Europe Trip #1 – April 13, 2022 - Bratislava

Buds had come here decades ago with his parents. He remembers it being a snowy cold day and they went into a large department store. Czechoslovakia was still a country and the Berlin wall had fallen not long before. There was not much to buy in the department store, to put it mildly.

Bratislava has come a very long way. On the ferry we decided to take a bus/walking tour to see as much as we could in the few hours we had. The guide on the bus was proud of the average pay, the number of university students in town, the real estate prices. Buds and Monkey were laughing about how much it felt like we were supposed to be ready to move to Bratislava as soon as we got off the bus.

We left our backpacks and bags in the tour company office (Only 3 Euros a bag, and he gave me a one euro discount. 😆), then we jumped on the tour bus.

It was a great way to get an overview of the town; UFO restaurant, the church where the Habsburgs had their coronations, and a very Russian style statue dedicated to those who died fighting in World War II.

The bus dropped us off at the castle high above the town. We stayed with the group for awhile, but decided to head into town for lunch before making our way to the train.

We found a lovely little restaurant in old town that had delicious food for all of us.

A short walk to retrieve our bags, find the tram that would carry us to the train station, and then a short wait for the train.

We’ve got about 20 minutes left of the train ride and we’ll be in Budapest.

We’re in first class with lots of space. We are now in the minority of people wearing masks. Who knows what other differences await.