Slovakia - Bratislava

I arrived in Bratislava in the middle of the day, which was a bit unfortunately as like Budapest it was ridiculously hot. It was also once again a long walk to the hostel, which ended up quite difficult to find as a building was being constructed, quite bewilderingly, across the actual entrance to the street! How on earth was I supposed to find the place if the street no longer exists?

The small old town is quite charming

Luckily I worked it out and arrived in a near-deserted hostel, which would make my time in Bratislava a bit less enjoyable as for the first time I ended up not meeting a single person.

Sometimes you have to look down to see the statues...

I took a walk into the old town, which is very small, thanks to the Soviets having demolished half of it to built a horrendously ugly suspension bridge. The castle, thankfully, survives and was a very pleasant place to relax and gaze across the city.

A robot in the castle keeps watch

The city is located on a river, but strangely does not have much of a riverside or promenade to match any of the other cities I've been to. In fact, the other side is dominated by the largest communist housing estate in Europe.

The 'flying saucer' bridge and communist tower blocks

It's a bit hypocritical for me to complain, but the city was rammed full of British people. Although, in this case, the wrong kind of British people - stag parties comprised entirely of loud, rude, incredibly drunk men. It's not the city's fault but it really harms the atmosphere.

Modern art on the main street

I've complained a lot about Bratislava here, but maybe it's just because I really didn't enjoy myself. It was too hot, the hostel was bad and there wasn't much to see or do. But I'm sure the city could be very enjoyable with the right people, especially with locals. And on the bright side, I was really impressed by the fantastic array of modern art and sculptures on display, probably the best I've ever seen. Maybe I should have given the city a second chance, but unfortunately I've got to keep moving!