Great cities of Central Europe: Bratislava

When I conceived of this road trip through the great cities of Europe, Bratislava was hardly even an afterthought. I knew little about the city except that it was the capital of Slovakia, a country I knew almost nothing about in its own right. However, given that it was directly between two of the major cities on our itinerary, it was an obvious place to investigate further. Once I read a little about what the city had to offer, I decided it was worth a two day stopover. This ended up being a fortunate decision since we arrived too late on the first night to do anything except give the kids a bath and go to bed.

I had chosen our location to be close to the Trhovisko Mileticova outdoor market rather than the old town. The market proved to be quite large with a nice variety of produce and a good selection of food stalls and restaurants. Surprisingly, there was a substantial Asian presence in the market and we got a huge lunch at a very popular Vietnamese restaurant.

We drove slightly outside of Bratislava to see the clifftop Devin Castle at the confluence of the Danube and Morava rivers.. There was a winding paved path to the top of the cliff so we didn't have to struggle to reach the castle. The upper part of the castle was closed but there was still plenty to explore and great views of the Danube and the little village in the valley below us.

The well-known sights of Bratislava are concentrated in a small area downtown by the river, much of which consists of a walled pedestrian old town. Here we found all the tourists of which there had been no sign in our residential Airbnb area or the market, including lots of large Asian tour groups. I asked Mei Ling why she thought Bratislava would be a popular destination for Chinese in particular, and she replied that it was probably sold as a cheap alternative to Western European capitals.

Just outside of the old town we found the Grassalkovich Palace, which is the current presidential residence, and the Blue Church of St. Elizabeth. The sky-colored early 20th century church looks like it wouldn't be out of place in Miami Beach.

Dinner was al fresco at Modrá Hviezda, on the steep cobblestone road leading up to Bratislava Castle just west of the old town. The food wasn't spectacular, but the kids were so well-behaved that other people at the restaurant actually came over to congratulate us. On the way back down, it was clear that the road was a popular hangout spot for young expats. Bratislava might not be a well-known city now, but in ten years people may think of it as the next Budapest.

We went back to the Trhovisko market the next morning, where we had a more conventional Slovakian lunch. There was no English spoken so I had to make use of my limited Slovakian online translator and guesswork, but I think we did quite well. We noticed that the most popular item at the market seemed to be acai berries, which were being sold briskly from tubs and bins by multiple vendors. I was never able to figure out the reason for their popularity in that particular spot.

Our last stop before leaving town was Bratislava Castle, which we hadn't had time to visit the previous day. We had no particular desire for a tour of the interior so we spent a little time looking at the outside of the castle and the views over the Danube, and then we took off for Hungary. We were eager to see Budapest.