Slavicphloss: Slovakia

Well so much happened to Brisbane since our last post. The floods received a great deal of media coverage in Europe and we were in touch with many of you via email and phone. We were so upset to hear what everyone went through. A special thank you to all those who helped us – either by taking care of our property, offers of help or by keeping us up-to-date with the latest news – it was all greatly appreciated. Needless to say it was very difficult being so far away.

And so – back by popular demand (thanks for the emails from those who were missing the blog) here’s a bit of an overview of what got up to during the last stages of our journey – when we weren’t watching the news!

8 January 2011

Today was the day we’d been looking forward to with some level of nervous anticipation – our journey over the Tatra mountains from Zakopane in Poland to Stary Smokovec in Slovakia. Before we left Australia we tried to research the best way to make this journey – but it proved difficult to get consistent information about the frequency of buses etc – especially those that actually cross the border. Worst case scenario, though, we knew we could get a bus to the Polish side of the border and then walk across (the snow covered mountain!) to Slovakia for another bus.

As it turned out the journey was quite fun! We managed to catch a little local mini-bus that made its way over the mountain, across the border and into the Slovakian villages. No room for luggage underneath this bus – we had to take it on board with us and so managed to take up four seats! No-one seemed to mind.

On arriving at tiny, tiny Stary Smokovec, as we walked up the main(?) street we were greeted by our most wonderful host who made us feel extremely welcome and gave us some tips on how to spend our time.

Spent the afternoon using the little electric railway to explore all the surrounding villages and ski areas – despite the freezing cold and the dense fog!

A little conveyor belt - takes skiers (and us!) up to the ski lift.

A fun gondola ride and...

...we're at the top!

And back to Stary Smokovec...

...it's about 6pm - foggy and freezing! Absolutely no-one around...

9 January 2011

Unfortunately we had only allowed for one night in Stary Smokovec – but all good things must come to an end and we had more to discover!

First we took the little electric railway again – this time down the mountains to Poprad. Then we literally had two minutes to change trains (including finding the platform – and all in Slovakian!) so we could head to Bratislava. Somehow managed to do that (just as the doors were closing!) and then enjoyed our train journey through the beautiful Slovakian countryside.

It was almost dark by the time we arrived in Bratislava, but we still managed to take in some sights before having dinner by the Danube. Spent a lovely evening at the opera – a performance of Faust.

The opera house

We’d seen this in Milan in July however at that time most of the cast, back-stage staff and the orchestra were protesting about the austerity measures and so refused to wear costumes or move props. This performance in Bratislava, therefore, was much richer and easier to understand – even though it was sung in French with Slovakian surtitles!

10 January 2011

Bratislava is a lovely, easy town to explore on foot – and that’s just what we did today. Our hotel was conveniently located right in the middle of the old town and so we didn’t have to go far to see amazing things.

Firstly, we walked up to the castle. Despite the fog, we still had a great view across Bratislava – especially of the Novy Most (or New Bridge – also known as the UFO bridge for obvious reasons as you’ll see in the photo below) built by the Soviets in the 1970s. Unfortunately, a beautiful synagogue was destroyed (unnecessarily) to make way for this bridge. There is now a monument where it once stood.

Just below the castle is the old Jewish area of Bratislava – lots of interesting little streets and laneways to wander through. We spent a fair bit of time at the wonderful Museum of Jewish Culture – very friendly people and a really interesting collection.

Where the synagogue once stood - with the UFO bridge in the background.

Further explored the old town before heading out a little bit to see the beautiful ‘blue church’ – The Church of St Elizabeth. This beautiful Hungarian Secessionist Catholic church was built in the art nouveau style in the early 1900s.

Venturing to the church allowed us to explore the outer suburbs – it’s often good to step off the beaten track. Met a lovely lady (about our age) in a café who told us a little of her life and what it was like to grow up in Slovakia. Apparently she learned to speak English through her work in hospitality and not at school, where they were made to learn Russian.

One of the charming aspects of Bratislava is that every now and again you come across a discreet, often peculiar statue - like the ones below. You really have to look to find them - which is fun in itself.

A true Irishman, Phil maintains a keen interest in the Irish pubs of the world, so tonight we had dinner at The Dubliner – which was actually very nice.