Danube - Slovakia Sept 11

Hainburg to Bratislava 

We had a short ride into Bratislava this morning.  We rode just 24k.

As we left Hainburg we could see the castle on the hill above the city.  We saw it as the approaching army of the Turks saw it in 1638.  It looks very impressive and quite formidable.  It would seem as if it were impenetrable.  Yet the Turks took it and burned the city.  They carried away or killed 8,000 townspeople.  

We rode off through the plains that lie next to the Danube.  We came to a small village just before the border.  It had several weathered buildings that you could see off in the woods.  They looked as if in their day they were very stately and probably home to great nobility.

But time has not been kind to them.

The neglect of the years has worn a tired image on their facade.

We came to the border of Austria and Slovakia.  There were no signs or markings denoting it.  There were just abandoned buildings where a check point used to be during the Communist rule of Slovakia.

This is the checkpoint or at least what used to be the checkpoint.

There are signs of the old totalitarian regime as we pedaled past the border.  This is a concrete pillbox which would stood watch over the fields leading to the border.  It would have posed a formidable field of fire to keep the border sealed.

There was also an example of tank traps should an invasion occur.

As we rode into Bratislava we saw the impressive castle sitting on the banks of the Danube.

This is a picture of after restoration.

Here is a picture of the castle before restoration when it was virtually a ruins.

Bratislava has many of the old ornate buildings with architectural details and design.  But as you can see, the care and restoration has not been kept up.

The city has a weather worn look to it in some of its buildings.  Whether that is due to its communist history or its lack of economic resources is a question.  It does feel like a poorer city than the other European cities we have traveled through.  This is our first exposure to the post iron curtain countries of Europe.

We shall see what lies ahead of us as we travel our last leg through the former iron curtain Eastern Europe villages and cities.

Our evening in Bratislava was great in that we were treated to a concert by wager appeared to be the Slovakian National Orchestra.  First they played in the market square.  They were playing Roll Out The Barrels and a little old lady dressed in pink was dancing up a storm all by herself off to the side.  It looked like she was solo polka dancing.  It was adorable.  Then later the orchestra was playing on a band stand in the town square.  It was one of those times when you thought... how nice of them to do this for us.  

The town square with the band stand at the foot of the church building.

The fountain that centered the town square.