I got to Bratislava around 5:30am, while it was still dark out. The walk from the train station to the Old Town is down this creepy, dark hill with a bunch of trees looming overhead. I remind you, this was the tail end of Halloween night. Have you ever been lost in a foreign, medieval city with ghoulish people stumbling out of the buildings, vomiting, and mumbling in an unknown tongue? 'Cause I have.
Then, just as the drunken ghouls start to dissipate, all the little elderly Slovakians emerge to go to church for All Saints' Day. This happens right before dawn. Quite a bizarre experience.
I wander around another hour or so (hauling my little suitcase over the hilly cobblestone streets) until a café opens up, where I can look online to find my hostel. This one is called Wild Elephants Hostel.
I spend the next day and a half exploring the city and tasting its cuisine. My favorite things were the old streets, the sheep cheese, the blue church, and this guy:
Bratislava is a very pretty city that is quite manageable, since it is not very big. Plus, it is ever-so-close to...
Vienna:
I get there via train. It takes about one hour from Bratislava. I check into my new hostel quite effortlessly. This one is called Wombat's City Hostel - The Lounge.
What better way is there to celebrate my arrival in this grand city than by eating a giant plate of wienerschnitzel and drinking a tall Austrian beer? The beer here, though, is about 3x the price of the beer in Bratislava. This makes my head very sad, but my liver very happy. At the restaurant, I met a nice American guy named Vijay, who was staying at a sister hostel to mine. We went back to his hostel for a bit to hang out at the bar, meet some people, and play pool. I turned in early, though, so that I could get in a good, full day of sightseeing the next day. I would meet up with Vijay a week later in Kraków, though, when he would come to visit. Funny how this tends to happen!
So the next day (Sunday), I explore the Inner City. F'ing gorgeous. Anyone who's been to Vienna knows the feeling of emerging from the Stephansplatz metro for the first time to this epically huge cathedral looming overhead. It rained pretty much the entire time I was there, but that's OK, since Vienna is one of those cities that shines in the rain. Anyway, I do the Vienna thing by hanging around in cafés, eating pastries, and strolling through the city.
At the Belvedere museum, I saw the impressive Klimt collection, including... The Kiss!
Ding! Ding! Ding! New life accomplishment!!
Richard, you have now completed the College Dorm Room Challenge by seeing, in person, the four most cliché college dorm room posters:
Your Prize: A four month supply of Adderall and the complete works of Kurt Vonnegut!
Congratulations!!
After my weekly Sunday night Skype session with The Mom, I took another little stroll through the city. As I was walking down the main drag in the Inner City, just after the rain had cleared, I passed this street piano player playing a booming, amplified waltz. It was absolutely perfect. Mesmerizing. Walking solo through a rain-polished Vienna with a thundering waltz behind you. I wandered around, scoping out the city's grandiose buildings and tasting an Original Sachertorte, before ending my wondrous day.
The next day, I explored Vienna's big market, The Naschmarkt, took a tour of the city, and drank beer by the Danube.
I then took the overnight train back to Kraków and, yes, made it to my 8:15am class on time.
Three cities on the Danube in 10 days! Call me Attila Baker!
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