparently. Not exactly tasty. Regardless, we enjoyed our lunch in the presence of some pretty outrageous water fountains in the square housing the Presidential Palace.

Bratislava is home to many sculptures and has turned several of them into tourist attractions in their own right. Scattered throughout the city are three sculptures of folk fame including Cumil, the Peeper.

On a hill to the west of the city center sits the imposing Bratislava Castle, which boast spectacular views of the city.

Our time in Bratislava disproved much of what we had heard previously and left us wishing that we had more time to explore other parts of the country. Oh well, guess we’ll just have to go back someday.

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