This past weekend we continued our travel theme and headed to Bratislava for the day on Saturday. There is a great deal with the train system since Bratislava is so close to Vienna, they do a thing called the EU Regio Excursion ticket. It is 14 Euro and you get round trip ticket between Vienna and Bratislava along with a day pass for the local transit in Bratislava. Not a bad deal for a day trip especially considering that we are 45 minutes to an hour away from the Slovakian capital.

So we got up in the morning and headed to Sudbahnof to head out. Unfortunately we showed up as the train was pulling away, however the trains run every half hour so we got a coffee and a pastry and waited on the next one. Once in route we settled into the train and the time passed pretty quickly, it was quite a short trip the border. Once we got there, the excitement began. How do we get to Old town? On the way there, we read about the historical buildings and the narrow streets. We did our best to get lost which I have always felt is the best way to get to know a place. However, with minimal difficulty, we made it to the area we were looking for. The outskirts of Bratislava are some what industrial, it is situated on the Danube River and there are quite a few bridges. Te old town was as advertised. small and quaint, with several old historic buildings that were quite beautiful. Being a Saturday, we saw about 6 weddings going on where we witnessed photo shoots and observed part of ceremonies in and outside the church. We wandered around the small cobblestone streets for a while and then decided to sit down for lunch and enjoyed our meal outside. There are a lot of trendy bars, restaurants, and shops in the center of town. The city is on the up-swing of catering to tourists and making its way into the scene. After lunch we set out to Bratislava castle. It was up on the hill and was quite an imposing structure. We strolled up there enjoying the walk, the ascent up to the castle made for ever increasing views of the city and the river. On a clear day from the top, you can see Hungary and Austria from this viewpoint. We got quite a view, but wasn't sure if we saw over country lines. We took this time to relax and enjoy the day in the sun. Once back into town we decided to do a little shopping. I especially loved the cheese shop we found. The man who helped us was determined to let us try as many types of cheese we wanted-needless to say, we could have stayed there forever. After purchasing a few different cheeses, a few house plants, and a bottle of something Slovakian, we decided to call it a day and headed back to the train station.

It was interesting to visit both the Czech Republic and then Slovakia within a couple weeks and see the differences between the two. Prague is amazing and Bratislava is quaint and still has a small-town feel.