Only an hour away, Bratislava, Slovakia was the perfect day trip from Vienna, Austria.
Bratislava is such a quaint, cute, and easily walkable city. Although we didn’t do much research about what to do and what to see here, we fully enjoyed the sights and sounds and found that this capital city of Slovakia had a lot to offer. Although I am sure that there were more tourists here than I realized, it seemed that most of the people around were from Slovakia, and hardly anything was translated into English. In my opinion, there is something special about going to a place where one is able to see the true culture and speak to locals. I love it!
After stumbling upon the find the pinkest, floweriest, and happiest cafe ever(!!!), we walked around to enjoy the adorable streets.
Next we came upon the cutest Saturday market full of local vendors and townspeople doing their Saturday morning routine. There were plenty of food options to sample before asking one of the vendors what traditional, must-have-Slovakian pastry we should try. He directed us to this absolutely delicious, melt-in-your-mouth baked bread with fermented sheep cheese on it. I honestly wish we would have got more to bring back to Vienna with us. It was absolute perfection!
We did seek out to find the infamous blue church, which was very different than any church I’ve ever seen. Sadly it was closed, but a peek through the window revealed that the inside was also blue!
A walk across the river and through a park led us to Aupark, perhaps one of the nicest malls I’ve ever been to. I was pleasantly surprised and had never expected to find such a mall there. There were so many stores and a magnificent food court where we ate the best lunch of hummus, falafel, and cooked vegetables. The worker here was so precious, and even though we couldn’t read the menu board, she spoke English so well and put anything on our plate we wanted.
I would highly recommend going to Bratislava! It is a city with so much to offer and so many kind people! There are many reasons I would love to return, the top four being:
One // The Pink Garden - Absolutely. 100%. No explanation required.
Two // The fermented sheep cheese pastry - Cheesy and so yummy.
Three // Aupark Mall - I’d love to shop more and eat more hummus, falafel, and vegetables!
Four // To buy a postcard - I buy a postcard from every new European city I visit and I FORGOT!
22,000 steps and a bus ride later we were back in Vienna, so glad to have experienced another new place in God’s beautiful world.
