Slovakia and Vienna (14/02 – 16/02)

The night train to Bratislava turned out to be very nice in comparison. I was kind of sensitive about trains then because of the event in the one to Krakow.

My first compartment with couchettes, and just for myself! This was the kind of experience I was going to have during the transsiberian.

Sadly, I didn’t have enough time to sleep for the train dropped me in Bratislava at 5:30 or so, but surprisingly, the train station was not completely empty, quite lively to be so early, instead.

I followed the hostel signs at the station and I reached one at 6 in the morning, quite near.

They wouldn’t let me check in till 14h, but they let me stay in the reception room and kept my baggage.

As soon as the sun went up I went for a slow walk around the town, I had in fact 6 hours before I could get a bed.

Entering Bratislava’s Old Town by Michael’s bridge (statue of the archangel featured) I saw the Clock’s Tower and beside it the so-named “narrowest house in Central Europe” (lol).

It was freezing cold but I was getting used to this kind of weather, but anyway I got into a café for a long breakfast, tea and a piece of chocolate cake included.

After a while, it was snowing heavily for the first time in my trip, I zipped tight my coat and climbed to the castle.

All in all, Bratislava has a pretty Old Town, it reminded me a bit of a little German town.

Many Catholic churches and convents, though. In this area some churches already display domes of similar shape to the onion domes of the Eastern faith.

Bratislava also homes many strange statues in hidden corners of the town. Some examples are those faces below, the bronze statue of the sewer worker, etc.

I had lunch in an Slovak restaurant's cellar-like room, ate chicken with peaches and cheese, and strudel for dessert, delicious.

When I could finally get in the hostel I lived like some other hostel-dwellers, staying the afternoon in my room with 6 other people.

I shared the room notably with two Brazilian girls (studying and working in Central Europe, respectively) and a South African resident in England, fan of snowboarding and mountains.

I reached my westernmost point in one year when I arrived to Vienna.

That was an opportunity to meet again a dear friend.

She took me to a cemetery where we could behold the tombs of Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert and others, and then had lunch at a cool central Pakistani self-service all-you-can-eat restaurant, where you could pay whatever you feel like!!

In Vienna I ended one part of the trip, the inner circle, I left behind whatever I could have felt like home and prepared myself to enter the unknown territory of Ukraine next day.

Western European imperial buildings still present in Vienna.