Jewels of Bohemia Day 10

Thursday, Sept 4 -- Bratislava

Just as in the Czech Republic, the Velvet Revolution spelled the end of communism for Slovakia, a densely forested country with towering mountains in Central Europe's heartland. Its capital, Bratislava, is situated along the Danube in Slovakia's southwestern tip, close to the border with Hungary and Austria. 

Our morning walking tour with a local guide focused on Bratislava's compact Old Town, home to a variety of 14th-15th-century structures that include the Old Town Hall, the Neo-Classical Archbishop's Palace, and St. Martin's Cathedral, a Gothic coronation church where several Hungarian Habsburg kings and queens were crowned. As a stark contrast to Bratislava's vestiges of imperial grandeur, we visit a section of town featuring blocks of housing projects that serve as symbols of the days of communist-era oppression. 

The site of a synagogue that had to be torn down in 1968 to make room for a new bridge.

A statue of an eccentric man named Schoner Naci, who lived in Bratislava until the 1960s.

Working man

We also enjoyed a glimpse of life in contemporary Slovakia when we visited the local home of Katarina Selcova for tea and cake.  Katarina did not speak English so her neighbor, Jan, interpreted for her.  She lived in a building that had been built during the Communist era but had been updated and made to look more contemporary by painting parts of it with bright colors.  When we left, Katarina treated us all with bags containing Slovakia bracelets, small colorful picture frames, and booklets about Slovakia.

 

Katarina's building

Jan, Katarina's friend, meets the group

Katarina and Jan demonstrate their dance moves

Her living room

Jan translates Marsha's question for Katarina

The daughter's and son's room

Katarina and her husband's bedroom

Ready to leave

That afternoon we were on our own.  Dave and I picked up sandwiches and soda at a window in Old Town and walked to the park and ate them on a park bench.  We then walked outside the Old Town to find the only synagogue in Bratislava.  We found it in a less affluent area of the city, but it and the attached museum were closed. 

Bratislava's synagogue

We then went back to a shop we had seen in the morning and bought wine and a bag of "bagels" which turned out to be a crusty, sweet pastry with walnuts.

Painted eggs seemed to be popular gift items in many of the gift shops we visited

Wine made in Slovakia

The region surrounding Bratislava is renowned for its quaint villages and vineyards on the fertile slopes of the Little Carpathians, so this evening we journeyed outside the city to enjoy the vineyards, wine-tasting and dinner in the  cellar of a local vintner.  The bus couldn't make it all the way into the vineyards so we met the wife of the vintner family and walked the rest of the way in.  She explained where their vineyards were located and the kinds of grapes they grow.  We then met her down in the village where they have their restaurant.  And we started dinner with wine tasting.  She spoke incredibly good English but her husband did not.

The vintner's wife explains where their grapes are grown.  They are not on contiguous plots b/c they plant their grapes wherever they can buy the land.

grape vines

view of the village from the vineyard

heading back to the bus for the trip into the village

getting seated for our wine tasting and dinner