Bratislava – Day 4

We awoke to a bright, but cool day. Despite the temperature, it was lovely on the patio so we ate breakfast outside.

The hotel is shaped as a triangle with an atrium that goes down to the fourth floor.

The last couple days I saw this mirror sculpture from the tram, near the Justice Palace. Today we walked to it.

The Justice Palace (Justičný palác) is 86 years old and holds the courts and can house 740 prisoners. Death penalties used to be carried out in its rear yard.

We continued our walk to the Medical Garden (Medická záhrada). The Medical Garden was originally part of a Baroque palace complex built in 1770 called The Aspermont Summer Palace, which is preserved to this day, and serves as the seat of the dean’s office of the Medical Faculty of Comenius University. The building is quite run down, but the French formal gardens are lovely, and contain many walkways, benches, large trees, a playground, and coffee shop.

As we approached this bench, I thought it odd that someone had left pillows there, but it is a piece of art, and they are made out of stone.

There was a florist in a container just outside the garden adjacent to the cemetery.

As we were leaving the garden, I realized that my phone battery was nearly dead. It turns out the charger I bought last night wasn’t sufficient to charge my phone and iPad, even overnight.

So we took the tram back to the hotel and got my portable battery packs. Then we headed to to the Old Square to Michael’s favourite coffee shop to visit on a Sunday morning. They have amazing hot chocolate made with melted chocolate and cream.

Next, we decided to head for the castle (Hrad). We passed a bar with lots of funny things written on the chairs and tables.

We had to walk up a narrow cobbled street, and climb some stairs, and then we emerged at the last remaining section of the city walls.

Then we crossed the highway on a pedestrian bridge, climbed another flight of stairs, and continued walking up another steep cobbled street. The sidewalk was made of long steps.

Someone is building a new home just outside the castle with a double car garage on the road on the right.

This is a monument to Alexander Dubček who was a Slovak politician who served as the First Secretary of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) from January 1968 to April 1969. He oversaw significant reforms to the communist system during a period that became known as the Prague Spring, but his reforms were reversed and he was eventually sidelined following the Warsaw Pact invasion in August 1968. It sits between the Slovak Parliament and the Hrad.

Parts of the Hrad date back to the 13th century, but the castle lay in ruins when renovations started in 1953.

This is the grand staircase.

We were able to climb one tower to the top – a couple hundred stairs from the third floor, for 360° views of Bratislava.

This is a view from the Hrad to Petržalka part of Bratislava on the other side of the Danube, which shares a border with Austria. The communists constructed housing blocks known as Panelák beginning in 1977.

The Slovak flag next to the Hrad.

The UFO bridge from the Hrad.

Looking west along the Danube with the Parliament building on the left.

Looking north.

Looking back towards our hotel.

We had a very late, but enjoyable lunch, followed by gelato from Michael’s favourite ice cream place.

Then we climbed the tower of the Old Town Hall to view the old Square, then a tram ride back to the hotel, for a rest, and then a late dinner next door.