A Very Different City

One of the best things about River Cruising is it does give you the opportunity to see towns and cities that you would never get to on an ocean cruise.

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia, and was once part of the Eastern Bloc after the Communist Party seized power in Czechoslovakia in February 1948. The city became one of the foremost centres of  anti-Communist  in 1989 and, 1993, the city became the capital of the newly formed Slovak Republic when its economy started to boom due to foreign investment.

The city has borders with Austria and Hungary with the river Danube runs through its centre, making it the perfect, and interesting , destination for any river cruise along the Danube.

I have never been to an Eastern Bloc city before, albeit an ex one, and had some very preconceived ideas of what it was going to be like. I think these two photographs kind of sum up my expectations – drab, grey and unwelcoming spring to mind. Also, I suppose, a bit threatening. We were moored very close to the centre making it just a short stroll into town and, to be honest, first impressions were exactly what I had expected. Lost of faceless grey buildings, tramlines along all of the streets and the trams themselves looked like they were still part of the Eastern bloc.

Our guide ushered us into a little red train for our city tour and off we went ! Up through the city, which was looking increasingly depressing until we reached the top and a lovely, bright Bratislava Castle built in the 19th century, it proudly stands on a hill above the Danube and has fabulous view of the city and the river.

Things continued to get brighter as we made our way down to the old town which is really lovely. Cobbled streets and lots of shops, restaurants and bars wind through the maze of tiny alleyways.

Our guide was excellent  and really showed us the best of this very interesting an different city which is well worth a visit, especially on a river cruise.