A traveller's reflection: Slovakia 2006: Bratislava

My Travel Journal

"There isn't much I haven't shared with you along the road and through it all there'd always be tomorrow's episode" - Elton John

I started traveling around the world since early 80s when I had the opportunity to combine business trips with vacations. Then later when my rezeki is in abundance, there were numerous other trips along the way for vacations, most of the time with hubby and the kids when the timing is right. I have also started to compile the journal and photo-pages covering almost more than 45 years of world wide travel. Some destinations I visited just once, others many times. Many of those places are the obvious famous places people would like to visit but some, the casual traveler doesn't even think to try. I have placed links to my travel at the side bar of my personal page, My Life Reflections, and will be updating them from time to time.

My wish is to continue my travel and complete circumnavigate the globe, insyaAllah…

Friday, 12 May 2006

Slovakia 2006: Bratislava - An Old Historical City...

"Failure doesn't mean you are a failure... it just means you haven't succeeded yet..." - Robert Schuller

(Blooming tulips)

The day-excursion to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia began at 7.15 a.m. we saw vineyards on the slopes of the Little Carpathian Mountains, where they meet the Danube River. The Austrian border is almost within sight of the city and Hungary is just 16 km away. Many beautiful monuments survive in the old town to tell of its past under Hungarian rule, and Bratislava's numerous museums are surprisingly rich.

(A Jewish Synagogue)

When we arrived at the main bus station, a guide took us to the old city and the castle area which are the best parts of Bratislava. The old city is packed with museums such as the Municipal Museum which comes complete with torture chambers and the Museum of Wine Production and Primate's Palace and the Mirbach Palace.

(A poster on the wall)

The castle, built above the Danube, was a frontier post of the Roman Empire from the 1st to the 5th century. Since the 9th century it has been rebuilt several times, most recently between 1953 and 1962. Up the hill are the very interesting Slovak National Museum expositions within. The Natural Sciences Museum of the Slovak National Museum and the Slovak National Gallery on the river are also worth a visit.

(A horseman marble statue)

Hviezdoslavovo námestie Square is a convenient orientation point, with the old town to the north, the Danube to the south, and Bratislava Castle to the west. Bratislava's main train station, Hlavná stanica, is several km north of town. The Old Town offers numerous good places to eat and a rich nightlife but we took the afternoon bus so that we could spend more time in Vienna.