Vienna's Best Day Trip International Living Postcards--your daily escape Thursday, January 8, 2004
Bratislava, Slovakia Dear Reader,
At first glance, the contrast between these two capital cities (Vienna, Austria and Bratislava, Slovakia) couldn't be greater. My heart sank as we approached Bratislava--the city is ring-fenced by some of the most diabolically ugly apartment towers I've seen. My immediate thought was "I can understand why the Czechs voted to split from Slovakia."
And it doesn't help that the railway station is in the middle of a housing estate wilderness. But stick with it--a 200 Slovak crown ($6) taxi ride will take you into Bratislava's gloriously baroque old center. Buildings, many festooned with grinning gargoyles, are painted sugar-plum pink, lemon, and mint green. Almost in the center of town (across from the Opera House where the current performance is Verdi's Macbeth), there's a temporary open air ice-rink. Few people speak English, but if you have a few words of German, eating, drinking, and shopping isn't too problematic. And everything is such great value. Filter coffee in a cosy cafe on Hlavne Nam, the old town's main square, cost $1.25--about a third of the price you'll pay in Vienna. And I recommend you try a slice of Sachertorte (chocolate cake sandwiched with apricot jam and smothered in cream) for $1.75. German cigarettes (West) cost a mere $1.30 for 20. I passed plenty of restaurants offering set lunches for $2 and $3, but decided to try the cellar of a 700-year-old monastery: Klastorna Vinaren on Frantiskanske Nam. Strange translations on the menu--the "fish on grates", "hog fat plate" and "hunter's breast" didn't sound too enticing, so I went for the $6 "monastery dainty delicacy". Buried under a potato pancake topped with sour cream, it turned out to be pork and mushroom stew. (Which I had with a bottle of white Rizling Rynsky wine for $5.50.) Back on the square, a Christmas market was in full swing. I couldn't resist the porcelain bells for $2.50 apiece…the glass of honey wine for 50 cents…nor the figure I'm going to put on top of my Solstice Tree next year: a green-cloaked witch for just $3.50. Bratislava is only 59 minutes on the train from Vienna; a return ticket costs $24. But don't forget to take your passport--the Slovakian border guards will want to stamp it. Steenie Harvey
Roving Euro-editor, International Living P.S. Look out for my report on Austrian ski slopes, sometime next week. I'll include a resort price comparison between Austria and the States, and tell you about a ski resort practically unknown to foreign visitors with breathtaking mountains and unspoiled villages…where you can have the cosy gasthofs and steepled churches all to yourself. | 
