Bratislava, Slovakia

We said our goodbyes to Martin and headed off to meet Tomas in Slovakia's capital Bratislava. We honestly had no idea what to do or see the but Tomas, our new host, said he would be happy to show us around. He picked us up from the train station and we all felt like old friends. It was the coolest connection.  On the way back to his place he took us to the highest point in the city so we could see the skyline. It was beautiful. The Danube River runs through the middle of the city and separates the old and new city.  From here we walked to Slavin, the memorial and burial ground honoring the soviet soldiers who defended and took back Bratislava from the Nazis during World War Two.

View of the city sky line

This is monument was completed and opened to the public on the 15th anniversary of their victory over the Germans. 

The memorial says, "Eternal honor for heroes who fell in battles for the freedom of our country!"

While over looking the city he pointed out their castle. Steve and I asked if we could go see it and Tomas said sure. It is always fun to see a castle.  :). On the way there he got really excited and told us he had a surprise for us to see.  He pulled over and there was the US embassy. :). I think this is also where our President resides when he visits. It was really thoughtful for Tomas to show us this and stop for us to get a picture.  

After we got our photo at the embassy, we went to the Bratislava Castle. The castle is on a hill in the middle of the old city. The castle was in built in a very strategic spot where one can look over Bratislava, Austria, and some of Hungry. In 1811 the castle caught on fire and remained in ruins until 1953 when they started to reconstruct the castle. In the 60s the castle was opened again as a national monument and Slovak National Museum.   

Entrance to the castle.

Valiant king

Tourists :)

After our little photo shoot at the castle we went to Tomas's house, freshened up and headed out to explore the old city. We had such a good evening. Tomas was a great guide and took us to all the important places, all while giving us fun historical facts about the city and what it was like growing up in Bratislava. He took us to a nice restaurant and we had some yummy Slovak food. We had no idea what it would be like and were excited to try it.  We gave it two thumbs up. :).  After dinner we explored more of the city and had stopped to have drinks at a local bar.  We were very tired at that point from our day over traveling so we didn't stay out too late.  I felt so old. lol We didn't stay out and enjoy the night life because we were tired?!?!  Really?  When did we get that old?  Anyway, we called it a night and headed back home. 

Here are the pictures from our night out:

We took the bus into the old city from Tomas' house.  On our bus was this woman.  Steve absolutely loved her hair and her make up, her "whole look."  I told him if he loved it so much he should give her the compliment. He decided he would and he also wanted a picture.  Tomas offered to take the picture so Steve said "Okay."  Poor Tomas didn't know Steve well enough to know he wasn't joking. Steve walked right down the isle and started talking to the lady. Tomas was shocked! I told him be better go down there and help translate. That girl needed to know my husband wasn't a crazy creep or anything. Well, as you can see he got his picture.  Upon the boys return, Tomas was beet red and Steve was beeping with happiness because he got his picture. He said he wouldn't mind if I bleached my hair white blonde with blue highlights if I wanted to.  What do you think?  Do you think I could pull it off?  Lol. I told him, I didn't think I could rock white hair. ;-). Blonde, yes...white, no.

We had dinner at the Slovak Pub and it was delicious! There was all sorts of traditional decor and costumes around the pub to give it its authentic feel.  

 I ordered the Bryndzové halušky or potato dumplings with cheese and bacon. I can assure you this was very sinful and I had to so at least ten Hail Marys, four Our Fathers and about a million sit ups to work pay for this sin. 

Steve ordered the Cesnaková krémová polievka v bochníku or cream of garlic soup in a bread bowl. Wow! It was really good!  I need to learn how to make this for all you Garlic lovers in SJ and Gilroy.  Even as I am writing this Steve is drooling and wishing he could eat more.  

Steve also ordered a local soda that was special to that region named Kofola. It was like Coca Cola but Slovakian. :)

The old town Bratislava is a popular place to go out at night.  There are many bachelor and bachelorette parties walking though the streets and going into the clubs and pubs here.  Steve happened to see a group of younger ladies trying to take a photo of all of them in front of this fountain. Being the nice person he is, he offered to take their photo so they could all be in it together.  At first they were a little nervous that he was going to steel their camera, but decided to trust him anyway after making him promise he would not run away.  lol. When he was done, being the stinker he is, he said, "ok, now one with my camera but my friend Tomas has to be in the photo." You could tell the women felt a little awkward and Tomas was so embarrassed!  But the girls (only some of them) and Tomas were good sports and posed for a crazy American to take their photo.  This is that photo.  :)

The next morning we all relaxed a little and Tomas gave me a cooking lesson.  Turns out Tomas likes to cook too :) We spent some time bonding over food as he taught me to make Slovakian schnitzel. The biggest difference was their schnitzel is made with shredded potato in the batter around the meat and topped with a little cheese. We pared this delightful entrée with a Greek salad and rice. 

For dessert, Tomas made us raspberry pudding. Yummy. He surprised by personalizing each of our bowls so nicely. :)

After lunch Tomas went on a bike ride with his dad and Steve and I headed back into old town to enjoy it during day light hours.  It really is a charming city we enjoyed ourselves very much. 

