Perpetual Change

Bratislava, Slovakia

I was expecting a suburb of Vienna. After all Bratislava, the Slovakian capital, is on the ground transport map for Vienna. It is only an hour away by train. As soon as I got off the train, it was clear that I was wrong; I had passed again behind the one-time iron curtain. Just as Copenhagen reminded me markedly of Berlin, Bratislava brought feelings of Croatia and Italy, to my surprise; and of course, something comfortably Slavic, and uncomfortably Soviet. There is a bit of a Hungarian feel here too, which is not surprising, I found out, because it is quite close to Hungary and many, many Hungarian kings and queens were crowned here.

There are many more tourists here than in Denmark. I have heard groups of Italians, Germans, Poles, French, Brits and the American or Canadian backpackers. This could be because the prices here are about the same raw numbers as they were in Denmark, but as the exchange rate in Denmark is about 5 to 1, here it is about 19 to 1. I spent about 200 for lunch in both places.

The Slovaks love music. They have a number of big concerts and festivals running all summer. I got to see for free a great French Jazz trio, a Hungarian folk band, and a ballet and orchestra. Santana and Lenny Kravitz will be here next week. This is probably the same in major American cities; I've just lost touch. Last year, a guest commented to me how great it is to watch someone who loves their work. I agree; that Jazz pianist was having the time of his life and it makes the whole show better. He wrote one of the pieces and I couldn't help but thinking how difficult that must be for 3 instruments. Then I thought about a symphony!

The language is rather similar. I can't get much of TV, but I do alright in conversations, if the other party doesn't switch into German which most people seem to speak here. After they try German, if we can't get by in English, we usually switch to Russian. I was at the check out at the grocery store, which can be quite stressful, because in some countries you have to weigh fruit and bread or have it tallied at a separate counter, and I couldn't find that anywhere. So, I was in the express line, which dumps you out at one of 10 checkouts, whoever is free next. There was one grumpy looking guy, and of course, I land at his desk. But actually, he was quite friendly. He thought I said I was from Ukraine, and got quite a kick out of speaking Russian to me. It kind of made my day.

The old town is small and very picturesque. The embassies are all interspersed in it, but only the American one is a big compound. In fact they have blocked off most of a big pedestrian way. Right next door is the French Embassy; it looks no different from the next building. Who are we so afraid of? In 1968, the Slovaks along with the Czechs tried to get emancipation from the Soviet Union. The tanks rolled in and that was the end until 1988. I recently read, that Poland perhaps wouldn't have been successful around that time, but that the Russians feared the Chinese and so didn't bring troops back West to quell the rebellion (I cannot vouch for the accuracy of this, as I might have been reading it in a not totally reliable source). My point is the Soviets feared all their neighbors, and look where it got them.

Speaking of safety, there must be free wireless on the town square. It was quiet the other night, but there were people, including single women, out on their laptops until 11 pm. Would you feel safe like that anywhere where you could think of? Generally, though, the old town seems to be a bit of a sausage fest.

I don't really appreciate ballet. I felt the ballet almost ruined the orchestra that I saw in the square last night. I just wanted to listen, but I couldn't help but watch, and think, "I don't get it."

Finally, perhaps I have been out of Florida too long, but it is HOT! The thermometer said it was only 30, which I think is mid 80's, but I was surprised by how hot it was, and it isn't a humidity factor, though they do claim it is humid; I haven't lost my feeling for that.

Shout out to all you Peace Corps Ukraine volunteers. I was going to stay at the Hotel Kyjev in Bratislava... but I couldn't afford it! It looks pretty much just like the Brat.

PS. Travelling alone sucks. I usually try to stay away from journalling on my blog, but you are all fulfilling a great need for me by reading. Thanks. It has been nice at this hostel - one of the nicest that I have stayed at. Hostel quality has generally gotten much better and more centrally located over the last 7 years, but the prices have also gone up. There isn't really such cheap accomodations anymore.

Labels: travel

posted by jjs @ 8:09 AM