Magical time in Slovakia

The snow-covered landscape thrills

The Fisherman’s Gate, a short street in the Old Town that connects two squares — the Main Square and Hviezdoslav’s Square.

Get an aerial view of Bratislava from UFO Restaurant.

“The Old Town may be small but it has a number of squares, each with its own event, all held at the same time,” adds Slava.

There are five squares — Main Square, Franciscan Square, Primatial Square, Hodza’s Square and Hviezdoslav’s Square. But we only manage to walk through the Main Square and Hviezdoslav’s Square.

The Main Square was the city’s main market place which acted as the place for public gatherings and official ceremonies. It’s no wonder that the Old Town Hall was built as its main landmark.

Though not big, the Main Square, which was built in an almost square dimension, is said to be the most enchanting square, thanks to the towering Old Town Hall tower, quaint buildings and Renaissance-style fountain.

The open Franciscan Square is a contrast to the Main Square. Located down the street from the Main Square, Hviezdoslav’sSquare takes on the title as the city’s most beautiful and liveliest square.

From the charming Slovak National Theatre building, we walk along a treelined boulevard to St Martin’s Cathedral, the largest and one of the oldest churches in Bratislava. It is especially known for being the coronation church of the Kingdom of Hungary between 1563 and 1830.

Then it snows. Luckily for us, it’s almost time for lunch. After a quick visit at the majestic cathedral, we walk across the neighbouring SNP Bridge to its other end on the banks of Danube River.

Said to be the most characteristic building in the city, the bridge was built from 1967-1972 as a cable-stayed bridge with one pylon. On top of the 80m tall pylon is UFO Restaurant which, of course, looks like a flying saucer from afar.

The beautiful lunch with a 360-degree view of Bratislava officially ends the tour of the city. We then board a coach for High Tatras, the snow-covered mountain range!

HIGH ON TATRAS

Our anticipation at stepping on the snowcovered High Tatras is put on hold as we