We are at a sweet little B&B in Ljubljana, Slovenia, currently and winding down in bed after a nice walk around town. We should be spending the next few nights here before flying back to Berlin for one last night and then flying home. Tomorrow we plan on taking a day trip to Lake Bled since the weather should be nice there.
Friday April 29th: On our last day in Vienna we got our first really nice day for weather. The sun was out and it was warm enough to go without jackets, but we kept our scarves on because we're not animals. Trains to Bratislava leave Vienna 16 minutes after the hour every hour so we thought we'd take a leisurely morning stroll for breakfast. Kat was actually craving a sausage that morning so I thought "Now's my chance!" When we got out to the main boulevard we discovered that a flea market had sprung up overnight running down the side street. When we went to investigate we could see it stretched all the way down the street and out of sight. Kat was curious so we wandered down the aisle while I kept my eyes peeled for a sausage stand. It stretched on and on filled with scarves, antiques, knock-off brand shoes, perfume, kitchy art, leather belts, and knickknacks of all kinds, but there was never a hot sausage in sight. We stopped for hot caffeinated beverages before turning around and heading back the way we came.
We reached the main boulevard again and we were still unsasuaged, but I had a plan. I'd seen that late night sausage stand the previous evening on my dinner run so I steered us in that direction. I wasn't sure if it'd be open early as well, but I was hoping. We walked a few blocks and just as I was about to give in to despair it appeared around a corner and glory of glories it was open! After the long wait and with much anticipation we were about to get sausaged in Vienna. We pointed at two good looking sausages and the sausageman grabbed a couple of big rolls, cut an end off of each of them, shoved them on these heated spike things to make a hollow core in them, filled them with ketchup, then stuffed the sausages in the holes, and even put the little end cap back on them, making the perfect sausage holder. It was all I had dreamed of and more. Although I did almost get ketchup all over myself when I bit down and it squirted out all at once.
We eventually came back to our room to find the door open and K&T trying to clean it again. We had mentioned that we might check out early, but had changed our minds. I guess they didn't get the memo. Feeling like we had better leave so they could get on with their cleaning without us in their way we packed up our bags once again and took the U-bahn to Vienna Central Station to catch the train to Bratislava.
By the time we reached the station it was very nearly time for the 10:16 train to leave, but I didn't have tickets yet. I tried to work the automated ticket machine but it only wanted to sell me round-trip tickets and we weren't planning on coming back so I had to go talk to a real person. By the time I got our tickets it was 10:13 and we had to run to catch our train once again. We got on with no problems and moved to the back of a car where we could spread out with our big bags. Our plan was to find a place to store them once we got to Bratislava.
The ride took just over an hour. We knew we were going to leave by bus from a different station so we decided to head there first and look for lockers. My first impression of Bratislava near the main train station was that it's a bit rough around the edges. Things are a bit more run-down and less cared for than in some of the other places we'd been. Little details like potholes in the roads, crumbling sidewalks, graffiti on the walls, and overflowing garbage cans all contribute to giving you a bit of a sketchy feeling even though it was quite safe.
I grabbed a map and we headed toward the main bus station where we planned to stash our big bags before exploring old town. Along the way we passed by a rather nice looking cemetery and park fenced in by a tall concrete dividing wall with interesting little portholes looking through. We got to the main bus station and it looked even more rough around the edges than the train station did. There weren't any pay lockers, but there was a luggage guy sitting behind a locked gate you could pay to watch your bags. It cost 1.5 euros for 1 day per bag, but only until 18:00. We planned to be leaving by bus around 19:45 so we took him up on it. We just had to be sure to be back before 18:00 or we weren't getting our bags back.
Our first priority after dropping off the bags was food. On our way toward old town we located "1. Slovak Pub", one of Rick's recommended eateries. At first I thought it was going to be a little gimmicky and overrated, what with the themed rooms and informative displays and such, but the meal turned out to be quite good. We left feeling full and refreshed and ready to explore.
The main approach to old town takes you down an angled alleyway and through Michael's Gate. Once you pass through the gate it feels like a whole different world from the rest of Bratislava. Where the rest of Bratislava felt ugly and dead, old town on the other hand is clean, charming, and vibrant. As we wandered down the alleyways we kept an eye out for cannonballs from the time of Napoleon's siege that were apparently still embedded in a few of the buildings in the area. We popped our heads into hidden courtyards looking for art and interesting cafes. We found some strange and whimsical sculptures and a tiny and high-strung dog in a track suit named Lenny.
When we got to the river we considered walking all the way across the UFO bridge and riding up to the top, but gave up and found the closest cafe with free wifi instead. It was only 15:00 or so, but we were already feeling about ready to move on. Our bus wouldn't be there for almost another 5 hours so we sat and had drinks while using the internet and rested.
After a couple hours we wandered back the way we came and finally spotted a couple of the cannonballs that had been incorporated into the building walls. We made it all the way back to the bus station in time to rescue our bags and then sat down to have a bagel sandwich and a glass of wine at a strange cafe made our of a bus inside the station. We continued to use the internet as we passed the time until the cafe eventually closed and shut their wifi down.
With only a half hour left to wait we headed outside to the platform and grabbed a bench. While waiting we met a family of American ex-patriots who were living in France and who were going to be on our bus to Budapest. We had a nice chat, but soon became concerned when the bus failed to arrive at the proper time. We saw other buses to Budapest come and go, but our bus was getting later and later. Finally after being almost 1.5 hours late the yellow internet bus arrived. I never did get an explanation as to why. It also came as a surprise when we were charged 50 euro cents per bag, which we'd hadn't had to pay on previous yellow internet buses. The final surprise came when we learned that there would be no internet available on the yellow internet bus. Apparently that only worked in Czechia. All in all it was our worst yellow internet bus ride ever.
It was an almost 3 hour ride to Budapest and it was well past midnight when we finally arrived. We walked to the closest Metro station, which had already closed down and was filled with sleeping homeless people and a group of rowdy drunk people. I nervously purchased our public transportation passes for the next few days from an automated machine and we hurried out to the bus stop to catch a night bus that would take us into town and closer to our hotel.
It was a short walk from the bus stop to our hotel, the K&K Hotel, which turned out to be in a very good central location near the Opera House. They did have these big chunky electronic key cards and these weird knobs on the doors though. When we got into our room we went right to sleep.
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