The Beautiful Beaches of Bratislava

There are a lot of nice beaches around Bratislava.

That sounds pretty stupid, doesn't it?  When my Couchsurfer told me she was taking me to the beach for the day, I though she had perhaps drank too many slivovica shots.  Slovakia is a landlocked country known for its mountains and snow.  The thought of a beach here sounds absurd.

Use your imagination.  Go to Bratislava in the summer and there are several nice places where you can lay your towel in the sand, grab a cold drink, get a nice tan and then cool off later with a dip in the water.  And don't worry, there will plenty of nice girls to look at.  This is Slavic Europe.

1. T-com Beach
T-Com Beach is on the opposite side of the Dunaj River from downtown Bratislava.  If it's not June, July or August don't go looking for it because it doesn't exist in the winter.  During the summer months construction crews dump several tons of sand on the riverside and contain it all in wooden partitions.  After that they set up beach chairs, umbrellas and several fancy, stand-alone cafes on top of the sand.  If you want to feel glamorous and have a good view of the Old Town, cross the New Bridge and pick out a spot.

2. Zlaty Piesky
Zlaty Piesky is a small resort with a lake located on the city limits of Bratislava.  Whenever I felt inspired to pull out my guitar and write a song, I would go out here to clear my head.  Take the red tram line 4 all the way to the last stop where Tesco is.  This lake is more relaxed and less glamorous than T-com, but is a great area for camping, picnics and the occasional music festival like the Uprising Reggae Festival.  If you don't feel like jumping in the lake, the surrounding park has places for volleyball, street hockey, tennis and mini-golf.

3. Čunovo Lake
Čunovo is an excellent choice for a short day-trip to get away from the "big" city.  From the city center you can take any connecting route to Bus 91 and you will be at the lake within 50 minutes.  If you want a more scenic trip, rent a bike and follow the Dunaj River south from Bratislava.  I was fortunate enough to have a Couchsurfer with a car.  During the trip south I was looking at a map and realized the road on the other side of the tree grove was where I had painfully crossed the Hungarian-Slovak border the previous day.

It was a hot August day and after parking the car, we immediately jumped into the cool lake.  My host told me that the lake isn't natural and used to be an old rock mine that was later filled in with water.  This may explain an island which is unnaturally located in the exact middle of the lake.  We were both feeling fit and decided to swim to the island.  It took some some effort but eventually we made it to the shore and laid down to dry off in the sun.

Since Couchsurfing is by nature a traveling network, people often meet at random, talk briefly and then leave so quickly that they hardly have time to get to know each other.  You feel like a pinball bouncing from place to place without ever truly stopping.  Barely 24 hours had passed since I had hitchhiked from Budapest, arrived at her place exhausted, made introductions and then promptly passed out on her guest bed.  She had been kind enough to take me down here to this pleasant, scenic corner of Slovakia that only yesterday had looked like hell on earth.  I took a moment to look at this lady and consider exactly who she was.

But not too many moments.  She's in a swimsuit and that would be weird...*ahem*...

She was what I would call a classic Slovak lady: tall, thin, and quiet with a pretty face which made her look much younger than her years suggested.  She had lived in the United States for a while and it had given her a different perspective on the rather traditional life of Slovakia.  We chatted about our respective travels but spent much of the time in quiet reflection. Čunovo Lake will do that to a person.

I needed the peace and quiet.  In another 24 hours I would be hosting my own, rowdy Bratislava Reunion Concert.  

A Guide To Wandering In Ružinov, Bratislava

Welcome to Ruižnov, Bratislava.  You should visit.

"But I only planned for one day in Bratislava!  There's nothing to do there!"

Really?  The Ružinov neighborhood of Bratislava was my home for a year and a half and I never got bored.  So when I received a Couchsurfing offer in that neighborhood in the summer of 2011, I didn't hesitate to accept.  The apartment I stayed at was no more that 5 blocks from my old apartment. Ružinov is a jumbled labyrinth of streets, parks and apartments that makes getting lost a pleasure rather than a task.

