04.Oct.08
The typical breakfast of bread, meat, and cheese still hasn’t gotten old, though maybe at some point we should throw in an egg for old time’s sake. After we broke the morning fast we headed to the castle overlooking the quaint little city of Bratislava. Walking the street it resembles nothing of a city capital; it is small, clean, and every nook and cranny filled with beautiful architecture. Along the way we saw about three different couples in wedding outfits, some taking wedding pictures and some getting married. Unfortunately they were getting married in the main church we wanted to see the inside of! The nerve of them, don’t they know churches are for tourists? Who gets married in cuirches anymore anyway?! How about something original like married underwater or standing on stilts in a pool of scorpions (that is my idea, no one can steal it for their wedding; I’m talking to you MIKE AND LAUREN!!!).
We reached our castle destination and from the high vantage point saw in the distance the first evidence of the city being a capitol; a huge sprawl of communist style block tenements. It is great however that they kept the inner ‘old city’ free of such eyesores. The castle was nice, though no entrance and under heavy construction. Still, we enjoyed the courtyards, statues, gardens, and the view.
We simply wandered the city for the remainder of the day, entering a few small art exhibits here and there. One art exhibit had some really trippy stuff like a room of books and mirrors giving the illusion of a massive chamber. With a small platform to walk on through the room, it made it feel like you could drop down into infinity; not for those afraid of heights.
We went to Tesco Shopping Center because after losing two pairs of underwear Jessica forced me to buy more threatening with “should I call your mother and tell her you only have two pairs of underwear?” I got some snazzy European boxer briefs which I shall wear henceforth with pride. We also got a bunch of groceries from the CostCo-like chain. Back home we made a pasta dinner for ourselves and our hosts.
05.Oct.08
Peter, Stanka, Jess, and I rode the tram out to a remote village with the ruins of a very ancient castle with history dating thousands of years back. We got sidetracked at a beer garden for a couple hours where we drank delightful brews, enjoyed the pleasant weather, and chatted about everything there is to chat about. It is amazing how nearly every Couchsurfer we meet has such similar mentality to us, which always makes for engaging and often hysterical conversation. Peter and Stanka however, are even more fun than most Couchsurfers, and we had a great time just enjoying each others company.
Finally, after we met with two more of their friends from a night before we headed up to the crumbling grey castle. It gave a splendid view of the surrounding countryside and the pleasant weather made the whole trip even more enjoyable. A small museum gave details of the long history of the castle, and we spent some time just wandering the grounds.
We hiked back down and had a few more beers. They also had us try to some typical Slovakian liquor which smelled and tasted like tree sap; not our favorite thing in the world.
We stopped by a pizza place on the way back and tried another national dish; pickled camembert cheese. “Pickled” really just means soaked for a good amount of time in olive oil and vinegar with spices; the dish is scrumtrulescent! The pizza was above par, beer tasty as usual, and the company was full of laughter, especially with everyone teaching tongue twister in their respective languages. I impressed them with my flexible tongue by pronouncing well one especially difficult twister: Skrz brst skrk krk is more or less how it sounds, though of the spelling I am unsure. Bobor-tsetsky became a popular joke (meaning Beaver Tits), maybe it was just the beer laughing, but just saying Bobor-tsetsky made everyone crack up. It was something silly I’d learned to say from our Polish friend Bobor back in the Himalayas. Czech and Polish languag is very similar. We may not have accomplished much, but it was a day filled with lots of laughing.
Probably one of the best part of the whole stay with Peter and Stanka in Bratislava was their awesome dog Klara. Super playfull, but terrified of everything. We had a lot of fun having a dog to play with, making us want to get one when we come back home to settle. Short trip, but pleasant.
Bratislava Flickr Photos:
http://flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157607906634604/
