Hrandell at Hrad Devin (The "H" is silent in Slovakian.)

Friday, Aug. 1, 2014--Around Bratislava

With one more day in Bratislava and having already explored the historic center of the town, we decided to buy 1-day bus/tram tickets and explore other parts of the city.  We headed off here, there, and everywhere.

The only sight that is recommended in my guidebook as an outpost to see here is Hrad Devin--a castle ruin above the Danube about 15-20 minutes out of town.  That was our first trip with the all-day ticket.  The bus went along the Danube heading northward and ended in the parking lot below the castle.  It's a pretty set of ruins with a long history--built by Moravian royalty.  It became ruins when Napoleon destroyed it in the early 1800s.  And it is at a site that has been settled by humans since 600 B.C.  There were interesting exhibits of bronze items and jewelry that have been recovered on the site.  It was nice to be out in the open air and to learn about what had happened there over so many years.

Back in town, we used our passes to head to various parts of the city.  We started by going to the area on the other side of the Danube.  Most of it consists of large blocks of communist-built apartment buildings.  Some have been restored, and others are ugly, rusting, and covered in graffiti.  Along the river, however, are a modern shopping center and modern office buildings housing branches of international high-tech and financial companies.

Our next stop was back on the main side of the Danube where the new Slovak National Theater building is located next to Eurovea, a complex including a huge, upscale shopping mall and a Sheraton hotel. 

We headed to an area called Trnavske Myto where lots of tram and bus lines come together just to see what was there.  We found another large theater complex (not new), an abandoned communist-built shopping center, and another shopping mall (fairly new). 

Then we chose a location at the end of two tram lines that looked so far out that we thought it might be a suburb that had built up around a small village.  Sadly, when we got there, it was another area of large blocks of communist-built apartments. 

We had read about a concert at Hviezdoslavovo namestie, a tree-lined plaza where the American Embassy is located.  We got there just as it was starting a 18:00.  It was a Polish band consisting of a female singer/keyboardist (both on piano and accordion) and a male playing drums, flutes, stringed instruments, etc.  The program does not give the name of the band so that I can put a link; it only says that the concert is part of a local festival and is provided with cooperation from a Polish cultural organization.  The music had an interesting sound, but the vocals were quite difficult to enjoy.  The singer obviously has a good voice and controls it well, but the songs seemed to be about expressing hard times and frustrations in a staccato, harsh voice.