Marc and I never expected so much to see in Bratislava.  For a city often skipped by packaged tours and for a capital said to have nothing to offer visitors but its castle, we were very pleasantly surprised to find out that it is a very beautiful city.  In fact, I would like to return and visit it at a more leisurely pace.

From the City Museum of Bratislava, we went to a tiny plaza where many souvenirs were being sold.  Just like many souvenir places, there were postcards, plates, and keychains for sale.  However, the following were what caught my eye.

I didn't know exactly what these were but they looked like small pumpkins that family hung inside or outside their houses.  They reminded me of a Thanksgiving decoration.

Piggies galore

Just like the pumpkin shaped figures, I found these piggies made of twigs cute .

Colorful towels with Bratislava and Slovakia inscriptions anyone?

Postcards

No matter how many times I tell myself, I shouldn't be buying any more postcards for photo albums or scrapbooks because of very limited, in fact, non-existent space in my condo, I just can't help myself but buy and buy.  Upon return home, I do end up developing pictures that Marc and I take from memorable vacations and storing them in photo albums for posterity's sake.  It's a good thing I have the blog now too where I can also upload pictures and write journal like entries to remind me of wonderful memories.  That way, I no longer have to develop each and every picture but upload them only in the blog.  What I like about the blog is I have very easy access to them.  I can now see all the pictures from the most recent visits to visits from years ago thanks to the internet.

There were lots of churches in Bratislava as well.  It would have been easy for me to remember the names of the churches had the signs been written in English.  However, all were written in Slovak hence the difficulty.

There was a Jesuit institution by the small plaza where the kiosks selling Slovak and Bratislava souvenirs were sold.

The Church of the Holy Savior

The College of the Holy Savior, a Jesuit school in downtown Bratislava,

right next to the church of the same name

A bust of Prof. Milos Ruppeldt

Milos Ruppeldt was a Slovak composer, collector of Slovak folk songs, translator, and conductor. He organized and produced musical plays Slovakian life .  He was likewise the founder of the Music School for Slovakia.

The Frantiskanske or Franciscan Church was another church we were able to visit.  There was even a priest  on duty who was very welcoming and who pointed us where to go and what to see.

The steeple

A church would not be complete without gargoyles to keep out all and everything evil

A gargoyle up close

Inside the Frantiskanske or Franciscan Church

Can you see me in there?

A closer look at the main altar of the Frantiskanske or Franciscan Church

What a pulpit!

A view of the organ right above the main entrance to the Frantiskanske or Franciscan Church

Based on what I have seen in the past, I believe these were panel gravestones

I have seen panels of stones like these from churches populated by the Dutch.  I saw them in Malacca, Malaysia and in the Jewish Synagogue in Oranjestad, Curacao.

The Loretanskej, another church

In English, it's called the Church of Our Lady of Loreto.  In Prague, the was also another church called the Loreto, just outside the castle.

Marc and I saw this sign just outside the old town.

If one were to visit Bratislava and only explored the old historic town, then one would easily say that the Slovak capital was indeed small.  However, a journey out of old town will show that it is relatively big.  There is the part of the city lived in by the locals.  We were able to visit this section of town in the afternoon we were in Bratislava.

A view of the city of Bratislava beyond the confines of Old Town

People waiting for trams.  Right behind then is the MY Department Store and Supermarket.

Marc and I went inside this department store to browse.  It was modern and looked very much like the stores in the west and in the USA.  We bought some snacks and pastries in their supermarket located in the basement.  I pigged out on pastries here as they looked so cheap and enticing.  Seeing that we didn't look like locals, the cashier in the supermarket spoke in English to us right away.  That was a nice gesture.

This tall Soviet looking building near the MY Department Store was a hotel.

From this modern part of the city, Marc and I headed back to old town and then went to the Bratislava Castleperched on top of a very steep hill.  It was so hot that afternoon, the rays of the sun hurt my skin. I had to use my umbrella as I just couldn't bear it anymore.  Other tourists did the same thing.

The humongous Bratislava Castle on a hill

The gate of the castle

The Bratislava Castle

Entry to the castle grounds was free.  Visitors could go in and out of the courtyard although there really wasn't much to see there.  There was a museum and exhibit hall inside the castle but given that it was already late in the afternoon and we were pressed for time, we opted to pass.

From the castle grounds, we had a bird's eye view of the city.  It was very nice.  We saw other parts of the city which looked modern and replete with apartment buildings Soviet style.  We also got to see the Novy Most Bridge once more with its rooftop restaurant now deserted.

At the Bratislava Castle

The Novy Most Bridge

A closer view of the rooftop restaurant of the Novy Most Bridge and Tower

I wonder if the apartment buildings right behind the bridge were built during the Communist era.

Here's another part of Bratislava from from old town as viewed from the castle

A tower on the lower ground of the castle

I must say, although Marc and I sometimes argue as to which route to take to return back to the city center, I am glad Marc is more of the daring explorer and adventurer every time we travel.  He always likes to travel through areas we hadn't been to yet.  In this case, I was glad we did just that as it afforded us to visit yet again another part of the city.

To go back to downtown Bratislava, we walked downhill and out of this old medieval looking gate.

By the time we got to ground level, we stumbled upon other historic buildings in the city.

This was the House of the Good Shepherd  which appears to have a cafe at the basement level.

The House of the Good Shepherd was located next to the Old Town walls.

A part of the Old Town walls

Another view of the Old Town walls with the tower of St. Martin's Cathedral in the background

Looks like a synagogue by the freeway

The Novy Most Bridge once again but this time an even closer view from ground level.

This was taken after we had gown down from the castle and on our way to see St. Martin's Cathedral.

St. Martin's Cathedral

St. Martin's Cathedral is old and it certainly looked it.  What was quaint about this medieval looking cathedral was the art on its walls.  These were just some of what we saw.

An imitation of the Vincent Van Gogh self portrait in Amsterdam?

A collage of faces

This is the side wall of the cathedral were the paintings were hung.

The Palffy Palace

This palace is historic because Mozart once performed here.

The facade of the Palffy Palace

After a quick visit to St. Martin's Cathedral and the area surrounding it, Marc and I headed back to the train station to catch our quick one hour train ride back to Vienna.   Slovak Republic is so close to Austria, there are shuttles from the Vienna airport to Bratislava on a very frequent basis.  I really encourage a visit to this small but beautiful city.  There are tons to see.  Actually, we didn't get to do everything we wanted but that's okay.  We have yet to visit a place anywhere in the world where we were able to see and do everything.  Like Marc always says at the end of every visit, "That way, there is something else for us to do when we return."

This religious statue was perched high up on a wall inside the train station.

It's the statue of St. Catherine of Alexandria.  She must be one of the saints travelers pray to for protection and safety.