Initially, Slovakia wasn’t part of the travel plan. It’s a country often overlooked by tourists travelling Eastern Europe. It made the list as a detour stop on the way to Austria and it was only a 2h30 mins bus ride from Budapest. Just a quick history lesson, before splitting in 1993, Czech Republic and Slovakia were two peas in a pod. The sovereign state was known as Czechoslovakia after it gained independence from the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. It sits right in the middle of Poland, Czech, Hungary and Austria and its capital, Bratislava is small enough to see in 6-8 hours.
WHERE I WENT
BLUE CHURCH
The Church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, also called the ‘Blue Church,’ because, well, everything is blue. The façade, windows and even the roof is blue. It was designed in the 20th century and it’s really unique compared to most of the gothic-style churches I’ve seen thus far in Europe.
MAN AT WORK
It’s an odd but quite intriguing statue that if you don’t look where you’re going, there’s a possibility that you might trip on it. The Čumil (the watcher) was sculpted by Slovak, Viktor Hulík and is rumoured to be placed there to either look under girls’ skirts or be a regular communist-era worker. Either way, apparently if you touch his head and make a wish, it will come true, once you keep it a secret between you and him.
WHAT I ATE
€1,80 for a glass of Prosecco? The UK is laughing right now. As indecisive as we were, this little coffee shop was the right choice. The food was absolutely amazing, and my biggest regret is not taking another glass of Prosecco. #TakeMeBack
my plans next visit
NO PLANS TO REVISIT
I don’t have plans to revisit Slovakia but if I do, I’d love to see the Bratislava Castle on the hillside and maybe visit a couple other surrounding cities. Slovakia is known for having the most castles per capita in the world so it’s worthy to visit some of these chateaus.
Will you visit Bratislava? Let me know in the comments
