Birthday Party in Bratislava, Slovakia

This year for my 30 years I decided to give my best friends a crazy weekend in Bratislava.
It seemed to me a nice to celebrate the transition from "youth" into adulthood:)
The goal is feasible in a weekend because it's very close and quite cheap.
For reasons of time and enjoy the 2-day weekend as much as possible, I have Sky Europe and Ryanair to same on return.
With Skyeurope I found the ticket at € 0 ... trying to believe. With Ryan, I spent 15 euros.
Life in Bratislava then it is very cheap, and every budget.
You should go ....

 

The alarm clock rings at 5:30 for a Saturday morning and I go to the central station to take the motorway to the airport of Orio al Serio.
Arrival in Bergamo with half an hour in advance sull'appuntamento with the girls and 20 minutes in advance on planned dall'Autostradale.
Just to deceive the time and especially my stomach, I'm going to do cap and brioche in a microscopic bar. The girls arrive, we check-in quickly and we put ourselves in a queue for inspection.
E 'boarding time, we expect the 737 new pack on the track, the nacelle is painted with a smiling Miss crown and scepter. On board we are the only women around. Let us put couples and young people are directed to Vienna, which is a few kilometers from Bratislava (in fact the flight is officially called Bratislava / Vienna), while the men were directed to "Bratislava" it seems a destination for tourism "alternative." The flight seems quiet and Annalisa and I order the coffee.
When finally the coffee cools and starts to become drinkable, start rafficone wind force 4 .... But because the law of Murphy piglia there forever? If you want to avoid turbulence in the air, never ordered not to drink, the word of a frequent flyer!
Landed in Bratislava in a plain dotted with windmills, a little 'crooked than the track, but without problems and in perfect time. Retrieve the bags quickly and buy tickets for the bus n.61 that will take us downtown. There are tickets for different prices depending on the duration.
Standing at the bus would pass every 15 minutes, hopefully it starts to rain ice! After fifteen minutes is longer in my life comes the mythical 61st Annalisa starts to count the stops wisely, because everything is written in Slovak, and we have no idea where we are and where we are going. After 12 stops come to a crossroads where we need to get on the old tram (number 12, but one that is the other), which marks the path to a brighter panel. The city is typically molded from the Communist point of view of architecture. In less than half an hour we arrived at our hostel called Patio. Although the facade is about to fall to the ground, inside is not bad, it's all Ikea furnished, then we have a room with bunk beds for us all!
After we settled, map in hand, begin our discovery of Bratislava, in a time that seems so crazy inexplicable, is a continuous succession of English drizzle, sun, wind style bora, sleet. I do not understand anything.
We do a tour of the historic center, which is beautiful, even better for me as expected. All the old buildings are fully renovated, freshly painted and refurbished. The city reminds me quite Prague, albeit mini version and clearly less beautiful, only that he looked so strangely deserted.
There are a lot of art galleries, beautiful shops, cafes, fountains and statues strange! Even after half an hour that we turn, we are already struggling and enter in one of the cafes in the city to make us a hot chocolate. The coffee is very nice, there is also a fountain of melted chocolate at the entrance. The maid makes us sit in a table on the first floor with a view of the square. The menu is entirely in Slovak and Czech, but luckily got a series of Italian brand of chocolates, then we can order gestures.
Return to the tour of the city, its shops, its premises, until we decide it is time to eat something. There sling in a local restaurant, all smoky (adoro increasingly Sirchia the law). The menu is clearly written in Slovak, but fortunately there is a partial translation into English. We arrive with portions of the plates from truck driver., It is all very good, although some 'so heavy for our habits.
In the afternoon to digest we walk up to the castle overlooking the city and we look down the Blue Danube, another set of windmills and the periphery of the other hyper-communist side of river.
Given the time that we wake up this morning, the idea is to go to bed a couple of hours before dinner and then be fresh and ready to frolic all night and celebrate my birthday with dignity, the true goal of this trip.
After a good night's sleep we pulled to eat in a place just around the corner. The place is very nice, looks like a medieval castle. And 'huge and there are 7 rooms that I believe represent the rooms of the cavalry. It makes a heat and there are clouds of smoke everywhere ... that damn annoying! The heating in this country is a lot strange. That will be used to cold winters, but not so warm is normal, believe me, there have been 27 degrees ... Dinner is heavy, as usual meat, potatoes and cheese, even if very good. We go out to do four steps, to air a moment, digesting dinner, and for the Movida. Trying to find a place just to celebrate, but they are all or overflowing, or selection to or too hot, and for the internal temperature, and because some are just for boys to hunt. ...
However there is not that dire. The women in this country are really beautiful .... Now you explain so many things

