Bratislava!

Thought I would do a quick post about my arrival in Bratislava!

I met an Egyptian man on the bus to Dublin airport who was chatting me up 😉 He said that my name means “flower” in Arabic and said that I was very beautiful and had a casual, romantic look. By that, of course, he meant that I looked like I had barely slept all night because I was worrying about the water that started leaking from my ceiling at midnight last night…my landlord did not respond to my page. I left him my 4 weeks notice in writing because I have had other problems too…basta! So the search for another flat will begin when I return from my trip. Oi…Then a very nice Irish man sat beside me at we talked the whole hour long. He was really friendly and I took it as a good omen for the rest of my trip.

My flight went really well; a very nice 18 year old English girl sat beside me and we did a crossword and then chatted the rest of the flight. Then I took a bus to the central train station, followed by a tram to my hostel! It was very easy and it only cost 0.70 for the bus and the tram!

I met some Catalan people on the bus, who then took the same tram that I did and I could understand almost everything they said but I answered in Spanish 🙂

Then I booked in at the hostel; the girl at the counter was young and very friendly and spoke rather good English too! She suggested I have supper at Slovak Pub and I am very glad she did because it was sooooo cool! It looks like an old medieval inn complete with gargoyles and lovely murals! It’s a huge place, each part is different. I ate in a part that had an opening in the roof and it had timber beams. I have not found out in what year it was built but I found the following:

“We are delighted to have you here and hope that you have have a good time. The 1. Slovak Pub has, in its short history, become one of the favorite spots for college students. We are the first, and probably the only pub in the world, where you can get a free soup for an A on an exam. The concept of the Slovak Pub is to present Slovak history and things authentically Slovak at one place. Its individual rooms present eras ranging from the old pagan times up until the revival era of the 19th century. The largest pub is on Obchodna 62 and can accommodate up to 600 patrons. Purely Slovak design of rooms representing the various periods of the national history, the cheapest typical Slovak meals and many Slovak students drinking here make it a good choice. It is composed of 14 separate rooms representing various periods in Slovak history. Draught beer costs about  EUR 0.75.”

Have a look at their Web site: http://www.slovakpub.sk/slovak/photo/galery.htm

My meal was a mere 4.89 for a huge plate of chicken stir fry and croquettes! Mmm, just what I needed as I had barely eaten all day.

I do not have Internet in my room so I am standing in the lobby at the mo. I will now go back to my room and plan out tomorrow! I was very pleased to find out upon my arrival that the castle, which had been closed for renovations, opened on the 1st of September! Perfect 🙂

I am off to Vienna the day after tomorrow — it’s 40 minutes on the train and it costs 9 euro. 

I still marvel at the fact that I am experiencing all this and that I am doing it on my own. Life is good.

Sha 🙂