But really; why should you visit Ružinov?  Ružinov is the neighborhood of flowers.  The entire neighborhood is one giant, grassy park where many of the streets are named after flowers. Hidden among the parks and colorful Communist-era panelka flats are many small restaurants, cafes and "krcma" or family pubs, where you can feel like a local.  For all of you backpackers who want to brag about a "local" story here's your chance.  And even at this short distance from downtown, the prices drop noticeably.  All it takes is a quick 10 minute ride from Old Town on the "Eletricky" Line 8 or 9, and little explorer's spirit to find yourself in a world totally different from downtown Bratislava.  For those who need a little help, I have some recommendations.

1. Strkovecke Jazero
Strkovecke Jazero is the perfect place for a picnic on a sunny day or a few hours of fishing.  Bring a blanket, a couple of sandwiches and few liters of Corgon beer (or Kofola) and pick on spot on the shore.  If you're too lazy to pack a lunch there are two good restaurants located right on the water.  I've spent many evenings with lovely Slovak girls watching the sunset over this scenic urban lake.

2. Hostinec u Deda Restaurant
Like many neighboorhood pubs in Slovakia, Hostinec U Deda is well-hidden among all the flats and forests of Ruzinov.  When you're close enough you'll easily recognize it by the commanding deda (grandpa) standing guard over the entrance.  The inside is a kaleidoscope of Slovak books, posters, furniture and other random things hanging from every inch of the walls.  Once you take in the decoration of course you have to eat the food.  The menu features traditional Slovak cuisine, like brnzovy halusky, and a great selection of cheap Slovak beers on tap.

3. Kastiel' Prievoz 
I frequently roll my eyes and joke that you can't walk more than a block in Europe without running into yet another castle.  Prievoz Castle doesn't sit high on a noble mountain or isolated in a rolling field, but sits unassumingly in the southern part of Rusinov on the appropriately named Krasna Street (Krasna means beautiful.)  It's a little, historical gem in the middle of the Communist-era suburban mess of Bratislava.

4. Espresso Planetka Pub
Hahaha! If you find this place, send me an email and I will personally buy you a beer wherever we happen to meet: rb2mcmullen@hotmail.com  Planetka Pub looks traditional on the outside and wonderfully kitschy on the inside.  It has some of the best pizza I've found in Bratislava and a giant patio that's perfect for sharing many drinks with friends on a nice day.  This pub (and the nearby park) is the location of many of my most memorable parties during the year and a half I lived in Ruzinov.  That summer of 2011 it also served as the concert venue for a special show I put on with a friend as part of a "Slovakia Reunion Tour."

It's very easy to get lost in Bratislava, but that's half the reason you traveled here anyway.  Here's a Google map of the locations mentioned: Ruzinov Map

The Wrong Way To Hitchhike Budapest to Bratislava

(As I've mentioned before, my notes on this Eurotrip were stolen in San Jose, Costa Rica.  More on that later.  Due to this my memory of this part isn't accurate so I will substitute it with online information.)

Aboriginal Hostel's excellent breakfast fixed my palinka hangover quick, and I drank enough free coffee to keep me wired until at least sunset.  The hostel staff had no additional information on hitchhiking to Bratislava, so I took the hitchwiki.org information to heart:

When heading west (M7 to Balaton or M1 to Austria and Slovakia), you should take bus 272 from Kosztolányi Dezső tér or Sasadi út and get off at the stop Budaörs, benzinkút. It stops right in the Agip service station with a lot of traffic to both motorways. The journey takes 20 minutes. It can be a great place if you get a chance to talk to drivers, though the staff of the petrol station may not allow it.

It was a lucky day.  I didn't have to wait long to get a ride, and the guy was practically fluent in English.  He was an Austrian-Hungarian who handled construction contracts for various projects in Central Europe.  His current project was a large entertainment park that would be built right by the convergence of the Austrian-Slovak-Hungarian borders.  I had been through that empty region before.  I congratulated him on his success, but secretly felt that the last thing an untamed wilderness area needed was another massive, sprawling building complex.


