Next morning we open the drapes, and yes, pouring. We have waterproof jackets and umbrella but it’s hard manhandling them all with a suitcase and 33 rolling carry on bags too down through the cobbles. Fortunately the ferry to Bratislava runs practically at the bottom of our road on the canal and there is covered waiting. However, the boat is half an hour late.
Ted was told to book as Tuesday is seniors day and half price. Less than a dozen bedraggled customers share the whole boat with us. We sail down the Blue Danube. Everything is grey, foggy and wet. Little fishing huts pass by occasionally but no splendid shlosses.
We grab a cab on landing in Bratislava only to find our hotel is down the bottom of another pedestrian cobbled street (very charming but hell pulling cases down it!) Our friends Liz & Rod have stayed at the Sklaritz hotel so we are heartened it will be good.
It is a listed as a historic hotel and residence. In fact, we have an apartment about the size of our house. An enormous bathroom and, joy oh joy, a huge bathtub. I am in heaven! We are warmly welcomed and even though our stay is mostly in rain, we thoroughly enjoy this capital city of Slovakia.
We find a lovely cosy little resto just round the corner from our hotel and enjoy two nights there with lovely food, wines and friendly service, and free chasers after dinner. I believe we had duck confit both nights as it was so good the first time.
Venturing a bit further than the pedestrian way, we find the rest of the city dull and typical of post-communist architecture, I find a fantastic garlic soup at a modern brewery (Ted suffered from that for days…) and a handsome castle on the river’s edge worth a walk around.
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