Another weekend of travel!
For the first time we took advantage of RyanAir flights for cheap. We took the train to Charleroi and then the airport. The plane was a relatively good size with 3 seats on either side of the aisle. There are tons of ads on the overhead storage compartments. Everything is made out of the plastic and to our dismay; the seats don't recline at all. I knew I was in Europe when after the traditional smoking is not allowed messages, RyanAir proceeded to offer smokeless cigarettes that you are allowed to have in the plane and in public areas.
Two hours later we found ourselves in Bratislava, Slovakia. We took the bus in to the city from the airport. As a friend from Calgary said, "It is like Hamilton". I would say it is like Hamilton, only drearier and the people look more depressed. Once we got downtown things were better, but relatively grey. We found our hostel with ease. It used to be an apartment building that they converted into a hostel. That was great because we had a much bigger room than we are used to in hostels. The furniture, sheets and windows were all new. We were lucky that the six of us were able to have a room for us to stay in together. It is the nicest hostel I have stayed in – and also the cheapest.
Thursday night we went out. A lot of things are cheap in Slovakia, including food. We went out for a really delicious meal. Based on the décor inside the restaurant, we would not have been able to afford the food if we were anywhere else. I had gnocchi with asparagus and shrimp which was absolutely awesome. Later, we found ourselves at the bottom of the rock face looking up at the castle on top. There was a bunker built into the mountain during WWII which they have now turned into a bar/club.
Friday we got up to tour around Bratislava. As it turns out, it doesn't take very long to see all of the historic sites in Bratislava. We took out our guide book and proceeded to look around the old part of town. The Town Hall and the Castle were rebuilt in the 1960s. The castle dated back to 907 but burnt down in 1811. It was rebuilt in the height of the communist regime. I was disappointed to see that one of the top two things to see in Bratislava was built less than 50 years ago. I also found that they didn't do a good job with the castle – it is very simple and boxy. It does not fit well with the wall that surrounds it. But oh well…
We proceeded to race to the train station to head to Vienna. There were no automatic machines so we all had to wait in line last minute to try and get tickets and then run to get the train. Eleven euros and two hours later we found ourselves in Vienna. Vienna is definitely one of my favourite European cities. It is absolutely beautiful. We spent time walking around looking at all the buildings and found ourselves in the Christmas market in front of the Town Hall. Everything was lit up and we spent an hour and a half walking around the market. We made sure to pick up some strudel.
Saturday morning we got up and took the train to Budapest. Three hours and 16 euros later we found arrived. We were able to see 7 of the top ten things to see in Budapest in one day. We started up at Hero's Square and worked our way down to St. Stephen's Basilica and the Parliament. We were about to just walk past the church when I thought we might as well go inside. I am glad we did because it was absolutely gorgeous. I found it less overwhelming than St. Peter's Basilica and the ceiling was so much closer. We headed over to the Parliament building which I have to say is very different from the Canadian Parliament or any others that I have seen because of its Gothic architecture. My favourite part by far was standing on the embankment and looking across the water to Buda where you could see the castle and St. Michael's Church and a whole bunch of older buildings. A delicious dinner later, and it was back to Bratislava.
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