This is the Grassalkovich Palace where the president lives. It was very big and hard to get a picture of the whole thing but you can get the idea :)

I absolutely loved this statue. It is called "Man at Work." lol. Turns out this man was stollen from his original spot and left somewhere else in town, so they returned it and bolted it down so it won't move again. :)

This is my man at work with the "Man at Work." 

This was a charming statue. It is so welcoming don't you think?  It just makes me smile. :-D

This is the old Town Hall that is now used as a city Museum.

This is Primate's Palace, built for Archbishop Jozsef Batthyany in the late 1770s.  It is most known for its Hall of Mirrors where the 4th peace of Pressburg was signed, thus ending the War of the Third Coalition.

Look at this cool architecture!  I really enjoyed the buildings in this city.  Notice the fountain on the left?  Yep, that is the same fountain where Steve scared those poor women the night before.

More nice buildings :-).

Cool round building Steve liked.  Can you tell we have different taste in architecture? lol. He likes his futuristic and modern looks, I like a older vintage feel. I don't know how we will ever decide on a house. Guess we will have to buy two. ;-)

Random but cool statues at a big mall located on the coastline of the Danube River.  They looked like they were having so much fun, I had to join in.  :-)

 Stopped and watched some volley ball games :-)

Beautiful sun set on the river.

Novy Most Bridge. This is the cities "flying saucer". It looks like that doesn't it?  That is actually a restaurant on the top that is said to have some of the best views of the city. We didn't eat there this time but maybe if we make it back we will.  It was really a cool site to see even if we didn't eat there. 

As we walked around the city we also saw some interesting sculptures.

What do you think he is looking for?

Do you think Alice got stuck in this Masquerade building like she did in the house in Wonderland?

We also saw these funny advertisements. (Btw I remember when I could do things like that.  I was VERY young. lol)  We always post odd advertisements but they really stand out to us. lol. I wonder what we will think of our adds when we get home.

It is  so cute! The animals are cleaning up in preparation for our visit :)

I believe this is another 0 km marker. Everything is measured out from this spot.

While walking through the streets of the old city one will notice a train of gold crown medallions on the floor.  If you follow these through the city you would be walking the same way the kings have when they are crowned.

After we were done exploring the city we went back and met Tomas and a friend for a game night. I also tried to teach them how to make rice crispy treats. They didn't have rice crispys or plain marshmallows but we improvised the best we could. Steve was not a fan. He really wanted them to experience the real thing but sadly they couldn't. Maybe in the future. :-). After we made the mock crispys, Tomas made us all 'Sex on the Beach' cocktails and we watched YouTube videos until his friend had to go home.  

The next morning we woke up and had to say our goodbyes. :(. It was so nice being with Tomas.  He was so smart, ambitious, friendly, fun to be with, and very giving.  Being at his place It felt like being with family.  We both felt like he was a younger brother.  We miss him very much and we hope he will visit the States someday so we can show him around our home town.  Tomas, you are a awesome and we miss you!

Vienna, Austria

We got into Vienna in the early evening, found our place and settled in.  Our host, Martin, was very nice.  His place was simple but comfortable.  he was a very generous soul and opened his home to couch surfers every day during the summer months. Steve and him had a lot to talk about; he is very green.  He had a solar cooker out on his deck that Steve was very excited about. :). Martin is a music school teacher and runs an organic gardening project on the side.  He has part of a crop field he and his students sow and reap.  Our first evening there he brought home salad from his garden for us all to share.  Over dinner we talked a lot and got to know each other a little bit.  Martin also gave us suggestions of where to go the following day and helped us plan out our route so we could get everything in.

Just hanging out at Martins house ;-)

 

My hip was giving me problems so Martin let us hang on his traction machine.  It was scary and all the blood rushed to our heads, but it was a new experience :)

The solar cooker I mentioned above.

The following morning we all had breakfast together. During breakfast we did a blind Nutella taste test. When I was younger my dad went to Germany and brought little packets of Nutella back with him. I remember thinking it was the best tasting breakfast spread I had ever tasted. I couldn't believe they ate chocolate for breakfast!  When we finally got Nutella in the States, or should I say when we found some, I tasted it and it was not at all like I remembered it.  It was good, don't get me wrong, but it was just not the same.  I have told Steve for a long time now there is a difference between our Nutella and German Nutella. After visiting Europe I can say there is a difference even in the European verses the Germany Nutella.  At this point Steve really started to believe I was off my rocker.  Remember we had bought a big jar of it in Munich before we left?  Well, Martin had a jar too so we decided we would blind fold Steve and hand him a spoonful of each on a piece of bread and see if he tasted a difference.  He even washed his mouth out with water in between each bite. Turns out he did taste a difference. The one from Germany was thicker and had a richer chocolate taste.  Now he understands me and Nutella is forever ruined for him. He as crossed over to the dark side and prefers German Nutella over the rest :). 

I couldn't resist putting some on his nose while he was blind folded.
Seriously, what kind of wife would I be if I didn't do it? Not a very fun one. 

