We had requested the hotel reception for a wake up call at 6:30 am so we were up within 10 minutes of the call. We got ready and since we hadn't really unpacked much last night so checked-out around 8:30 am and stored our suitcases with the concierge desk. Then we had the complimentary hotel breakfast which was really good. There was an EY event going on at the hotel so Samia got to see a lot of her fellow international coworkers. After breakfast, we walked along the Danube river which was next to our hotel. We left our hotel around 9:30 am for a bus tour of the old town area of Bratislava. We reached the main square by taxi. It's a fairly small area and the main square is the smallest we have seen so far in all the cities on this trip.
Our bus tour started from the main square and we saw different old buildings, some in their original form and some having been reconstructed but not because of damage during any wars but due to natural deterioration or fires. Some buildings used to be small palaces of nobility, some used to be churches and some used to be government buildings. There were also three interesting statues that we saw during the tour. One was of a Napoleonic soldier standing behind a bench in the main square with his arms folded and resting on the bench. He supposedly listens to the conversations of people who sit at the bench. Another statue is a man under the ground whose head and arms are the only things you can see protruding above ground from a manhole. The statue had a couple of cars run him over so now they've placed a "man at work" street sign next to it. The third statue was silver and is that of a poor boy who used to live in the city. We also saw the location of the old Jewish synagogue which had to be demolished to make room for a highway. There is a memorial for the Jewish victims of holocaust next to its old location, just next to the highway flyover. We also saw the remnants of the old fortification wall that was taken down on Maria Theresa's orders. Historically, Slovakia has been a part of various empires and countries - the Holy Roman Empire, the Austrian empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Czechoslovakia - and only became an independent country on January 1, 1993, along with the Czech Republic. We also saw Saint Matthew's church which is the most important church of the city. Our tour also took us through a street where the city's executioner's house used to be and through a street where goldsmiths and other "smiths" used to live. Our tour looped back to the main square where it ended around 10:30 am.
It was a challenge to get a taxi back to our hotel since we didn't want to overpay and declined the first few that were giving estimates of 10 to 15 euros for a ride for which we paid less than 4 euros while getting here a couple of hours ago! After about 15 minutes, we flagged down a taxi that quoted 6 euros for the ride and although this was still more than what it was worth, we decided to go with it since we didn't want to miss our train. We picked up our suitcases from the hotel and took a taxi to the main train station. Both times the hotel called a taxi company, we had good experiences with honest drivers. This driver had an interesting personality too. He had lived in Vancouver, Canada for 25 years, gotten his degree there, worked as a manager at some electronics company but had now moved back to Slovakia to take care of his 80 year old mother. We had a good time chatting with him and he warned us that we might face a language barrier in our next city, Budapest. So far, we haven't really encountered much of a language barrier on the trip except at maybe Vienna on a select few places. Most people understand enough English that talking slow enough, using simple words and hand gestures gets you by very easily. It also helps that we have done prior research about all the cities so we have a good initial idea about most things.
We bought tickets for the 11:53 am train to Budapest. We listened to Rick Steves guide interview about Budapest during the train ride. Samia was also able to sleep for a bit but I couldn't sleep so wrote part of this update. The train ride was 2 hours and 45 minutes long and we reached Budapest a little after 2:30 pm. We wanted to take a taxi for a ride of a little over one kilometer but the three taxi drivers we asked all wanted 20 euros so we stood our ground and asked them if we can get a receipt. Then all of a sudden they forget their English and started shying away. The weather was nice so we just decided to walk to our hotel.
Our hotel in Budapest is actually a recommended attraction on most travel guides. It used to be the famous New York Palace Hotel which has now been renamed to Boscolo Budapest Autograph Collection. The hotel was established in the building that was built in 1894 as the local headquarter of the New York Life Insurance Company. The famous New York Cafe at the hotel used to be the center for Hungarian literature and poetry. After freshening up, we went out to have lunch. We had the chicken and beef platter at a Turkish restaurant. Then we came back to our hotel and then planned the next two days with the help of our hotel concierge.
