It’s that time of year when the Christmas markets around Europe are starting. In the five years I lived in Slovakia, I’ve visited vianočné trhy – Christmas markets in Bratislava and Nitra but almost all the larger towns and cities will have one, usually from the weekend beginning with Advent until December 24th.
Exactly 40 years ago to the day, on August 21, 1968, Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia in a concerted effort to put down Prague Spring – a period of political liberalization. When the tanks came into Bratislava Ladislav Bielik, a newspaper photographer was there taking pictures.
Mr. Bielik’s photos are extremely important because they serve as a stark reminder of the face of aggression, past and present. I had seen one of his photographs before. It’s probably his most famous from the series—the picture of the man baring his chest to a tank gun.
Bratislava castle is in the midst of a reconstruction project and according to an article in the Slovak Spectator, the project will take place over the next four to five years. Though some areas will be restricted, the castle is not shut down and visitors are still welcomed.
What are they doing? They are restabilizing the castle’s foundation as well as renovating castle hill and the surrounding areas, back to their original Baroque look.
There is a very interesting exhibit on display at the Slovak National Gallery called “How Did We Live?”. The exhibit has a collection of photographs from Slovakia in the 20th century and addresses the question of how Slovaks lived in the past 100 years. In addition to photographs and postcards there are more than 2000 items exhibited to help the visitor feel the “soul of the times”. The goal of the presentation is to take the visitor through a fascinating historical journey through Slovakia in the 20th century.
Almost everyone knows that if you say the word “football” in Europe, people will think you are referring to soccer. There are a lot of passionate soccer fans in Europe, and Slovakia too, though I would say ice hockey is the sport that lies closest to people’s hearts in Slovakia. Even though American football is popular in the US, it’s not that popular abroad. Still, if you’re a fan of American football like I am, look for it while you are abroad and you will likely find it being played somewhere.
Recently I read an article in the Slovak Spectator about the Hotel Kyjev, called Jewel of modernist architecture slated for demolition. The hotel, located in Bratislava at Kamenné námestie, may be destroyed along with the Prior (Tesco) department store buildings as part of a development project called “Centre Plaza”. No date has been set for any action.
The Google Maps application is amazing. Not only do you have the option of how you want to view your map (satellite view, terrain, or traditional), but I discovered that in looking up street addresses in Bratislava, you can find public transportation information, with the numbers of bus, trollejbus and trams that stop along routes.
If you spend an extended amount of time or live in Bratislava, part of your shopping experience may be visiting one of the city’s open markets. An open market includes stalls and vendors selling everything from locally bottled honey and fresh bread, to cheap Chinese-made clothing.
The biggest of these markets is on Miletičová street. I often enjoyed going to this market. In my estimation, it has the biggest selection of fresh fruits and vegetables and I was always able to find a good selection of preserved-bottled goods. I also always bought sweet breads and, at some point, had to have langoš – fried dough topped with cheese and ketchup.
Slavín is the name of a memorial in Bratislava, located on a hill close to the city center. It was opened in 1960 and is a memorial and cemetery of the Soviet soldiers that died while fighting to liberate the city from the Axis units, mainly made up of Germans, in April 1945.
Slavín is a neat place to visit if you want to see some spectacular panoramic views of Bratislava and clear views of Bratislava castle. Once, some friends and I went up to take some pictures. We did a little exploring at the top, and found a little path that led us to the side and away from the monument (looking at the image on the right, you’d go down the stairs in the direction of Nový most, about half way until you see a small path on the right side). There behind the trees we found a free-standing bunker. I was surprised. When was it built, who built it, and what were they defending against?
As an English teacher in Slovakia at the university level, I sometimes had the opportunity to work with students on their thesis work or projects. By chance I worked in the Department of Architecture at the Technical University in Bratislava. Though usually my input to students never went beyond the assistance of academic writing, I appreciated that I was none the less exposed to a range of works regarding architecture.
Architecture interests me. And undoubtedly, living in a new environment makes a person more aware of their surroundings. Over the years of living in Bratislava, there was only one architectural structure that created in me such a varying range of conflicting and strong emotions: Nový Most – New Bridge.
The following excerpt is taken from The Foreigner’s Guide to Living in Slovakia.
The population of Bratislava is approximately 450,000 and the city is separated into five districts. The following are descriptions of particular areas in each district, and details to consider when choosing a place to live:
Bratislava is not only the capital of Slovakia, it is the economic center of the country and thus, the most likely location a foreigner will move to if coming to Slovakia. In these next few blogs, I’d like to provide some of my experiences in Bratislava along with some practical information about the different districts of the city for anyone who is curious or may be considering a move.
First, I’d like to share my thoughts about the city and why I developed an appreciation for living in Bratislava:
Ondrejský cintorín – Ondrej cemetery is located fairly close to the main bus station in Bratislava. It’s actually a pretty neat cemetery because to me, it’s a “Pressburg” cemetery. What I mean by “Pressburg” is that the people who are buried in Ondrejský cintorín reflect the population of Pressburg (the town name of Bratislava before 1918) from the 18th to 20th centuries. If you walk through Ondrejský cintorín, you will see grave stones in three languages, with names of people from three ethnicities: German, Hungarian, and Slovak.
In the section of the cemetery on the left side of the church, there is a pamiatnik – monument to the “Pressburg ‘Robinson’ ”, Karl Jetting. Who was Karl Jetting and why is there a monument to him?
While I lived in Bratislava teaching English, one of the companies I taught at was Kraft Foods Slovakia, a.s. Kraft owns and operates a factory on Račianska Street in an industrial part of Bratislava, which produces one of Slovakia’s most famous food brands: Figaro chocolate.
Very quickly I realized that the brand Figaro was a force to be reckoned with on the Slovak chocolate market. Their main competitor? The Czech chocolate company Orion, owned and operated by another food giant: Nestlé. This was interesting to me; a “food fight”, so to speak, of Kraft versus Nestlé.
One of the dominant styles of architecture found in Bratislava, and across much of Slovakia, is a style called socialist realism. This style of architecture originated in the Soviet Union and then was spread to many other communist countries. In Wikipedia, socialist realism is described as follows:
“[Socialist realism] depicts and glorifies the struggle toward socialist progress… . Its purpose was to elevate the common worker, whether factory or agricultural, by presenting his life, work, and recreation as admirable. In other words, its goal was to educate the people in the goals and meaning of Communism.”
On several different travel forums I’ve seen this question posed more than once:
I have the possibility of traveling to Bratislava since it is so close to Vienna, before I travel to Prague (or Budapest). Is Bratislava worth the stop?
The short answer is yes, it’s worth the trip. The longer answer is, based on the factors that people base their decision, such as time, cost, and interest, here’s why if you have a few hours to spare before on your way to Prague or Budapest, then a trip to Bratislava is worth it:
Bratislava has many sides. Below are just a few. Some of the features that contrasts Bratislava with other Slovak cities are its Old Town and the Danube River.
©Ľubomír Báťa
Looking for more details about life in Slovakia? The book contains everything from a concise Slovak history to sample bus schedules, law matters, and explanations of Slovak traditions. Book Info