138 – Castles and old haunts

With limited time before my dad’s flight home from Bratislava we decided to drive out to Mödling to a lovely cafe called Mr Beans. I had no idea it would be so busy and there was no chance of us getting a table, so it was an expresso to go…sorry mum I know dad’s not meant to have coffee 🙈

We then visited Devin Castle, and walked the pups by the river. It’s a lovely spot and you can quite imagine relaxing with a book there the whole day.

With dad safely on his way home, Mark and I drove back to our original parking spot in Bratislava overlooking the river. We walked the railway bridge, through a new part of town to have a delicious vegan ice cream at Koun and visit the Galerie Nedbalka, which had some lovely artworks, sculpture and gave free coffee with €5 entrance fee – what a perk!

Having memorised where the Oldest Shop was, I bought more Rozok pastry and enjoyed listening to a mini concert in a bubble dome before heading back home to relax and plan the week ahead.

With retrospect Mark and I both agreed we prefer Bratislava to Vienna as it has more charm and a nice vibe. In fairness to Vienna I think our usual city sight approach doesn’t really work. I think you need to go inside a lot of the buildings to experience their full effect. There are many museums/tours we just didn’t have time to do (globe, clock, crypts, library, opera house). It’s also a hub for dark noir and has great cemeteries and murder museums if you like that sort of thing.

For us though we just felt Vienna lacked any soul. It seemed too neat/sterile. I often prefer the upcoming grungy neighborhoods and we didn’t find that in vienna.

Also most surprising, we had been told it would be hard to avoid music…in reality we heard none. Where are the buskers that add atmosphere and life to a city? Having not got opera tickets in time (my fault), the tourist fodder of chaps dressed up in Edwardian garb touting tickets left little to be desired. If I’m more organised I may go back…but there are other cities that caught my heart.