Our bus tour started from the main square and we saw different old buildings, some in their original form and some having been reconstructed but not because of damage during any wars but due to natural deterioration or fires. Some buildings used to be small palaces of nobility, some used to be churches and some used to be government buildings. There were also three interesting statues that we saw during the tour. One was of a Napoleonic soldier standing behind a bench in the main square with his arms folded and resting on the bench. He supposedly listens to the conversations of people who sit at the bench. Another statue is a man under the ground whose head and arms are the only things you can see protruding above ground from a manhole. The statue had a couple of cars run him over so now they've placed a "man at work" street sign next to it. The third statue was silver and is that of a poor boy who used to live in the city. We also saw the location of the old Jewish synagogue which had to be demolished to make room for a highway. There is a memorial for the Jewish victims of holocaust next to its old location, just next to the highway flyover. We also saw the remnants of the old fortification wall that was taken down on Maria Theresa's orders. Historically, Slovakia has been a part of various empires and countries - the Holy Roman Empire, the Austrian empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Czechoslovakia - and only became an independent country on January 1, 1993, along with the Czech Republic. We also saw Saint Matthew's church which is the most important church of the city. Our tour also took us through a street where the city's executioner's house used to be and through a street where goldsmiths and other "smiths" used to live. Our tour looped back to the main square where it ended around 10:30 am.
It was a challenge to get a taxi back to our hotel since we didn't want to overpay and declined the first few that were giving estimates of 10 to 15 euros for a ride for which we paid less than 4 euros while getting here a couple of hours ago! After about 15 minutes, we flagged down a taxi that quoted 6 euros for the ride and although this was still more than what it was worth, we decided to go with it since we didn't want to miss our train. We picked up our suitcases from the hotel and took a taxi to the main train station. Both times the hotel called a taxi company, we had good experiences with honest drivers. This driver had an interesting personality too. He had lived in Vancouver, Canada for 25 years, gotten his degree there, worked as a manager at some electronics company but had now moved back to Slovakia to take care of his 80 year old mother. We had a good time chatting with him and he warned us that we might face a language barrier in our next city, Budapest. So far, we haven't really encountered much of a language barrier on the trip except at maybe Vienna on a select few places. Most people understand enough English that talking slow enough, using simple words and hand gestures gets you by very easily. It also helps that we have done prior research about all the cities so we have a good initial idea about most things.
We bought tickets for the 11:53 am train to Budapest. We listened to Rick Steves guide interview about Budapest during the train ride. Samia was also able to sleep for a bit but I couldn't sleep so wrote part of this update. The train ride was 2 hours and 45 minutes long and we reached Budapest a little after 2:30 pm. We wanted to take a taxi for a ride of a little over one kilometer but the three taxi drivers we asked all wanted 20 euros so we stood our ground and asked them if we can get a receipt. Then all of a sudden they forget their English and started shying away. The weather was nice so we just decided to walk to our hotel.
Our hotel in Budapest is actually a recommended attraction on most travel guides. It used to be the famous New York Palace Hotel which has now been renamed to Boscolo Budapest Autograph Collection. The hotel was established in the building that was built in 1894 as the local headquarter of the New York Life Insurance Company. The famous New York Cafe at the hotel used to be the center for Hungarian literature and poetry. After freshening up, we went out to have lunch. We had the chicken and beef platter at a Turkish restaurant. Then we came back to our hotel and then planned the next two days with the help of our hotel concierge.
Then we went out again to explore the area around the hotel. After coming back, we changed and went to the spa of our hotel. We first sat for 15 minutes in a coal heated room with temperature of 80-90 degrees. Ten minutes were enough for me so I came out after that. Samia came out after a couple of minutes too. We then sat for a few minutes in the steam shower that was around 45-50 degrees in temperature and was heated by steam. Then we relaxed in the spa for a few minutes and came back up to our room. We showered and got ready for dinner. We had dinner at our hotel's New York Cafe. After coming here we realized why it's called the most beautiful cafe in the world. It's more like a palace. The splendid decor looks even more surreal due to the live piano being played. I had a burger and Samia had pasta. We then shared ice cream for dessert. Samia also had peppermint tea. Now we're back in our room and off to bed. Till the next update, take care!
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