Bratislava 2 – Day 13

Rain was forecast for today, but I set an alarm last night, just in case the forecast was wrong, and I could do a longer bike ride. Alas, it was raining when I awoke, and quite heavily. So I didn’t rush out of bed or over my breakfast. I felt less like I had a cold this morning.

It rained much for the morning and then I give it a little bit of time for the roads to dry up. My goal was a visit to the National Gallery. I decided to ride and headed in the direction of the gallery, but tried to get there by a different route, so I would see different things. Bratislav is a city of fountains, and this one caught my eye. It is from the communist era and  commemorates the Soviet space race. It is in Kukorelliho Park, named for Ludovit Kukorelli, an important organizer of the partisan movement in Slovakia during World War II.

I like the shape of the balconies on the building adjacent to the park. In front of the Apollo Hotel, I came across a picture of the fountain and statue with a block of housing that had been knocked down to build the apartment building. Apparently, in the summer water shoots out of the back of the rocket, looking like exhaust and is lit up red at night to look like fire.

There are many small markets set up with food trucks, and entertainment for children, and Christmas decorations around the city. This one is in front of the Apollo Hotel. It was apparently a favourite place for the Soviets when they would come to Bratislava. The statue is called Lovers and dates to 1959.

Shortly thereafter, I found myself around the back of Nivy Mall which  we visited on Saturday. I was absolutely delighted to find this automated, transparent bike parking tower. The instructions were in Slovak, so I didn’t try it out, and unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see it operating, but I did take these pictures.

I arrived at the National Gallery, locked up my bike, and then discovered that it’s closed on Monday to Wednesday. 

I messaged Michael that I had tried to do something cultural, but it was closed, so perhaps I would go check out the AuPark Mall in Petržalka. He suggested that I should try visiting the Slovak National Museum, which was close by, so I decided to do that, first.

The first exhibition was by an artist called Ašot Haas. The information for the sculpture was: “The figural composition which is an appro- priation of Michelangelo’s David will be premiered here. Hass dynamizes the sculpture and rotates it 360 degrees thus creating a distinctive formal deformation and symbol of the tireless endeavor to achieve the unachievable. The story of David and Goliath about the disparity of forces and the subsequent victory of the underdog is also an im- portant message for the present.”.

He also created some very pretty designs in glass that were about a metre in diameter.

The rest of the museum was devoted to natural history. It is a real giraffe and the bottom of her belly was my shoulder height.

I then rode across the Old Bridge. When you move from an environment where you’re riding with cars, to one which only has pedestrians, cyclists and street cars, it makes you realize that cities aren’t noisy – cars are noisy.

This was a bike rental place on the south shore of the Danube. I thought it was cute the way they made their sign out of bicycle parts.They also had a dome built out of old bike wheels.

On this street there is only one lane for motor vehicles and the other lane is for bikes.

AuPark, the mall, possibly the third largest in Bratislava after Eurovea and Nivy, and all three are within 3 km of each other, is beside Sad Janka Král’a Park, which translates as John King’s Orchard, which became the park. I find it astonishing that there is enough demand for three such large malls, so close together.Like many malls here, it incorporates playgrounds for children, and has a little food truck festival and children’s entertainment area set up outdoors for Christmas. It also had covered bike parking, and E bike charging stations. You can see the UFO bridge in the arch of the Franciscan Tower.

I had a look around the mall and had a coffee and treat.

Then I rode my bike around the outside of the mall. Once again, I was reminded how noisy cars were. It was very quiet on the park side of the mall, and very noisy on the side adjacent to a highway.

I then rode back to the hotel to drop off the bike. 

It was twilight at 4:30 when I left the hotel to meet Michael at the Christmas market.

I decided to walk today. It takes about 30 minutes. This street is primarily used by pedestrians, and transit, but cycling and driving are permitted. Most drivers choose to drive elsewhere. Imagine if all these people walking, and in the trams, were in cars. It would be a massive traffic jam.

There are many pretty windows when you walk at night here.

In addition to the small tables where you can stand and eat that have a small small cover over them, there are a couple large covered areas at the Christmas market.

it was more crowded tonight, but not as crowded as Saturday.

We split a potato pancake, a traditional Slovak food. We didn’t eat at all. It was tasty, but too greasy. Then I had a grilled Camembert sandwich, and Michael had a blood sausage.

I was being tempted by these little Christmas tree decorations. I might go back another night and get some. I haven’t bought any new Christmas decorations for years, and we have too many, but it would be nice to have a little souvenir.

It was spitting as we arrived at the market, and increased to a misty rain, but it made the wet pavement reflective and pretty.

We took the tram back to the hotel. Once I finish writing the blog, I need to figure out what I’m going to do tomorrow.