Two cities and the Danube

I’m on the move, yet again. This time is Bratislava.

Just before coming I had at one of those moments when I would not have gone anywhere, partly because I was quite comfortable and partly because I was panicking that, after going away for 6 weeks, I would find people didn’t miss me or don’t count with me anymore when I get back. It's still early to know what's going to happen, but it doesn't look so bad. We will see…

But the fact is that once I settle really well into the hotel life (still missing my own home, of course), I’m not so embarrassed any more of walking into a restaurant and having dinner on my own, and as soon as I’m out of my comfort group of people I realize I can meet people and make friends quite easily.

Anyway, first weekend away I escaped to Vienna, which is only one hour away, and I fell in love. They market it as the imperial city, with palaces, Sisi museum, Mozart, etc. And all that is beautiful, with nothing to envy Paris. But I know that, in a few months, when I try to remember that weekend, the image that will come to my mind will be a very different one: The hustle and bustle and all the food at Naschmarkt and the Jugendstil style buildings by Otto Wagner, in particular the Majolicahaus. It left me speechless when I saw it while strolling through the market only to find out later on how famous it actually is (excuse my ignorance). Klimt is everywhere too, especially this year that is the 150 anniversary, with special exhibitions springing all over the place. Then, if you have architectural geeky moments like me, the Hundertwasserhaus is worth having a look. And on a completely different topic, of course, the food: Tafelspitz, Wiener schnitzel, Sachertorte, Apfestrudel, sitting in a Viennese coffee... Very typical, I know, but I can’t be surrounded by so much food and go to Macdonalds.

That’s city number one on the Danube.

City number two, of course, has to be Bratislava, where I’m staying at the moment.

Gul'ky plený ídenými mäsom,
dusená kapusta (apparently)

It couldn´t be more different than Vienna. It’s quite small, everything in the city centre is walking distance and, even if it doesn’t have the grandeur of Vienna, it’s full of tourists and foreigners in general. Also the historical parts are so perfectly maintained (I wasn’t expecting it) that it´s almost like stepping into a fairy tale. Well worth visiting, at least for one day. The only frustrating thing is the language. In general, most people in hospitality speak quite good English, and even German, but it’s not like walking around being able to speak the language and, unfortunately, one month is not long enough to learn much… And back to my favourite topic, food, they seem to be obsessed with dumplings, but everything I’ve tried for now was very tasty (and very consistent). What I would like to know is what I had for lunch on my second day here, have a look at the picture.

However, for now, the highlight of this trip has to be the people. In Vienna I got together with three other people through Couchsurfing. We went for a few drinks, the conversation was flowing very easily even if it was the first time we were meeting and in the end it was quite fun. However, yesterday, what I didn’t expect was to end up going for a drink with some Cuban musicians that were playing in the restaurant where I went for dinner. Lovely people, with very interesting lives and hugely welcoming. The coincidence that they sat at the bar next to my table so I probably stared a bit more that I thought, the fact that they noticed I was staring (so they were too, and I noticed) and one of them assuming I had to come from a Spanish speaking country and starting a conversation… I'm remembering now, apparently they were discussing wether I had been stood up or not, hahaha! I could have just chosen another table and I would have gone home by 10pm without knowing what I was missing. Great night.