Slovakia First Stop The Capital Bratislava
- Train into Bratislava: An
interesting
city with a rich history stretching back to 5,000 BC and the first
significant settlement around 200 BC. Wine making in the area is
attributed originally to the Romans and continues to this day.
Over the centuries and indicative with some of the architecture
it became part of the Hungarian Empire, Ottoman Empire and was besieged
and damaged by the Turks also more damage was inflicted by Napoleon.
It was during the 16th and 19th centuries that it became the
royal seat of Hungarian Kings. Over the years it has been
occupied by several other nations too. Bratislava Castle was
originally built between the 9th and the 18th century and then rebuilt
during 1950's and 1960's. Although the old town can be dated back
to around the 10th century a lot of the buildings can still be
dated as far back as the 15th century. The Radisson Blu Carlton
Hotel sits on the site of a smaller hotel dating back to the 13th
century and the present larger hotel was constructed in 1837. There are
numerous other buildings in this city just as grand as this one.
We really
could have spent more time here as the history, the buildings, museums,
theatres and galleries would satisfy most travellers.
- Next Train into Poprad:
Great little city,
not a lot to see here but a great place to base yourself and drive to
all the historic and tourist places. If you hire a car all the
hire car companies are at a small airport (not commercial and hard to
find take a taxi).
There are numerous historic and interesting places to see around
this city and around the mountains. We chose just a few and hired
a car for 3 days. One of the most famous castles is the 12th
century Spis Castle. A Unesco world heritage site it is one of
the largest castles in Central Europe. With a long and rich
history it was built on the site of an earlier castle. It was one
of the administrative, cultural and economic centres of the Kingdom of
Hungary and owned by several families over the centuries.
According to details shown at the castle the last family who
owned it were the Csáky
family who apparently lived there from 1638 to 1945 after that the
castle was taken over by the state. As you can see from some of
the photographs a lot of restoration continues to be done and more
history is being discovered. A very interesting place to visit
but only by tour bus or car.
- High Tatra Mountains and Ski Slopes: Fantastic place to see even a bit chilly this time of the year.
Well worth the cost of the cable car up there. We went up
two stages but could have gone up further but there was a lot of cloud
up higher. Must be quite a sight in the winter with the snow and
a great place for skiers. Part of the Southern Carpathians on the
borders of Poland and Slovakia some parts rise to a height of 2,500
metres with a length of 1,200 kilometres.
- Dobsinska Ice Caves:
Discovered in 1870 they were opened
a year later and in 1887 became the first electrically lit caves in the
world. We felt they were worth the long steep climb up but having
seen caves in a number of different parts of the world we were a little
disappointed. To take any photographs you had to pay an extrafee
and the only guides were Slovakian speakers and we amongst a group from
all over Europe couldn't understand a word the guide was saying.
A little more effort for the tourist money should be expected I
think.
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