View Larger Map
What did it matter?  I'm no fucking earth child.  With just one ride I was almost to the Slovak border.  The Austro-Hungarian dropped me off at the highway exit near Rajka which lead to his house and happy family.  At that moment, I saw no safe place by the highway so I went to the auxiliary road to keep from getting killed.

My luck ran out.  After an hour barely a car had driven by.  I was impatient and grumpy.  I estimated the border would be no more that a kilometer away so I started walking down the 150/S2 to see if on the other side I would encounter a bus stop where I could go directly to Bratislava.  My Budapest hostel hangover was starting to return and the coffee had wore off.  It's sunset.  I swear no more palinka ever again.

Highway M15: This is where you should cross the border

When I got to the border, there were no bus stops - hell, there weren't even cars.  A lonely, derelict border station from the days before the highway had been built sat there as a stunning monument to post-Communist neglect.  Here words like "renovation" and "renewal" don't exist.  The desolate relic mocked my stupidity for taking the auxiliary road instead of the highly-trafficked highway border crossing.  I crossed the border on foot alone.  The two cars that followed ignored me as I entered Slovakia.

There was another building ahead surrounded by trucks.  Perhaps I could rest there for a minute and find a ride.  Or perhaps not.

Road 150: This is where you shouldn't cross the border

Strip clubs are fun, but not the place to waste my time while I am still 20 kilometers from my final destination.  Plus I imagine that border strip clubs have some rather frightful ladies.  Beyond the club I saw nothing promising for a ride nor a rest.  I focused what little energy I had and swore I would walk all the way to Bratislava if I had to, God dammit.

Another kilometer down the the road my luck returned.  The two-lane road had been reduced to one-lane for a construction project.  Temporary stoplights had been put up in order to make the two-lanes alternate turns so as to avoid head-on collisions.  This created considerable backup on the lanes.  Bad for the drivers; good for me.  I started casually walking up and down the line of stopped cars asking for a ride.  Within 15 minutes a nice elderly couple had taken me to my old home of Ružinov, Bratislava.

I'm home again.  My European home.





  

Orava is Slovakia: Dolny Kubin Village Life

We've just seen the imposing, soaring beauty of Orava Castle in Slovakia.  Now its time to focus on something much simpler, but equally beautiful in Orava.  My Slovak friend invited me to his family cottage farm outside Dolny Kubin for a day.  I wish it could have been a lifetime.  I'm too cynical and sarcastic to use words such as charming, quaint, whimsical and idyllic, but these words describe the little family cottage very well.

Most tourists in Central/Eastern Europe will never experience this kind of building.  They focus on the usual giant castles, museums and central squares of Europe.  When venturing away from the tourist areas they look in disgust at the classic "Communist" blocks, or panelka, that are quite typical in countries affiliated with the former Soviet Union.

Charming in their own way; I feel like I'm visiting Pee-Wee's Playhouse.  The irony of these "Eastern" European buildings is that their design originates from a "Western" architect from England.  I guess Stalin was just very impressed with the economical advantage of these buildings and it quickly propagated throughout the region.  If you do go to smaller villages you will see the old, rustic small cottages from the pre-Communist days.

The small cottage I found myself at is self-sustaining.  It sits on a long, thin plot of land where my friend's family grows their own fruits and vegetables.  A short walk to the backyard treats you to a variety of berries, legumes, greens and fruit trees.  On that particular day I snacked on fresh gooseberries I had plucked from a bush out back.

All of this fresh food makes for great meals.  My friend's family treated me to some homemade Slovak cooking.  I'd never thought of dill as a good way to flavor food, but it worked very well as a sauce with meatloaf and Slovak knedl'a, a soft dumpling bread that's perfect for soaking up sauce.  In addition to this I stuffed myself with korbaciky syr, a salty string cheese that's everywhere in Orava.

 It's excellent comfort food when paired with a Pilsner beer and shot of Slivovica.  If you try it in the capital of Bratislava it just won't compare.  Unfortunately most tourist don't even give Bratislava a chance, much less the rest of Slovakia.  Come out to the countryside for some simple living and discover why I like this little country.