Offers to get to a fairy-tale for a while.

Not much had changed in the two months since I had last visited Bratislava, except that this time my Slovak Crowns were useless. The switch to the Euro moved quickly, at least from my point of view here in the Czech Republic, which still refuses to set a date for adopting the new currency. The economic crisis certainly hasn't encouraged anyone to take the big step in the Eurozone, but I digress. During my third, and hopefully last trip to the capital of Slovakia, I had hoped to visit Devin castle, an ancient ruin dating from the Neolithic era, although certainly what remains today is much more recent, with surviving structures from the 13th and 15th centuries. Unfortunately it was snowing quite steadily all day, so I was confined to the city. On the other hand, in wandering the city I saw this weird guy:


Brightened my day a bit. But then on the way home my train stopped because of an accident on the tracks up ahead, and I was stranded in a train car in the Slovak wilderness for five hours. So adding it all up I spent 15 out of 24 hours on a train that day. So it goes. Check back again soon for the details of my upcoming trip to Budapest. It promises to be Hapsburg-tastic. Now, I would like to finish up my last entry on Bratislava with a passage from the official free guide to the city that I think sums up the city quite well:

Ones you visit Bratislava you feel like being in a fairy-tale. The history full of legends offers to get to a fairy-tale for a while. While walking in the city, mind 178 brass plates with crowns in the paving. They create track which was taken by kings during ceremonials.

My thoughts exactly.