Day 115, 116 & 117
Bratislava, the city nowhere near Berlin was yet another chilled out stop as we delved deeper into Eastern Europe. With us doing very little here due to us catching up on a lack of sleep and terrible weather I'm going to find it hard to write a lot in this blog. However as I usually can take anything random we do and turn it into an essay, let's see how we go.
As we entered Bratislava all previous expectations based solely on our watching of Eurotrip flew straight out the window. Rather than finding a dilapidated cold war city without any form of transport we were welcomed into a quite modern town complete with buzzing streets and people everywhere. It was unlike any city we had been to so far, untouched by tourists yet still fun for us. The only thing Eurotrip did seem to get somewhat right about Slovakia was the value for money. Whilst 1 US dollar didn't exactly make us millionaires, everything was very cheap and all up I think I spent about $100 here.
Our first adventure here started with us asking the receptionist what there was to do on a Wednesday night. Telling us there was very little we sadly walked away thinking it would be a quiet one. However as we turned to go she stopped us, letting us know that there was a party near her place and she could take us after work. We were pumped. We headed out for dinner, got ready for the night and met her by reception at 11. By the time we had gotten downstairs it seemed that there was actually quite a group she was taking. So the four of us, (Gav was sick) her and a bunch of randoms headed off to the university campus to see what Bratislava could offer on a Wednesday.
Getting there quite late we walked into the campus and the place was already pumping. With 4 clubs right there, people were everywhere having a great time. We went straight into the first club paying only 4 euro for entry. We could tell this was going to be a good night. We met some cool people, danced to cool music and there was just generally a cool vibe. Once we did get bored we club hopped a bit, walked around campus and just saw what was going on. When the time came to leave we crammed onto the bus back into town. The bus was packed and we got to know the people we were standing next to very well. We chatted to them and found out that tourists don't often make their way to that side of town. We felt very special knowing we did something different and went to bed on a great high.
Very much over being a tourist and exploring the city we decided it was time to get back to nature and on day one we headed to the nearby lake. After a quick swing past the shopping centre for snacks we hopped on a half an hour tram out of the city. Upon arriving at the lake it was absolutely dead. Being the middle of the week there was no one around and it was as peaceful as could be. We made our way over to the grass, cracked open our snacks and just chilled, enjoying what we would soon find out to be our last day of summer.
As we ate our food, we noticed some swans nearby and Az thought it would be a great idea to feed them. So he threw some chips in the water, followed by a few more and then a few more. Before we knew it we had about 10 swans right in front of us, the only problem was that we had run out of chips. Without any warning the swans jumped out of the water and began to hiss at us. We freaked out. We quickly packed up our stuff and began to walk away. However as we had picked the best spot on the river, we decided we weren't going to give it up without a fight. As soon as we walked back near the swans a small dog came to provide us with backup. The dog and swan barked and hissed at each other, jumping all around, it was quite a spectacle to see. Whilst eventually the dog decided to run away, it was then we manned up and initiated a full assault. We ran at the swans making as much noise as we could in the process. The few people that had made their way to the park since we arrived watched us as we made fools of ourselves. No matter what anyone thought we walked out of there heros as the ducks decided to run away. We once more enjoyed our fantastic spot of grass and kicked back there for the rest of the day.
With Gav still feeling sick that night and none of us particularly excited to go out on a Thursday evening where nothing was on, we did little more than enjoy dinner and relax. The most riveting part of the night was when we swung past the supermarket and picked up every remedy known to mums to help Gav get better. Not really knowing what he was sick with, we bought him chicken soup (flu), powerade (hangover), flat coke (sore stomach), guacamole and chips (he just likes those) and some random Slovakian sweet (we thought it would be funny) just to cover all our bases. I don't know for sure but I think he was really happy to get it all. He couldn't stop smiling when we brought it in.
Our last day there truly showed us what season we were heading into. From the sunny 25 degrees the day before we were now experiencing a rainy max of 13. It was cold to say the least. Nonetheless we tried to get out and see the town as so far we hadn't even gone near. We hopped from shop to shop trying to stay out of the rain but eventually found ourselves holed up in a bagel restaurant as it began to bucket down. When the rain eventually subsided we tried to see the town but realized without a guide and in this crappy weather there wasn't much to do.
We spent the rest of the afternoon back in our hostel killing time in any way we could. We read, we facebooked, we foosballed, we ate and we even chatted with other people. At about 5ish we headed out for our last meal before the fast which as opposed to the usual roast chicken and fruit salad consisted of pizzas and pastas. From there we headed back to our place, grabbed our bags and hopped on the bus to Hungary.
Currently we are about 6 hours into the fast and are going strong. When I realized that we were in Hungary for one of the hungriest days of our lives, I could not stop laughing. I'm not sure how far everyone is into the fast but I hope it is a safe and easy one. Will let you all know how we go in the next blog. :)