Gutten Abend

Day two in Vienna but not for long as we had a day trip to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 500,000, the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia, occupying both banks of the Danube River and the left bank of the Morava River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.

Bratislava is the political, cultural, and economic centre of Slovakia. It is the seat of the Slovak president, the Parliament, and the Slovak Executive. It is home to several universities, museums, theatres, galleries and other important cultural and educational institutions. Many of Slovakia's large businesses and financial institutions also have headquarters there.

The history of the city has been strongly influenced by people of different nations and religions, namely by Austrians, Czechs, Germans, Hungarians, Jews, and Slovaks (in alphabetical order, not significance). The city was the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary, a part of the larger Habsburg Monarchy territories from 1536 to 1783, and has been home to many Slovak, Hungarian, and German historical figures.

After the fall of the Great Moravian Empire, Slovakia became part of the Kingdom of Hungary from the 10th century until the end of the First World War when the Treaty of Trianon created Czechoslovakia, a country which Slovaks are widely proud of. Some Czechoslovakian representatives, such as Alexander Dubček and Gustáv Husák, were ethnically Slovak.

Between 1939 and 1944, Slovakia was a German-controlled state. Then, it was conquered by the Soviets to recreate a new Czechoslovakia, but one that was pro-Soviet and Communist this time.

This lasted until the fall of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia, during the Velvet Revolution of 1989. In 1993, peaceful differences that existed between Czechs and Slovaks during the rebuilding of their nation after the fall of Communism led to the dissolution of Czechoslovakia into two separate and independent nations: the Czech Republic, and of course Slovakia (Slovak Republic). To this day, Slovaks and Czechs have generally friendly relations, and the two nations cooperate together frequently on international issues.

Since the end of the communist grip on the country and the development of the free-government's economic platform to encourage investment, many government institutions and large private companies have set up their headquarters or major operations in Bratislava. More than 75% of Bratislava's population works in the service sector, mainly composed of trade, banking, IT, telecommunications, and tourism.

In recent years, service and high-tech-oriented businesses have prospered in Bratislava. Many global companies, including IBM, Dell, Lenovo, AT&T, SAP, and Accenture, have built outsourcing and service centres here or plan to do so soon. Reasons for the influx of multi-national corporations include proximity to the Western Europe, the skilled labour force with relatively low rates of pay, significant tax concessions and the high density of universities and research facilities.

We had a good look around the outskirts and the actual "old" village, with many points of historical interest. A particular highlight for us was a visit to the Slavín - a memorial monument and military cemetery in Bratislava. It is the burial ground of thousands of Soviet Army soldiers who fell during while liberating the city in April 1945 from the occupying German Wehrmacht units and the remaining Slovak troops who supported the clero-fascist Tiso government. It is situated on a hill amidst a rich villa quarter of the capital and embassy residences close to the centre of Bratislava.

As we sail toward Budapest unfortunately we must leave Germany and Austria behind. Auf Wiedersehen!!

Today's insights:

• Bratislava (capital of Slovakia) and Vienna (capital of Austria) are the two closest capital cities in Europe at only 57 klm apart.
• A metal plaque in St Michaels Street, Budapest shows the distance to Sydney - 15,914 kms.