Bratislava - More sights

Bratislava had a mild day (11 deg) with no rain so we were able to get out and about today.

Image 1 - the Michael gate & tower , the only surviving tower from the old city's walls. Plaques mark the sites of the other gates torn down in late 18th century.

Image 2 - the old Town Hall building

Image 3 - one of the elegant buildings around the old town square.

Images 4 & 5 - just 2 of the 4 statues we saw as part of the street art. One fellow emerges from a manhole ("rubberneck") and the other represents a "dandy" who used to flirt and hand out roses to women about a hundred years ago.

Image 6 - chocolate fountain and shelves of confectionary at our coffee stop.

Image 7 - Bratislava Castle overlooking the city and our hotel which is at the foot of the hill.

We've enjoyed this city despite the drab and rundown areas in the "new" city and frequent graffiti vandalism. Some city signs called Bratislava the "little big city". I think it's a nice "big little city" (of about half a million people).

Tomorrow we return by train to Budapest then plane to Treviso , north of Venice.

Bratislava - Tea or coffee?

Had an enjoyable meal of local foods at the Bock Bistro located close to the hotel. The trout was delicious, as was the stroganoff with bread dumplings. Tonight was also the time to try the Gundel pancakes (image) after seeing them listed on menus and cafe windows in Budapest. They are really delicate, thin creeps rolled and filled with a ricotta-type cheese filling and served with a light vanilla custard/sauce.

Drinks? There was "Caj zcerstveho zazvoru" (lemon & ginger tea) and "Bezkofeinova kava" (decaf coffee) - accents and critical marks over letters omitted.

Bratislava - First day, with rain

This morning we woke up to a fine and sunny outlook, the best we had seen. It didn't last long, as hazy conditions soon set in. We caught the bus then the metro to the international rail station for a train to Bratislava, the capital city of Slovak Republic. For most of the journey we travelled beside snow covered fields shrouded in fog - it was both eerie and beautiful. At times there was almost a "white out" of fog and snow as far as we could(n't) see. For a while the railway line rain along the banks of the mighty Danube, a foggy white river, not "... The beautiful blue Danube".

Unfortunately we've arrived with the rain so we haven't walked too far. We have seen some attractive streetscapes with fine buildings, the St Martin's Cathedral and the Bratislava Castle / fortress. We look forward to seeing more tomorrow.

Budapest - outdoors and indoors

Budapest looked just beautiful under a coat of fresh snow and light snow fell on us as we walked out today. We caught the Metro line to "Heroes' Square" at the start of a large recreation area encompassing the zoo, lakes, a pool now in use for skating and a large thermal bath complex. We spent about 3 hours at the baths and it was quite fun - and certainly a unique experience for us - to have snow falling on us as we were immersed in warm pools.

After a massage we went to the beautiful Opera House for a tour, had coffee in a late 19th century coffee house still with "old" if not quite original decorations. Our day concluded with a recital of music from a fine, large pipe organ in a basilica with a wonderful acoustic.

Tomorrow we push on to Bratislava, the capital of Slovak Republic.

Budapest - more language stunners

Seen whilst on the Metro today. Second image is part of an advert for an HP printer. Third image is part of the "you are here" street map with Metro stations. They are just astounding to me.

Budapest - Snow

Woke up this morning, went to the window, and ....... wow! It's snowing. The forecast is for a slightly "warmer" day than yesterday ( 1 vs -3 max temp). Just -2 at the moment and a bit cool. The hill opposite and even our balcony is coated.

We'll rethink today's plans- bathing in the outdoor thermal spa could be an interesting experience but getting in and out will be a challenge.

And ..... it's still snowing. Beautiful.

Budapest - sights and spellings

It's been a long but fruitful day in Budapest today. First we went up
Gellert Hill by bus then by foot to see the impressive Citadel which withstood many sieges. From there we walked down through snowy fields to the river, and on to the Buda castle and palace quarter from where we had wonderful, but somewhat hazy, views of the city.

On top of the mountain is a 700 year old basilica and the "fishermen's bastion" - the section of the old wall defended by fishermen - with its fantastic fairy-tale towers and turrets (see pix 1, 2 and 3). Part of the old fortifications now houses the very elegant Halaszbastya restaurant (the 2nd & 3rd "a" should have an accent which I can't include here).

We crossed the Chain Bridge, went into the St Stephen's Basilica (that's the Stephen as in ... On the feast of Stephen), saw the facade and foyer of the Opera House, and the Great Synagogue - 2nd largest to the biggest in New York.

Dinner was a filling but simple meal of Hungarian Goulash soup, a local wine and a coffee with a slice of delicious Dobo cake. The cafe was simply called "Anna" which was one of the few names we can read on signs. Hungarian words frequently include accents above the letter a, double dots and little "v" marks above letters making them look strange to our eyes. Tomorrow we hope to visit Vajdahunyad castle, swim at the Szechenyi Gyogyfurdo outdoor thermal spa baths, and attend an organ recital. Names of places near us include: "Szabadsad hid" and Bajcsy-Zsilinszky. For us the signage illustrates how different the Hungarian language is to us.

Tomorrow we will take our bathers (swim suits) to the pool but are not sure if that is the custom. If could be an interesting morning!