Destination 4 - Bratislava

It turned out that the cheapest way for us to return to Innsbruck from Dublin was via Bratislava. Definitely an EXPERIENCE. That being said, I wouldn't necessarily call it a "family vacation" destination. Or really an interesting destination at all for that matter. Probably the best experience I took from it was a glimpse as to how screwed up it still was from Communism, and the fact that everything here was dirt cheap.

We should have guessed what Bratislava would be like after we got on our plane. We flew with RyanAir - a very cheap discount airline, but hey, it did the job. Our entire flight was British men - either middle-aged or late teens/early twenties. Practically all of them were heading to Bratislava for stag parties or boys' weekends out. Bratislava has become popular for stag parties for several convenient reasons - #1 - cheap flights out of Great Britain. #2 - all there is to do in Bratislava is go out to clubs at night. #3 - alcohol is cheaaaaaap. #4 - there are apparently a lot of strip clubs. There you go. Mad and I were in for a bit of a surprise.

After our arrival, we made it to our hostel to find that we were sharing a room with 6 British guys in their mid 20s. GREAT. There was also a private party IN our hostel. Great - NO SLEEP. We were then woken up around 5am to our drunken roommates coming back from a night of partying.....they even tried to talk to us in their state, which I admit was pretty entertaining, "HEEEEEEY, ILLINOIS! How was youuuuuuur night?!?" Lord, the room stunk of sweaty boy and stale beer.

Mad and I decided to try to appreciate Bratislava for its culture, activities, etc, so we got an early start and left the hostel. Um, to our disappointment there was NOTHING to see. There was a small part of the old city that was in relatively good condition, but other than that there was a HUGE amount of disrepair. Buildings were practically falling down within 50 feet of a cathedral in which kings and queens of the Habsburg Family had been crowned. Not only this, but a highway was practically on its doorstep. WHAT IS GOING ON?!? The castle was practically empty, and the one museum we found in the old city was in my opinion VERY disappointing.

It was pretty sad, really. I realize that formerly communist countries were struggling, but I had no idea that it would be like this only one hour's train ride away from Vienna. I also found that the people that we ran into seemed a bit jaded. There was also a big separation between the generations, whereas in Ireland you saw 70 year-olds sitting in pubs drinking with 20 year-olds.

Area near the Cathedral
The Old City

Statue in the Old City

NO idea how to go about pronouncing that...

Dinner!

It was cold. It was windy. It was snowing.

Walking back from the Castle

Madelaine was a bit disappointed...

In the old city...

My new boyfriend...HA!

After all was said and done, it was a good experience in that we got a taste of what it's like for a country trying to rebuild. However, I wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to visit it again...