But what is hot? I wake up with his throat burned. But is not that the ozone hole came to the fault of Slovaks and their use smoderato of heating in homes? How that is done over New Zealand, so green and clean?
We brought the foodstuffs from home with the idea of making breakfast in the hostel and save, but renounce soon, because the kitchen is a sink, where people go to wash the teeth because the only bathroom of the plan is always clogged and the hall is in the scale without windows. But who has conceived a hostel with 4 dormitories 6 people on each floor and a bathroom made up only 5 showers with no curtain or glass front, but only one water and one sink? Roba da unbalanced. Wash is almost impossible. To console us, we go into a bageleria. The place is very chic, with XXL-wide leather armchairs, sofas and territories to attack their own laptop and surf freely. This city is a contradiction unique, essential and Spartan on the one hand, ultra modern and trendy on the other.
The idea now is to make a trip out of town to visit the caves of Smolenice, sin is already 10 in the morning, we've already lost too much time. We go into a hostel ask information and tipa says that the caves are very ancient. We look puzzled, because it appears that there are only 40 km away .... Let us ask the train times, but nothing seems impossible to reach them. Hacking on the internet, but no adsl connection is a torture.
We decide to go to the tourism and see what we recommend. Why not go to Vienna, because the bottom is what they do all landing here? We would like to go by boat, but the cruise on the beautiful Blue Danube in winter are suspended and the train seems a mirage. Frodo finally comes the brilliant idea to rent a car. Damn is Sunday morning, where we? Frodo and I are of the idea of going to the airport which is the only safe place, but we believe all Annalisa plan directs the hand to the seat dell'Avis in town .... That does not exist. After several types of shit in all the 5-star hotel in the city, we return on our steps and finally go to the airport, where there are several car rental, Hertz, Avis, Europe Car. Ec is the cheapest, are 35 euros with insurance for the entire day. We rent the latest cars remained in Bratislava, a Peugeot 305 new parcels. Begin your adventure to the Carpathian Mountains and into Smolenice, following the route of wines. The caves are closed in winter, but it seems there are still beautiful castles in the area.
Along the way we stop at a number of villages and try to find a restaurant, but are forgotten by man, where there is nothing. Return the car, are now almost 3 in the afternoon, but persevere, we must get to Smolenice and foremost we need to find a restaurant.
After several km cheered by breathtaking scenery, we find another cartel. It will be yet another package?
We enter this place with Harley Davidson attacked for air entry. Shyly ask if you can eat this, but since the 2 girls speak only Slovak sessions we should understand gestures. We sit at the table and we order some 'of dishes.
Arriva our abundant lunch. But how is it that nobody here is obese? Will have suffered from hunger until yesterday and have an enviable metabolism?
And 'now the coffee is already late. We call the owner and ask 3 coffee, just that everyone wants in their own way. Frodo made the pussy and calls for the decaf, forgetting that it was not from Starbucks, but in the midst of the Slovak countryside, I ordered the local, Cristina and Anna espresso tea. La tipa begins to do a series of questions in Slovak, but we do not understand. Ride, talk and then we fixed, then we get up to go into the kitchen to understand that desire and begins to tell a number of types of coffee. I do not understand very well that says, cmq io indico the jar of Nescafe and the Cri machine. Hopefully ....
Obviously we have not precisely understood. The espresso coffee is made with the American classic machine that will give the super with the points, then a kind of great espresso in a cup. My Nescafe is turkish coffee, you have to leave to settle, even in the shadow decaf, tea is tea for luck ...
The breath I smell of garlic and onion to a thousand, which fortunately do not have to kiss anyone.
Smolenice come to where there is a beautiful castle, but we do not even have time to go to the top of the hill where it is located, because we have counted the minutes and lose too much time to visit. The way back is wonderful, the sky is beautiful, the sunset and the colors mad.
In less than 20 minutes we are at the airport in good time, 5 minutes before they close the check-in and with the tank full as per contract.
At the airport, as in the rest of the city is bursting with hot and waiting room is too small to accommodate all passengers in the crowd. Fortunately board rather quickly, even if in a somewhat 'sharp.
I have never flown Ryanair, which do the return flight to Bergamo, I am not inspired much confidence. The ground plane has been put to me seems Maluccio. Now I understand why the price has so competitive .... But stay in the air 'this thing?
Seriously, we arrived at home and save and sound in perfect time.
What they have good low cost airlines are landing at airports with very little congestion and delays are unlikely.