There is a difference!!!!!  One of these things is not like the other ;-)

After breakfast and our little science experiment, we headed out to see the sites. As we were walking to the Schonbrunn Palace we came across a woman picking some sort of fruit or nut from a tree.  I stopped and asked the woman what she was picking and she showed us these.  She didn't speak much English but told us how to crack them and get the eatable nut out of the shell.  When I asked what it was she said it was a peanut. Well, you and I know this isn't a peanut or a proper peanut shell.  We tried to help her pick some more but she insisted on us taking a bunch home with us.  I thought Martin would like to try them and he might even know what they were. Turns out he didn't know what they were but we looked up Chinese hazelnut and sure enough that is what they are.

Do these look like peanuts to you?

They tasted pretty good

When we got to the palace we walked around the grounds and stayed in the gardens for about 2 hours.  It was so beautiful!  It was also relaxing to stroll through the garden hand in hand with the man I love.  :)  Check out these photos. The fountains and waterfalls were truly amazing!

Schonbrunn Palace

 The palace also had a marionette theater

 Lovely sites along our stroll in the garden

 The following three photos are part of the same fountain, I just couldn't get them all in the same photo :)

This is the view outside the back of the palace.  Can you imagine waking up and looking at this scene when you stepped out your pack door? 

On our way out we found this statue.  Not sure what the man was looking for in the lion's mouth so Steve thought he would look to see what was so interesting.  Maybe the man lost his watch down there and wanted to get it out.  Maybe he was giving the lion his routine dental cleaning.

Next we went to Naschmarkt, one of the most famous farmers markets in Vienna. We browsed for a while and ended up buying some tasty dried fruits to snack on. We even got a delicious cherry strudel :). Next we went to the Opera house, had lunch and continued to St. Michael's Square, St. Micheal's church, and St. Stephan's Cathedral.  Then we stopped for some vegan ice cream at a place called Eis Greissler that Martin had suggested we go to.  He said there is always a line out the door and he was right.  Not everything on the menu was vegan, they had regular organic milk ice cream too.  I got a scoop of cream cheese ice cream and a scoop of chocolate and man-o-man was it divine!  Why don't we have cream cheese ice cream in the States?  It tasted just like cream cheese frosting (my favorite).  Steve got 2 scoops of a vegan berry sorbe :). The flavors flooded his mouth and made him say Yumm!

Pretty buildings and sites we saw along our tour of Vienna

 

The best Cherry Strudel either of us have ever had!  Steve says he wished the woman lived closer to our home so we could get them all the time. :)

The dried fruit stand.  There was no sugar added, this company used honey and it was really good!  We shared these with Martin for dessert later this night.  ;-)

Really?!?!?!  Why would you were a fish on your shoulders like a shall?  Dis-gust-ing!!!!!  Why would you even use this as an advertisement.  It is just wrong.  lol

We had heard Coke was going to start putting names on their bottles and cans but this is the first time we had seen them.  It was pretty awesome!

This is for my unholy trinity  :)  Love you ladies!

The Opera House

This street reminded us of SF.  The style of architecture with the shops on the bottom and housing up top.  

Lunch :)  Shnitzel and knoedel :)

Feldmeyers, do you have knoedels?  Cause we do!!!!! ;-p
We may not be home to make them but we still got to eat them!
By the way they originated in here in Austria  :)

The man in this picture must have eaten too many knoedels. lol

More sites in the city

 

Hofburg Palace

St. Michael's square

St. Michael's church

St. Stephen's Cathedral--It was under renovation but you can get the idea :)

One of it's unique qualities is the mosaic tile work on the roof and the two bell towers.
It is still a functional church today.

Inside the Cathedral

The best ice cream shop in Vienna :-)

Random photo, but I really like their sale signs.  They are playing cards.  Cute huh?

After enjoying our refreshing treat we went to find the Kunst Haus Wien Museum. This was a bit of a challenge. Florian and Regina had recommended we go see it.  We walked around for what seemed like hours trying to find it. Eventually we got there but it was already to late to go in so we snapped a picture and headed over to our last stop at the giant Ferris Wheel at the Prater Herrrreinspaziert, a local amusement park.   It was a cute place but we didn't stay long because we were both tired and it was getting pretty late. We told Martin we would be home by dinner so we could share one last meal together before we moved on.  He made us a vegetarian meal in his solar cooker and we spent our last evening together laughing and enjoying each others company. You all know how much I like Christmas in all it's religious and cultural aspects.  I asked Martin about their traditions and we had a long talk about it.  But one part that stood out to Steve and I was about the holiday chocolates.  In Vienna they do celebrate the Christkin or Christ Child but apparently it was unacceptable eat a chocolate mold of the Christ Child or to wrap holiday chocolates with the child on the foil wrapper.  But it is perfectly acceptable to eat old fat men and bunny rabbits made of chocolate.  lol  This was a fun joke we laughed about for quite a while.  :-)

Kunst Haus Wien Museum

This is the famous Ferris Wheel that you see a lot in photos of Vienna's skyline.

Thank you Martin for opening up your home to us!