On our third day in Vienna, Marc and I decided to take a day trip to Bratislava, the capital of the tiny Slovak Republic.  For years, I read very little about Bratislava and how it was a city skipped by many tour packages to Eastern Europe.  It was even always mentioned that the only attraction worth visiting here was the Hradny Castle.  Now that we have been there, I can honestly say that this city is worth a day of sightseeing if not more.

The train station in Bratislava was our very first contact with the Slovak Republic.  Prior to our visit to this city, one tripadvisor reviewer so far as suggested as not to even bother visiting the place since there was nothing to see nor do here.  What's more, another traveler added that the place was nothing but a forgotten city full of homeless, drunks, and addicts.

If we were to base our impressions of Bratislava on the train station alone and we didn't explore the city, Marc and I would probably agree with some of the reviews on the web.  The train station was truly small compared to the glamorous, hip, and modern train stations of its neighbors like Austria and Germany.  We  did see a number of men and women who seemed down on their luck hanging in and around the station.  However, the farther we got from the station and closer to the city center of Bratislava, the better the city looked.  I highly recommend a visit to this capital city.

We really did not know how to proceed to go to the city center from the train station upon our arrival that morning.   One surly lady employee gave us the number of a bus and she did not elaborate any further.  We really just wanted to walk to the city center .  We didn't have any maps and the information booth did not have any either.  At any rate, we took a chance, we left the train station, and we just started walking.  It was daytime and we wanted to explore.  The farther we got from the train station, the streets appeared very empty and quiet.

Unlike the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic seemed small and not as full of medieval buildings. This was one building we passed by on the way to the main square.  We didn't really know what it was.  It did look like a government building.

Along the way, we passed by a hotel named ABBA and decided to take a picture of it.  "Just in case we came back to Bratislava and we needed a nice play to stay in," we said.

Close to the hotel were offices with art displays.  Little did we know, art was going to be everywhere in the city of Bratislava.  Here was one right in the courtyard of one office building.

The Grassalkovich Palace was the very first major tourist attraction we saw in Bratislava.  It was located outside the city center and of all the sights, it was the closest one to the train station.  While we were very happy that it was bright and sunny on the day we visited the Slovak Republic, I must say, the sun was shining ever so brightly that day so much so its rays hurt my skin. I actually had to use my umbrella to shield my face from the sun especially mid day.  I didn't want my rosacea to get any worse.

The Grassalkovich Palace, now the residence of the Bratislava's Mayor

Guess what hotel we saw as we approached Bratislava's old main square.  The Ibis Hotel.  I must say, the IBIS was in every country we visited in Central and Eastern Europe last July.  Here it is in Slovak Republic's capital of Bratislava.  It was at the foot of the Hradny Castle.  It was, by the way, the chain of hotel we stayed in all throughout the three weeks we were on vacation from Frankfurt (first leg of our trip) to Vienna (the last leg).

This is where we plan to stay in Bratislava on,  hopefully and God willing, our second visit next year.  I truly like this chain.  The rooms of all the IBIS Hotels we stayed in during this three week vacation to Central and Eastern Europe were small but definitely adequate for our traveling needs.  They were very, very clean and very moderately if not inexpensively priced.  Just right for budget minded travelers like us.

The Capuchin Church and Monastery was antoher church we passed by on our way to the old town square in Bratislava.

The street leading to St. Michael's Gate

Directly in front of the Slovak National Theater was a long promenade full of art exhibitions.  It was a nice place to visit, stroll and linger in.

These were some of the art pieces we saw exhibited on the promenade.

After three weeks of walking outdoors and sightseeing, I did get dark.  It was as if I went to the beach.

At the end of the promenade, we had a nice view of the Novy Most Bridge which opened in 1971.  There used to be a restaurant at the top of the tower but it seemed to have closed.  Besides, there likewise seemed some missing window panels on the sides if you look closer.

We saw many consulates and embassies scattered all over Old Town in Bratislava housed in very elegant houses and buildings.

He was an archeologist, art historian, painter, and professor at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Could this have been the year when the building where the current Museum of the City of Bratislava is located was originally built?

Gargoyles, Gargoyles all over the Museum of the City of Bratislava