Spooky Bratislava: a Walk On the Dark Side

Spooky Bratislava, let’s take a walk on the dark side.
Down the narrow alleys,
where every step makes a creaking sound.
The party is long over,
only bottles filled with sadness have been left behind.
The castle shines in its loneliness,
perhaps as lonely as those kings and queens
that were crowned there once.

The pale lights on Kapucínska street,
churches, palaces and
the spooky silence of Staré Miasto.
The cold sends shivers down
one’s back. Nobody hears.
A hand reaches for a hand,
in search for the comfort
that has forgotten this town tonight.

The Hungarian crown on the cathedral,
reminiscing of the times forgotten,
when she was capital of the big empire.
A city with many names,
some call her Pozsony,
others know her by the name Pressburg.
Now the home to skyscrapers and multinationals,
she used to be so different once.

The old town rises
over the great river.
The river is the resting place
of many a soul,
trying to flee, trying to escape.
On the other side you see
the towers of the Bronx of Bratislava
and its colourful paneláks.

Yes, spooky Bratislava,
you are kind at night.
Still, calm, quiet, as you should be.
So, let’s take a walk –
a jolly promenade –
down your alleys in the darkness
surrounded by your silence –
yes, let’s take a walk on the dark side.

These photos were taken on a cold January evening in the first days of 2016. It was a cold night and the city was indeed almost empty. The party of the New Year had finished, people had gone home. The photos were taken by a fairly decent – but not so fancy – mobile phone while my fingers were shivering from the cold. The sights here on the photos are some of the main sights in Staré Miasto, the Old Town, of Bratislava. It was indeed one spooky night!