So here we go....
My original plan for visiting Bratislava was supposed to include a couple nights PRIOR to dog-sitting in Budapest (staying at a "Botel" - an old boat that's been refurbished and is on the Danube just outside the main center of Bratislava Old Town with views of the Castle on the hill)! But since I ended up staying in Bratislava on New Year's Eve, I had to go for a different option. Sadly, the Botel was sold out (and probably waaaay beyond my budget anyway for that night)!! But, it would have been a cool place to experience the city and see all the fireworks on the river (and probably would have made it a bit easier to navigate my time there)!! Oh well, something to think about for the next time I'm in Bratislava on New Year's Eve... ha ha!!
Then again, if I had stayed at the Botel, I would have missed out on other interesting experiences because once again, I was struck by the kindness of strangers when I arrived late on New Year's Eve. I had to wait for the people I was dog-sitting for in Budapest to return (just in case they had any flight delays - since the dog couldn't take care of himself!!), so I wasn't able to leave during the daylight hours (which I usually try to do just to get a "lay of the land" before it gets too dark)!!
After driving through a neighborhood far away from the Old Town Center (an area in the U.S. that would have given me pause....what looked like blocks and blocks of old tenement buildings but were, in fact, where many people lived in nicely remodeled Communist block-style buildings), I breathed a sigh of relief when the nice lady met me at the door in her slippers with a smile on her face. I don't often feel scared when I travel, but I had an "uh-oh" moment in the back of the taxi when I wondered what I might have gotten myself into!! But all was well...just far away from the Center of town where most of the other tourists were!
As she was showing me around the room, I said something about getting groceries the next day and she said EVERY grocery store and most restaurants would be closed (not only for New Year's Day, but because it's a National Holiday for them since their country was "created" on January 1, 1993 when it split from the Czech Republic)! Hmmmm.....I hadn't thought about the 1st being a holiday, and since I wasn't in the center of town where they cater more to the tourists and usually keep a FEW restaurants open, I hadn't planned for this possibility. I had booked this AirBnb at the last minute (well....last minute for me since I would've booked a place for New Year's Eve waaaay in advance to find the best/cheapest place close to the center of town, but everything changed once I found out the house-sitting people were returning on New Year's EVE instead of the 1st which was the original date)!
ANYWAY....the AirBnb lady graciously offered me coffee, milk, toast, etc. for breakfast, then fixed a FULL Holiday Meal for me (bean & ham soup, roasted chicken, rice, salad, bread - more than I would normally eat in one meal for sure)!! I ended up sending her a bit of extra $$ through AirBnb since I didn't have any cash on me, but it was nice to know there are such kind people in the world who are willing to share their food and provide such kind hospitality even without payment!! I did make my way to the grocery store once everything opened up on the 2nd (a miserable 5-minute walk each way that convinced me I didn't want to go sightseeing!!), so I snuggled in and prepared for warmer weather in Spain!!
I could feel that I was DONE with the cold weather and Central Europe, and I was more than ready to hop on that plane to Valencia when January 3rd rolled around!! The lady was worried about me getting a Taxi so early in the morning, so I ended up getting to the OUTDOOR bus stop to the Vienna Airport VERY early (and thus, I ended up standing in the FREEZING COLD for almost an hour)!! (I was expecting more of a Bus Station where I could wait indoors, so I just thought "better early than take a chance on missing my plane" - but NOPE!!! - it was just a bus STOP and not a Station.... Brrrr!!!)
I was bundled up as much as possible, but by the time the bus arrived I was sure I had frostbite on my fingers, nose and toes....yikes!! (This time I decided to keep my phone close to my body and WARM to be sure it didn't stop working - like in Prague!! I guess that's the advantage of challenging experiences when I travel - I know better for the next time!!) But again, visiting with strangers helped pass the time and made it a much more enjoyable experience - commiserating this time with two sweet girls from Brazil who were REALLY feeling the cold because it's usually never colder than 40 or 50 degrees where they are from and the bitter cold wind was about blowing them away!! Needless to say, once the bus came, we all sat happily in our coats thawing out - just in time for all of us to head south to sunny Spain!!
I decided I didn't want to drag my heavy winter coat around with me in Spain, so I decided to donate it once I got to the airport (although I could've used it a few times INDOORS in Spain because most places don't have central heating and the houses are built to be as COOL as possible during the hot, sunny summers.... and thus can be REALLY COLD in the winter!!). I've had this coat for almost 20 years, so I decided it might be time to get something a bit less bulky for my next foray into winter temps - whether that be the Arctic....or Indiana!!
