Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Welcome to Slova(kia)!!

We had the night before bought some "fun-pack cereals" from a SPAR supermarket in Vienna, and with care we opened the packets so that it would form the bowl shape (the Australian version features serrated areas to do this - the Austrians are missing this, along with an "al"). So - in the surrounds of our luxurious white room we ate corn flakes! Hooray for the bourgeois life!!

It being a beautiful sunny day, we headed for the border between Austria and Slovakia (or Russia as Mum calls it) to Bratislava - the capital of Slovakia.




Also part of the Schengen Agreement (which means that border controls are largely non-existent), our trip into Bratislava was no problem at all. One thing I noticed of the former communist state of Czechoslovakia was the immediate capitalism on the road in.


You probably cringed at that sign as much as I did. Bratislava is part of a designated European Union Development Area - and a LOT of money has been poured into the area since it joined the EU. Bratislava is also home to the world's largest communist set of apartments - which if it was a city of it's own - would be Slovakia's second largest...

To drive into the town, you approach a bridge with a UFO (essentially) on it - constructed by the Communists, and Bratislava Castle (which has been closed for years for renovations). Inside the UFO shaped structure is a revolving restaurant. Not sure how you get up there though...


Despite some initial trouble in finding a park (the signs being in Slovakian (Russian to Mum - more on that later) did not help), we eventually found a carpark - and after a 15 point turn after a wrong turn, we did find a park. We then ventured out into the city "map-less" and "guide-less" to explore the old town.

Things weren't looking very old - but we did eventually wander through a city gate - and arrive in the old town of Bratislava.


Bratislava isn't a huge city - only around 400,000 people live here - but it's old town is lovely, and we bought some souvenirs,


Visited the town square, with a chocolate shop;


Visited the city museum, with the view up to the castle;


and waltzed (haha) our way up to the Dunaj (Slovakian for Danube), which once again Mum commented was "very big - and its flows very fast" - her now stock response when she sees a river.


Annabelle had decided that we needed to have McDonald's in every country - and so we did that - but not before Mum remarked that the signs were hard to read because they were all in Russian.

"Why are all the signs in Russian?"
"They're not Russian - they're in Slovakian - we're in Slovakia"
"It's the same alphabet"
"No it's not - they use the Cryllic alphabet in Russia - it's different"
"Oh whatever! It was all communist anyway"

Catherine Yelland - cultural connoisseur since... (still doesn't realise difference between Slovakia and Russia)

We did eventually leave Bratislava, and headed for Schonbrunn Palace - one of the Summer residences of the Habsburg Monarchy - and located in the suburbs of Vienna. The palace is enormous - with great gardens. Photos weren't permitted inside the building - so you'll have to make do with some exterior shots.




We then retreated back to the hotel room to prepare for the Opera that we were visiting later that night. Here we are all dressed up for a night out on the town (yes - I do realise I need a haircut - it looks better in person)


We had been recommended a place to eat beforehand by the concierge - which was just right - and the opera itself was quite and experience!! The place is enormous - and we checked in our coats - and hired some binoculars (despite not really needing them). Thankfully an English translation was given - so we could actually follow the plot quite well.

For Annabelle and I, this was our first opera - and we were both a bit taken by how dramatic the whole thing is. For instance - the opening scene was as follows.

Man is waiting for lover at balcony. She does not appear.

"Oh my lover - she is not here. My life is over. The sun will never shine again. There is no longer any point in living"

He walks offstage. Lover makes noise from balcony. Man walks back on.


"My lover is here. The sun has risen. The birds and trees sing her name when she awakes. I can live once more. I love her more than one can possibly image"

Obviously it was slightly more poetic than that (and also in Italian) - but you get the general gist of how dramatic it was to simply wait 30 seconds for his lover to appear. He swings between suicide and elation just because she was 30 seconds late.

The whole thing was very well done, and the Viennese do opera very, very well. It's kind of their thing.

Alas, the evening did come to an end, and we retired to our comfy beds for a good night's rest - after such a big day!

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