It’s Monday evening December 2 (actually it’s only 5pm, but it feels much later) and I’m writing this blog from our apartment in Budapest, Hungary. We arrived late yesterday afternoon, after the 3 of us suffering from insomnia Sunday night and having to hang around Bratislava train station for an extra 30 mins due to our train being delayed. Once we were on the train, everything was smooth and we found the right tram to deliver us to our suburb (District 7) – it’s the Jewish Quarter (named from back in the day, not necessarily now).

Bratislava was a happy accident. We had no plan – in fact, I can’t even tell you why we chose to go there, except “It’s not too far from Vienna and it’s in Slovakia” Slovakia is new country for us and we loved every minute.

Wednesday – Our apartment, as mentioned in the last blog, was smack in the middle of old town and a stone’s throw to the busy main square (Hlavne namestie) which at this time of the year is set up with the Christmas market. On our first night, we walked around the markets and found plenty of delicious drinks to keep us warm and some hearty traditional foods. The square itself was looking beautiful – the Christmas decorations and lights really added to the vibe. Rod made friends with one of the stall workers selling their national dish – bryndzove hallusky (potato dumplings with various toppings). They struck up a conversation over Christmas markets (Bratislava vs Vienna) and us travelling from Australia. He was surprised by both! As we were eating the dumplings, other staff from the same stall kept looking at us and giving us a thumbs up, then he walked over and checked for himself that everything was good. Such friendly people. Throughout the week, Rod also made friends with one of the stall workers who sold hot alcoholic drinks closest to our apartment – we were there most days!

Thursday – Those warming drinks certainly creep up on you – which we didn’t realise until the next day. We’re slow to get started anyway, but with slightly heavy heads, we planned the day which included buying winter boots for Hamish. I’ve had my eye on a shoe shop called Deichmann, as they were having a good sale, so we headed to Nivy (huge, sparkling, modern shopping centre) with a Deichmann and found a pair of waterproof boots for 49 Euro – does Landrover really do a boot? The trip to the shopping centre included lunch (traditional for Hamish, miso soup and dumplings for Rod and I) and a few sights along the way, including the beautiful Blue Church (it’s rarely open for visitors) and the less fun, but significant, Memorial to the Victims of Communism. During the walk home, we had to try and answer Hamish’s question of the day: “What is Communism?”

We left Hamish at the apartment to do some maths with a promise of dessert at the market after dinner, and went for a pint at the local Scottish Pub (with beers so big you need two hands to hold) followed by a Kilkenny at the Irish pub next door.

As there is little difference between high and low temps here in winter, it does’t make much difference if you’re out in the day or the evening. Sometimes it’s just a few degrees of variation, say 6 degrees in the day and 3 degrees at night – makes little difference to your comfort. Once we delivered on the ‘dessert at the market’ we walked down to the Danube and walked home via the other Christmas market, just a few hundred meters away.

Friday – After a quick shop at Aldi (where you can buy shots of Vodka for $1.12 at the checkout) we visited Bratislava Castle, which proudly sits overlooking the city. It was a pretty easy walk with a generous sprinkle of steps thrown in to keep us warm. Some of the interior of the castle houses the Historical Museum which took us on a journey from prehistoric times (BC, Stone Age, Iron Age) to Roman Times to the more recent Velvet Revolution (when the Soviets left Slovakia). The history of Slovakia would take a lifetime to get your head around – it was part of Czechoslovakia (which we know as two seperate countries: Czekia and Slovakia) but has also had parts of its territory in Hungary. It seems every big player has tried to take a piece of Slovakia.

Saturday – We set out mid morning to walk to the UFO Tower, which is a 95m observation deck, bar and restaurant on the Danube. It was a clear, sunny morning which made for magnificent views of the city. As we were catching the lift to the top, I just had a funny feeling the observation deck was going to be outside – and I was right! As the lift stopped, we got out, saw the enclosed bar and restaurant to our left, but followed everyone heading up stairs to the open air observation area. Typical Eastern European fun.

Taking advantage of the sunny weather, we walked along the Danube. We grabbed some lunch at an unexpectedly excellent Asian restaurant in a small shopping centre (Rod and I actually shared some noodles here Wednesday when we did some grocery shopping) with a plan for me to to stay and get a manicure whilst Rod took Hamish home to do some maths. I had to call my Knight in Shining Armour back 30 mins later to pay, as they only took cash and I only had my phone with me.

Saturday evening we opted for dinner in a restaurant which served traditional foods (Hamish had dumplings and chicken, Rod had beef stroganoff and I had schnitzel) and had one last lap of the markets before retiring home.

We still cooked at home during our stay in Bratislava (Red curry with chicken and rice, pork stir fry with rice another night), but for the record, these are the foods and hot drinks we tried at the Christmas markets:

Honey Mead, Hot white wine, Apple gingerbread punch, Black Currant wine and Hot chocolate (non alcoholic).

Potato dumplings, potato pancake/fritter (kartoffelpuffer) bigger than a dinner plate, churros, funnel cake with cinnamon and sugar, Slovak crescent bread.

I haven’t captured the emotions we felt being in Bratislava – it’s hard to put into words, but they are the feelings that fill your chest with warmth and joy and the privilege of travel. If you ever get the chance, do not hesitate to put Bratislava on your travel list. It was simply incredible.