After moving away from Bratislava in 2014, after a year and a half in the Slovak capital, we have always enjoyed our return visits. After all, this is the city where we met and that has formed a big part of what we are today. This time we arrived late on a Friday evening before spending most of Saturday in Vajnory visiting old friends. The Sunday turned out to follow the same theme, we met some old friends from the time in the city once called home.
A Thunderstorm and Known Smiles
When we woke up on Sunday morning, we could still hear the thunder from last evening in the distance. The storm had mostly passed during the night, but a few remnants still made sure that we took our time in the morning instead of rushing out. After breakfast, we began our walk to Central. This is one of the city’s shopping centers. Here we met with two of our previous colleagues from the time that we worked in the city. Sadly a third friend was sick and unable to join us.
It was also fun to see how Little A reacted when meeting one of our friend’s one-year-old. We hope that both of them will be more into playing with each other next time we visit. There is just something special about old friends. No matter how long since you last saw them there is nothing more than smiles when meeting them again.
A Saturday in Bratislava
It was eventually time to let our friends continue their day and for us to see what had changed in Bratislava. The walk took us from Central to Obchodná and the entrance to the Old Town. It was already passed lunchtime, so we had a quick stop for lunch on Obchodná. Then we continued our walk through the Old Town to the bus stops at Most SNP. We had decided that Little A and I would take the bus to the zoo and Susann would have some time to enjoy the book stores.
Zoo Bratislava is located in Karlova Ves, just a short bus ride from the Old Town. Here the two of us enjoyed a long walk up and down the hills to see the many animals as well as the DinoPark with the dinosaur sculptures. It is always fun to see how much Little A enjoys paces like this. We have written a separate post about of visit with more information about Zoo Bratislava and DinoPark, you will find it here >>
A few hours later, we met up with Susann on Obchodná. It was already getting late so we took one of the nicer routes back to the hotel. Walking through the Old Town down to the Danube before continuing along the river as the sun was setting was very scenic. The whole area had a golden glimmer and the bridges were shining. Well, the walk is nice until you reach Eurovea – yet another shopping center. The rest of the path to Hotel Apollo where we were staying is along a large road with very few (more like none) sights of interest.
Half a Monday Before the Flight Home
After checking out on Monday morning we returned to the Danube and walked back to the Old Town. Looking for a new place for lunch we continued a bit further than we usually do. The area of Podhradie has several old museums, but sadly not so many restaurants. At least we didn’t find any interesting ones. That meant a further walk back through the Old Town before we sat down at a café. That was just in time for the rain to start falling. Perfect timing if you ask us.
We did have one main goal for the day and that was to take a few photos of our Little A from at the Bratislava Castle. It is in our opinion a perfect place to take photos with Bratislava in the background. This was also the first time that we discovered that it was also possible to get a great view out over the Danube and the borough of Petržalka from the Parliament building that is located right next door to the castle.
After the short photoshoot, it was just to walk back down to the bus stops at Most SNP and with a few minutes to spare boarding the bus to go back to Vienna Airport. We are, however, sure that we will revisit Bratislava soon again.
Sights in Bratislava That Are Worth Revisiting
There are so many sights in Bratislava that we really like to revisit during all of our trips to the city. These are:
1. The Bratislava Castle
Few sights in the city are more prominent than the Bratislava Castle. Located on a hill overlooking the Danube River and the Old Town it offers a great view of Bratislava and you can even see across the border to Austria. This is also a perfect place for us to see how the city is developing between each visit. You can read more about the Bratislava Castle here >>
2. The Danube River
Walking along its shores or enjoying the view from one of the many bridges is a must when visiting Bratislava. The Danube is a long river and it connects Bratislava and Slovakia with several other countries. There are three bridges close to the Old Town that are crossing the river. These are the Most Apollo, the Starý Most (or Old Bridge) and the Most SNP, also known as UFO Bridge.
3. Bratislava Old Town
A walk along the cozy small streets of the Old Town is usually hard to abstain from. Entering through Michael’s Gate, looking up at the crown on the tower of St. Martin’s Cathedral, and saying your greetings to Čumil – Man at Work. There are of course much much more to see and it is no surprise that many tourists don’t have the time to get outside of the Old Town.
