To the west, towards Bratislava
The next day, after breakfast, we packed all our things and loaded them into the car. After saying goodbye to Harrie, Jana and the dog Demi we left around a quarter to ten towards
the western part of Slovakia, to its capital Bratislava. According Harrie it would take us about five hours to reach it and all the way you follow the E571. For the greater part
it is still a 2-lane highway which is quite annoying when you're behind a number of trucks creeping up a mountain with 10 km/hr. There are also many curves in the road that make
taking over a slow lorry a long and tedious operation. So you don't make progress on these stretches of road. The Slovak people themselves by the way are more adapted to these
situations. With a real contempt of death they start taking over right before an obscure curve. On one occasion we saw a Slovak, who was taking over a truck, being overtaken by
someone else. So three cars next to each other were racing up a hill while a bus was descending from the opposite direction, it all went just right. Although regularly you see
crosses with some flowers to the side of road, markings of a not so successful overtake manoeuvre. At a gas station near the town of Zvolen we had some buns and something to drink.
From Zvolen onwards there are more and longer stretches of 4-lane highway so we could make more progress from that point onwards. At about a quarter past three we arrived at
camping Zlaté Piesky near Bratislava. We didn't make any reservation and unfortunately we could only stay for two nights in a bungalow instead of the four nights that we
had planned to stay here (BEWARE: I have had reports of luggage being stolen from guests of this campsite!!).
When we go visit Bratislava we will inform at the Tourist Office whether there are other places to stay. The weather by the way has been dry until
now for the whole day, although the sky looked threatening all day. Arjan and Ciska took a long discovery tour around the large campground, while they were doing so it started
to rain when Ciska was enjoying herself in the playground. When the weather cleared a bit they returned to the bungalow. In the meantime Hilleke informed about where an ATM
could be found and a supermarket. The supermarket (Telco) is only about 500 metres away and there they also have an ATM. On our way to the supermarket, Hilleke put our laundry
in a washing machine and then we did some shopping for dinner and breakfast. Because now, after 1½ week of pampering, we have to prepare our own meals. Tesco is a very
large supermarket, open 24 hours per day. It took a while before we had everything we needed and could return to our bungalow. In the meantime the laundry was finished and while
Arjan and Ciska put it up to dry, Hilleke cooked dinner. The question only is whether it will dry as it now is almost constantly raining. Now and then it really poured down.
Sometime later, when Arjan switched on the light in the toilet, we heard a loud bang and we saw smoke coming from the fuse box and all lights went out. Only the boiler and the
electric cooker kept working. After a delicious dinner, Arjan took Ciska to bed while Hilleke went to the reception to pay the bill and to report that all lights went out.
Sometime later a technician arrived that repaired it. Probably the fridge is broken (short-circuit), tomorrow we will receive another one.
On many places in Slovakia you may find extensive fields with sunflowers
Bratislava
The next day it was the 16th of July, Hillekes birthday. When we got out of bed it was raining again, a dull grey sky. After wishing Hilleke many happy returns we had breakfast
on the terrace in front our bungalow. The laundry we did the day before was hardly any dryer. After breakfast we decided to visit Bratislava, despite the bad weather. Well see what there
is to do when the weather is bad. On our way to the centre, it was only a short dry, we saw some blue spots appearing in between the grey clouds and the rain had also stopped.
