Take a pinch of quirky street art, add layers of history plus a sprinkle of affordable cafes, shops and bars, and you have one very tasty Bratislava. reports.
Susan Buckland
If you are looking for Europe’s new capital of cool, zero in on the centre of Central Europe. And there you will find Bratislava, the buzzing heart of Slovakia.
The city is a major beneficiary of its country’s think big attitude. After joining the European Union in 2004, Slovakia roared into top gear with a flat 16 per cent tax rate to ignite the economy and attract foreign investors. The flow-on effect is most noticeable in Bratislava where professionals and university students flock from abroad to enjoy prices far lower than in Western Europe and to carouse until late in the music venues, bars and restaurants in the historic centre.
The sober light of day, it should be said, is when Bratislava’s rich layers of history are more easily absorbed. And thanks to the ban on motor traffic, the cobbled streets of Stare Mesto (Old Town) are alive with pedestrians. Outof-towners drape themselves around quirky street art pieces for selfies and throng the cafes, shops and galleries that have proliferated since the early 90s when Slovakia shed its communist shackles and split from what became the Czech Republic.
I’m perched on the edge of a fountain in Bratislava’s St Francis Square and thinking the scene could have been plucked from neighbouring Austria. The onion domes and venerable buildings bear the unmistakable stamp of the AustroHungarian Empire’s long dominion over Slovakia.
Suddenly a little bus that looks like a man-sized toy rumbles into the square. Tourists hop off. A group of us hop on. And briefly off again for a closer look at St Martins Cathedral. Several AustroHungarian royals, including the indomitable Hapsburg Empress Maria Theresa, were crowned in the 15thcentury church. Fast forward to post World War II Czechoslovakia when the Communist regime embarked on a nofrills rush to modernise infrastructure. They built a highway so close to the ancient cathedral that you can feel the vibrations of traffic rushing by.
Back on the little bus, commentary pipes from speakers while the driver manoeuvres into a lane that seems barely wide enough for a wheel barrow. ‘‘You are now in Executioner Alley beside the executioner’s house,’’ intones the invisible commentator. ‘‘People were executed for serious crimes, including raping a virgin.’’ The fate of those who raped non-virgins is left to the imagination.
The bus continues past the 13thcentury St Michael’s Gate in the forlorn remains of the city walls. And on to Michalska St where our deft driver dodges alfresco restaurants tables spilling from the pavement. Unperturbed diners are tucking into Slovakia’s dumpling dominated dishes. For more nuanced cuisine you should head for smaller restaurants like Prasna Basta in the Old Town. Here, too, prices are surprisingly reasonable. It is not difficult to find places which charge only 20 euros (about NZ$32 at the current rate of exchange) for an entree, main course, bottled water and glass of wine. Watch out for the Slovak liqueur called Tatranska caj. It kicks like a mule.
The bus drops passengers off in Hlavne Namestie, the main square of the Old Town. Its status is immediately apparent. On all sides are importantlooking houses built by Slovak aristocrats to keep up with their imperial counterparts in Vienna and Budapest. They surround the square where people browse stalls in an openair craft and souvenir market and on the ground floor of a baroque palace, the aroma of coffee wafts from elegant Kaffee Mayer.
The 14th-century Town Hall tower is embedded with a French cannonball, courtesy of Napoleon Bonaparte who pounded Bratislava with cannon fire for three days in 1809.
The city’s droll response is a bronze sculpture of a barefoot bronze soldier in Napoleonic uniform leaning casually over a park bench in front of the French embassy. The city loves its street art and so do the visitors. Look out for Cumil who peeps from a manhole and, judging by his grin, clearly likes his view of the world.
When it comes to accommodation in the old centre, there are cheaper places to stay than Marrol’s Hotel. But if you decide to spoil yourself in this charming boutique hotel, converted from the 19th-century home of a wealthy Slovak family, you will be rewarded with discreet service, rejuvenating spa treatments and memorable food for less than half of what you would pay for the equivalent standard in Vienna.
Austria’s capital, by the way, is only an hour’s drive away. And the music loving Viennese think nothing of driving the 79-kilometre distance for an evening at the Bratislava opera or concert by the Slovak Philharmonic. Bratislava’s Opera House, while