So let me tell you something about donating items at an airport....it's not as easy as you might think!! I tried 3 different information booths, I tried the airlines, and I even tried security (only because the lady at the information booth said there were boxes for donations on the other side of security...no donation boxes to be found)!! I thought about just leaving it on a seat somewhere, but I didn't want them to think I had just forgotten it (or track me down and have a repeat of the "UK Border incident")!!! I basically just wanted them to know it was a donation so it didn't get thrown away, and I was hoping maybe some homeless person who needed a coat in those freezing temps might be able to enjoy it in that cold weather!!
FINALLY, one security person led to another, and I met a lovely, Japanese woman who spoke perfect "American English" (it was uncanny because she had never been to the United States, but her American accent was perfect). After much explaining about WHY I wanted to leave my coat, she finally understood and said she would take care of it. So my beloved, warm, comfy (overly-bulky) coat is now sitting in the Lost & Found in the Vienna Airport - where it will probably sit for 6 months to a year, then HOPEFULLY it will get donated to someone who can really use it in those freezing temperatures!! Whew....that took a lot of effort to get rid of one coat, but I felt freer and ready for the next step of my journey in sunny Spain without that albatross hanging around my neck (literally)!! I’ll be posting my “Chapter Two” soon on my Spain experiences thus far!!
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| The Communist government built several structures, such as the Most SNP bridge (also called the UFO Bridge because of its design) which connects Bratislava to Petržalka where my AirBnb was (in one of those Communist era block-style buildings....not sure which one)!! |
And now....for those who might be interested, here's a bit of historical information from Wikipedia on Bratislava - and the "borough" of Petržalka where my AirBnb was located. I found this information fascinating because it helped explain the feeling I got when I first arrived at the AirBnb (very heavy, somewhat overwhelming, but not "ghetto" like I expected when the Taxi first started driving through the neighborhood)....
Prior to 1919, Bratislava was known by its German name, Pressburg - under the control of the Habsburg Monarchy and the Kingdom of Hungary from 1536 to 1783. In 1891, Petržalka became permanently connected with Pressburg with the first railway bridge. It is now connected to Bratislava by at least five bridges and is the most densely populated residential district in Central Europe. (Oohhhh..... now I see why it felt so overwhelming!)
In 1938, Nazi Germany annexed Petržalka borough on ethnic grounds (i.e. a high percentage of ethnic Germans were living there at the time and probably had been for generations). The Starý Most rail bridge (and Danube River) became a border between the First Slovak Republic and Nazi Germany. Several thousand inhabitants of Slovak, Czech, and Hungarian ethnicity were obliged to stay in Petržalka, and the occupiers closed down all Slovak schools.
From November 1944 to March 1945 – Petržalka was the site of a labor camp for Hungarian Jews. It was freed from the Nazis in 1945 and returned to Czechoslovakia after World War II. On May 5, 1945, 90% of the Hungarian population residing in Bratislava was forced into internment camps in Petržalka. (Hmmm.... I wonder why that happened?!? I wish I understood more about all the dynamics happening and the historical context, but some of these details are helping me understand a bit more about the "mixed/ contentious feelings" I was picking up on in Central Europe!!)
On February 13, 1946 Petržalka officially became a part of Bratislava. Construction of the housing blocks known as "panelák" (like the one I stayed in) were constructed throughout the Eastern Bloc during the Communist Era (built from concrete panels joined together to form the structure). Unlike government-built housing estates in places like the United States and United Kingdom, paneláks today remain home to a mix of social classes, with the middle class prevailing. Thus, there is little social stigma associated with living in a panelák.
Paneláks resulted from two main factors: the postwar housing shortage and the ideology of Czechoslovak leaders. Planners from the Communist Era wanted to provide large quantities of affordable housing and slash costs by employing uniform designs over the whole country. Many sociologists have expressed concern about the social development of panelák housing estates. Some people fear that with the growth and deregulation of the housing market, the middle class may flee to other locations, and such panelák estates may become refuges for the poor or ghettos for minorities and immigrants.
Hmmmm....very interesting information that definitely brings more context to my AirBnb/no grocery stores open experience!! Maybe next time I'll be sure to book the Botel (although imagine all the information I would have missed because my curiosity wouldn't have been piqued if I hadn't stayed in Petržalka)!!
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