When we arrived in the centre we drove around to find a suitable parking place. In the meantime the weather had completely cleared-up, we saw some friendly smiling white clouds
against a bright blue background. We already regretted that we took our coats with us. On the central square Hlavné Námiestie, we first had coffee with cake to
celebrate Hilleke's birthday. It is a coincidence that this year we also celebrate her birthday in the capital of a country, just like last year in Helsinki, Finland
After this treat we went to the Tourist Office to see if they can provide us with a place to stay for Saturday and Sunday somewhere out of town. But they only have addresses in town,
but they were able to give us the addresses of some Tourist Offices in some other places near Bratislava. From the Tourist Office we walked through the old part of the town. We also
climbed up to the castle with is situated on a hill above the town along the banks of the Danube river. From there you have a beautiful view over the town, the old part as well as
the new parts on the other bank of the river. We didn't visit the castle, as it is a museum nowadays as we didn't want to wander around there. During our walk through the town we
regularly stopped to have something to drink, it was very warm and sultry and we expected a thunder-shower by the end of the day. The sky, by the way, one moment is was a clear blue sky and
sometime later it looked very grey as it could start raining any moment. Apart from only a few drops we didn't had any rain during our walk. At the end of the afternoon we also
did a city tour in a kind of road train. As we were the only tourists in the train they provided us with explanations in Dutch (we are from the Netherlands). After the city tour
we went back to our car to have dinner in a Slovak Pub. Hilleke had seen a leaflet of the pub at the Tourist Office and as it was her birthday she decided that she wants to
have dinner in that Slovak Pub. We had some troubles reaching it by car, some roads were closed and other streets were one-way streets. Finally we found a parking place and walked
the last part. We had a great dinner in the Slovak Pub. After dinner we went back to the camping. At the reception we picked up our cool box that we left there this morning in the
fridge as ours was broken. Back at our bungalow it turned out that Hilleke had lost the key of the front door. We searched everything, coats, cars, etc., nowhere to find. She
was afraid that she had lost it this morning when she took of her coat at the first restaurant to put it in out backpack. So at the end we picked up a spare key at the reception.
In the meantime Arjan took off the laundry that had dried during this beautiful sunny day. With the spare key we could finally enter our bungalow and saw that they had
replaced the refrigerator. It turned out that the fridge was not the cause of the electrical problems we had as sometime later the fuse blowed again and all lights went out.
This time for that matter we were able to repair it ourselves.
The central Hlavné Námiestie square in Bratislava
Museum in the former town hall
Characteristic façade in Bratislava
Old house with artistic painted windows
On a few places in Bratislava you may find the characteristic statues shown below
Ladies watch out, this sewer man looks right under your skirts
This soldier listens to all your conversations
Wherever you go in Bratislava, spies are everywhere
This man once lived, inhabitants of the city gave him food
Surroundings of Bratislava
The next day we got up early, as we had to check out from the bungalow before 10 am. After breakfast at our terrace we packed everything in the car. The suddenly, Hilleke
remembered where she had put the key of our bungalow, in her waistcoat. Yesterday, when we left, she first had her waistcoat on. And indeed, luckily the key was still in her waistcoat.
That will save us a security of 500 SKK. After we had checked out, we first went to Pezinok, a small town north of Bratislava to go to the Tourist Office. We had some difficulty in
finding it. We asked a car-park attendant, but he didn't know, finally it turned out it was only 100 metres from that very spot. At the Tourist Office they had a portfolio with
addresses of hotels, pensions, etc. We saw a nice hotel with some nice looking chalets next to it. The lady of the Tourist Office made a phone-call and made reservations for us.
We also took a wine-tour map of the surroundings with us. In this part of Slovakia, north of the capital, you may find many vineyards. Before we went to the hotel we first wandered
around in Pezinok. In about one and a half hour you have seen it all. The hotel is in a small village, Svätý Jur, just south of Pezinok and the hotel is named
Horský-Hotel Eva. The lady at the reception only spoke Slovak, no English or German, so the communication was a bit troublesome. We had to pay 2000 SKK for two nights and
then she lead us to a hotel room. That was not what we meant. It turned out that the lady at Tourist Office had booked a hotel room and not a chalet. We were then able to explain her
that we wanted to stay in a chalet and not in the hotel. Finally she understood and she phoned someone else, the reception of the chalets. Sometime later they called back to say
that there was place for us to stay. So we went there, the chalets are right behind the hotel. The lady at the reception over there also only spoke Slovak and again with some trouble
we were able to ask her that we wanted to stay in one of the chalets. She then preceded us up onto a dark stair, on the way she pointed us the toilet and bathroom. Up the stairs we came
in a small dark room with three filthy beds. That was not what we had in mind. It turned out that the two chalets have a number of small rooms that you can rent. So we went back
to the hotel and took a room there as we didn't feel like searching any further. After we had put all our stuff in the room, which was very large and very clean, we left to explore
this wine-country. Along the way we stopped several times to quench our thirst, it was again a very warm day. On our tour we also passed the Čeverný Kameň castle where we stopped.
