Bratislava, Slovakia
The River Cloud had continued her journey heading down river away from Vienna, Austria, making good time and early this morning our vessel slowed in front of the Novy Most bridge or the “New Bridge” marking our entrance into Slovakia and it’s capitol city, Bratislava. This tiny country approximately the size of South Carolina became a member of the European Union in May of 2005 and is still today showing vital signs of growth.
We were divided into three groups and began a 90-minute tour of the old-town of Bratislava. This vibrant and lively town has been working extremely hard on renovation of many of its Art Nouveau buildings. We were guided through quiet, early-Sunday morning streets giving us many an opportunity to see the influences of different nations upon this Slovak Republic and time and space to see the nuances that mark Art Nouveau architecture. For many years Bratislava (formerly Austrian Pressburg) was virtually a suburb of Vienna, which is only 80km away. Bratislava has also been the capital of the Hungarian empire, and these influences along with the recent Soviet hold over this part of Central Europe were mixed into the architecture. Though, this vital new capitol was also filled with whimsy! At nearly every corner one could find another piece of unusual, humorous and always eye-catching cast sculpture. Figures were kneeling over a park bench in the guise of Napoleon, a clown tipping his hat, a small man looking out of a manhole, a famous artist whose family came from Bratislava, another man taking a photograph….each adding to the refreshing and light attitude that is Bratislava, Slovakia. Each of our guides chose their own path through the city showing us yet another small street with an interesting story that enhanced our brief exposure to a very interesting and developing nation.
After our walking tour some of us headed for hot chocolate on this chilly morning while a few of us made our way to a small bohemian glass shop. Bratislava lies on the north/south and east/west trade route of Europe and for generations has been involved in the movement of goods, whether it is bohemian glass from the Czech. Republic, or amber from the Baltic, if those goods were in transit, there was a good chance they would pass along a trade route located in the central street of old-town Bratislava, continuing on to yet another exotic point in the world. In a narrow street just off of the main square was a small shop filled with typical bohemian glass jewelry from the northern region of the Czech Republic. Jablonex, a corporation that incorporated many of the bohemian glass jewelers in the 1950’s has one of it’s distributors in Bratislava and this provided a chance for some of us to examine this fine art form that has flourished in Central Europe since the 4th century AD.
All too soon we had to return to the River Cloud and continue our journey down river. Our afternoon would give a chance for preparation for the next leg of our journey of several days in Hungary and also we would have time for relaxing, as the River Cloud took us into the wider section of the Danube River. We had just spent the last ten days exploring four very different countries. We had walked the crowded streets of Prague, traveled over land to Germany and boarded our floating home which had taken us farther into Germany, through Austria and Slovakia and now we were in Hungary still on the waters of the Danube River. Diversity of language, people, food and customs had greeted us at every turn, giving us just a small sample of the many ways people live, work, and most important are so willing to share culturally what they find precious.
The River Cloud had continued her journey heading down river away from Vienna, Austria, making good time and early this morning our vessel slowed in front of the Novy Most bridge or the “New Bridge” marking our entrance into Slovakia and it’s capitol city, Bratislava. This tiny country approximately the size of South Carolina became a member of the European Union in May of 2005 and is still today showing vital signs of growth.
We were divided into three groups and began a 90-minute tour of the old-town of Bratislava. This vibrant and lively town has been working extremely hard on renovation of many of its Art Nouveau buildings. We were guided through quiet, early-Sunday morning streets giving us many an opportunity to see the influences of different nations upon this Slovak Republic and time and space to see the nuances that mark Art Nouveau architecture. For many years Bratislava (formerly Austrian Pressburg) was virtually a suburb of Vienna, which is only 80km away. Bratislava has also been the capital of the Hungarian empire, and these influences along with the recent Soviet hold over this part of Central Europe were mixed into the architecture. Though, this vital new capitol was also filled with whimsy! At nearly every corner one could find another piece of unusual, humorous and always eye-catching cast sculpture. Figures were kneeling over a park bench in the guise of Napoleon, a clown tipping his hat, a small man looking out of a manhole, a famous artist whose family came from Bratislava, another man taking a photograph….each adding to the refreshing and light attitude that is Bratislava, Slovakia. Each of our guides chose their own path through the city showing us yet another small street with an interesting story that enhanced our brief exposure to a very interesting and developing nation.
After our walking tour some of us headed for hot chocolate on this chilly morning while a few of us made our way to a small bohemian glass shop. Bratislava lies on the north/south and east/west trade route of Europe and for generations has been involved in the movement of goods, whether it is bohemian glass from the Czech. Republic, or amber from the Baltic, if those goods were in transit, there was a good chance they would pass along a trade route located in the central street of old-town Bratislava, continuing on to yet another exotic point in the world. In a narrow street just off of the main square was a small shop filled with typical bohemian glass jewelry from the northern region of the Czech Republic. Jablonex, a corporation that incorporated many of the bohemian glass jewelers in the 1950’s has one of it’s distributors in Bratislava and this provided a chance for some of us to examine this fine art form that has flourished in Central Europe since the 4th century AD.
All too soon we had to return to the River Cloud and continue our journey down river. Our afternoon would give a chance for preparation for the next leg of our journey of several days in Hungary and also we would have time for relaxing, as the River Cloud took us into the wider section of the Danube River. We had just spent the last ten days exploring four very different countries. We had walked the crowded streets of Prague, traveled over land to Germany and boarded our floating home which had taken us farther into Germany, through Austria and Slovakia and now we were in Hungary still on the waters of the Danube River. Diversity of language, people, food and customs had greeted us at every turn, giving us just a small sample of the many ways people live, work, and most important are so willing to share culturally what they find precious.
