Bratislava, Slovenia

For a change of scenery, we headed over to Slovakia to see a little of the Old Town in Bratislava. All thing are possible when you are retired and the train tickets and hotels are cheap. Above is the street (pedestrian) just outside our hotel. At the end of the street is Michael's Gate. This is only remaining of the four original medieval gates to the city. It was built in 1300 and reconstructed in 1758 in its current form.



Our hotel was remarkably inexpensive...only $100 euros. But we sure hit the jackpot with this place. Have a look...

Breakfast the next morning was really good. I can strongly recommend a stay at the Skaritz Hotel & Residence when you visit Bratislava.

Out on the street, we find small vignettes with interesting lamps.

Even the backs of the old buildings are fun.

There are places where things are not well maintained. I suspect that much of this place, at one time or another, looked like this.

In other places, it has kept up with the times and the demands of the many tourists that passed us in tightly bundled groups led by their respective guides. One such nod to the vibrant tourism activity is the so-called Man at Work. This is a brass status of a man crawling out of a manhole at the edge of the street.

In the main square, we see the tower of the old city hall building.

Across the square stands the Roland Fountain. From Wikipedia

Its construction was ordered by Maximilian II, the king of Royal Hungary, in 1572 to provide a public water supply. The fountain is topped by a statue of Maximilian portrayed as a knight in full armour sculpted by master A. Lutringer. Its current appearance is probably far from its original look, since it has been modified and rebuilt several times.

I don't remember what church this is (there are so many, not all open to visitors), but the steeple design caught my eye.

This bicycle stand with the ends made to look like early high-wheeled versions, holds only one bicycle. This one bike happened to be a very bright color so I unsaturated the background to enhance this bright color.

Around Michael's Gate the street is lined with restaurants, bakeries, and souvenir shops.

All sorts of brightly decorated dolls are for sale along with clothes for people, candy, food, and tons of other things just begging to go home with you.

For dinner, we learned of a well reviewed pizza place so we walked out Michael's Gate and around the corner for an excellent meal. On the way back, I spied this statue at the Gate. I suspect it is the angel Michael himself wielding his sword.