There we first had something to eat and drink and Ciska went for a ride on a pony. Then we walked towards the castle itself, along the way we saw that there would be a bird of prey show
at 16:15. That looked like fun, but that was to begin in half an hour so we decided first to see the courtyard of the castle. In the courtyard there was small vinothèque that
we decided to enter. We tasted some wine and finally we left the small shop with 6 bottles + 1 for free. After putting the bottles in the car it was about time for the bird show
to begin. There were several very large birds of prey that flew very low over the audience, sometimes so low that you could feel them and had to hunch. Some of the birds were
set free from the castle. Amongst the birds that we saw were eagle owls, several ravens and crows, a buzzard, a falcon, a tawny eagle and a golden eagle. After the show was over we
walked along some cages with even more birds. Ciska also had a very heavy eagle owl (almost have of what she weighs) on her arm for making a picture. She thought the bird was very
heavy, so heavy that a boy belonging to the show had to support her arms. That was something she dared do to, but the small Tarantula spider, back in Żywiec, she didn't like.
After all we didn't visit the castle and we went to Trnava to have dinner. We picked this somewhat larger town as they probably have a restaurant where they speak English or
German and have a menu in any of these languages. In those situations a travel dictionary is of no use, most things are not listed. After a delicious dinner we went back to the hotel.
There we first had something to eat and drink and Ciska went for a ride on a pony. Then we walked towards the castle itself, along the way we saw that there would be a bird of prey show
at 16:15. That looked like fun, but that was to begin in half an hour so we decided first to see the courtyard of the castle. In the courtyard there was small vinothèque that
we decided to enter. We tasted some wine and finally we left the small shop with 6 bottles + 1 for free. After putting the bottles in the car it was about time for the bird show
to begin. There were several very large birds of prey that flew very low over the audience, sometimes so low that you could feel them and had to hunch. Some of the birds were
set free from the castle. Amongst the birds that we saw were eagle owls, several ravens and crows, a buzzard, a falcon, a tawny eagle and a golden eagle. After the show was over we
walked along some cages with even more birds. Ciska also had a very heavy eagle owl (almost have of what she weighs) on her arm for making a picture. She thought the bird was very
heavy, so heavy that a boy belonging to the show had to support her arms. That was something she dared do to, but the small Tarantula spider, back in Żywiec, she didn't like.
After all we didn't visit the castle and we went to Trnava to have dinner. We picked this somewhat larger town as they probably have a restaurant where they speak English or
German and have a menu in any of these languages. In those situations a travel dictionary is of no use, most things are not listed. After a delicious dinner we went back to the hotel.
Ponyriding at the Čeverný Kameň castle
Golden eagle
Hooded crow at the bird of prey show near the castle
Ciska with a large Eagle owl on her arm
The next day after breakfast we left to explore more of this part of Slovakia. From our hotel we went north via Pezinok, Modra, Trstín, Bukova, Plavecký Mikuláš,
Lakšárska Nová Ves and Závod towards Malacky. In this area you will drive through the Slovak wine-country. Everywhere you see vineyards against the
mountain-slopes. From Malacky we continued via Borinka, Marianka and Bratislava and more or less along the banks of the Danube river via Šamorín, Dunajska Stredá and
Veľký Meder towards Komárno. In a leaflet that we got from the Slovak Tourist Bureau in the Netherlands Hilleke had seen some nice pictures of this town near the
border with Hungary. In this town there is the so-called Europe Place, a square with a number of buildings in an architectural style from 26 different European countries. After we
had something to drink we admired this very beautiful and colourful square. This town is definitely worth it to drive such a long distance for to see it, it is about 100 km from
Bratislava. The road is not very busy (well, at least on a Sunday) so you can make good progress. On the faster parts you only have to watch out for the slow vehicles from the
Soviet Bloc past, the Trabant, Wartburg and old Skoda cars are racing with 60, 70 km/hr over the highway and if you don't take care you will drive at their back after an obscure curve.
After visiting the bloody hot Komárno we went back to our hotel and the rest of the afternoon we relaxed by the pool of the hotel.
Below some pictures of the beautiful, colourful Europe place in Komárno
