Day 7 - Vienna (Day trip to Bratislava)

In the middle of the night it began to pour. The rain was coming down strongly and then the thunder began to crash. Luckily, the thunder sounded like it was a ways off but there was still a worry that with the forecast changing so often to take rain off the menu that maybe there would be rain when we woke up.

The train to Bratislava at Wien Hauptbahnhof train station.

Fortunately for our day trip to Bratislava it wasn't raining and was already warm when we walked out the door at 8:45. We grabbed the train to Bratislava and got there before 11. It was already very warm and bright in Slovakia. Our plan was to hit as many of the main attractions as possible by 7 so that we could be back at a semi early time and get to packing for the travel to Prague tomorrow.

We started out walking from the train station up the hill to the Slavin Monument. None of us had done a ton of research of searching into Bratislava to know that the monument was at the top of a hill and that we would be heading up many flights of stairs to get there. It amounted to a very early workout, however once we got the top we were blessed with gorgeous views of the Bratislava cityscape and down to Old Town and beyond. The weather was hot and the sky was clear with only scattered clouds providing detail to the panoramic views.

After enjoying the early morning sun and cooling down slightly from the walk up to the Slavin Monument we made our way back down the hill and over to the Grassalkovich Palace. Unfortunately with it being Sunday the palace was closed but we walked to the back and by the gardens and over to the backside of Slovenská technická knižnica where there were some small foods stands, university kids and music blaring.

Bratislava's presidential palace, Grassalkovich Palace.

This was a sharp contrast to where we were headed, Old Town. We walked down from Grassalkovich Palace and made our way through Michael's Gate, the entrance to Old Town. We meandered down Michalská street looking at the different eateries until we found something for lunch.

Michael's Gate, the entrance to Old Town.

After lunch it was time to explore Old Town and see if the old time charm I had read about was true. Weaving our way through the streets, past rustic buildings and churches, interspersed with many restaurants and gelateria's. The pull was too strong with the heat bearing down and the sun continuing to shine high in the sky. Devin and I got gelato from a small place down a little alley, that was filled with people enjoying themselves. It was too much pressure to continue saying no to the cold sweet flavors of mango gelato.

We ate the gelato and we walked on and made our way to St. Martin's Cathedral and up to Bratislava Castle. The walk to Bratislava Castle took us back up a small hill and to more stairs up the beautiful building at the top of the hill and looking over Old Town and the Danube River. There was a constant flow of people walking up and through the Castle grounds.

As we were finished up right on the outside of the Castle we notice a large lawn party happening right at the Castle. There was an "off the grid" style party happening with wooden food stalls, beer stalls, gelato stalls, bakery stalls, and restaurants. On the lawn inside all of the stalls were people sitting around on the grass, large pillows and at picnic tables.

Devin got himself a juice and ginger beer, Tyler got himself an Acai bowl with a honey topping, Chris got a sausage, boiled cabbage and a crepe filled with cabbage and cheese. We stood at a table and enjoyed ourselves for a little while in the shade.

Outdoor food festival on the grounds of Bratislava Castle.

As it was getting later in the day we needed to get moving on to the next place. That meant moving on to the UFO tower on the Most SNP bridge. Devin and I went to the top where we had 360 degree views high over Bratislava and down along the Danube and beyond Bratislava to neighboring hillsides.

The view looking down at Old Town from the UFO Tower.

Being mostly done with the majority of Bratislava and with what we believed we could do in our single day we grabbed a bus and took it 25 minutes down the road to the town of Devín where there is Devín Castle.

At the top of a hill along the coast right where the Danube River and Marava River meet is a castle that was built and fortified due to its perfect location along the trade routes. The castle is perched on the top and to walk up to it you weave your way along the grounds and up the top of the hill. At the castle you are met with different rooms and the castle itself.

Unfortunately for us the castle part, which has a view platform built into it at the top, was closed off to visitors but we were still able to see the amazing expansive views of Devín and the castle itself.

As the time got later we had a 30 minute bus ride back to Bratislava and then an hour train ride back to Vienna where we planned on getting dinner before packing. We got back to the bus station after a 45 minutes wait for the bus, which we used up by walking around the bottom of the grounds and around Devín.

Once we got back to Bratislava we were hoping to find a bus that would take us back to the train station as we were all burnt out, tired and did not feel like another mile long walk. There was no bus that went from the waterfront up to the train station so we got to walking and hoping that a train would be leaving shortly after we got to the station.

Once we got to the station and inside we immediately went searching for the departures board and found that the next train to Wien wasn't for an hour. It seemed that we got there right when a train should be leaving, one left every hour at that time, but for whatever reason this time no train was departing.

We moved our way outside the station where it had cooled off enough to be bearable and found a bench. The four of us got comfortable and settled in for the long haul. We sat there for 45 minutes talking and people watching as different trains came and went. Eventually the time was up and we were on a train back to Vienna and now we are getting ready for Prague and the next journey that begins tomorrow. The forecast calls for rain but we will have to see how it is when we get there.

Distance walked: 14 miles