After a considerable delay, I am finally finishing off the posts about the Parental Visit. Sorry it has been so long coming, Windows 2000 is not conducive to anything productive. But now I am back in a house with real, live wireless internet (!!! only about 10 years after the rest of the world!!!) I can get back on top of things. Half of this post was written last week, half I will have to do now, so apologies for any inconsistencies/mistakes.
Hello hello! This week I have been even more absent from Cyberspace than normal, and I shall tell you forwhy- Mother and Father have been on the continent and I saw it as my duty and GREAT PLEASURE to entertai them and act as their tour guide. It was a week of epic proportions, so I have decided to split this post in two.
On Saturday last week (when it was still May) I met the beloved Parents at Bratislava airport quite late in the evening. We eventually managed to find our hotel:
It was... retro. In fact I don't think anything has changed since the fall of the Wall, probably long before that. But for the price, it was pretty good. A real Communist Experience. After a quick drink and many, many biscuits we took a quick photo out the window (see below) and went to sleep.
The next morning we were all up bright and VERY early. After a very delicious breakfast, consisting mainly of bread, eggs and cake (my favourite things) we headed out for some sightseeing in the Slovakian capital.
First stop was my favourite metal paparazzo. He is quite a character, loved by all. He was closely followed by another metal man and another paparazzo.
Even though it is on a much smaller scale, it was nice to see that Jugendstil exists in Slovakia and is a nice break from the Communist Plattenbau buildings which seem to dominate. I don't know whether I have mentioned it, but I really love Jugendstil.
I am ashamed to say that I do not know who this man is. I mean, the one on the right is obviously Napoleon or Admiral Nelson or someone like that, but as for the other I haven't the foggiest.
Another of my passions developed over the course of this year is doors. Big doors, little doors, plain doors, fancy doors, I just really like them. Which is why I take so many photos of them.
I bet you didn't know that Einstein was actually a small black child. The Slovakians are very forward thinking and clearly all about Equal Opportunities.
Having said this, they are a bit... eccentric maybe. At what point does it become a good idea to advertise the pharmaceutical museum with a lobster?!
One of my last posts was all about street art. Here is a teeny tiny bit more. Sorry to be boring.
On all my previous trips to Bratislava I haven't actually been up to the castle for a proper look round because it has either been too cold or the castle has been closed for renovation. It was well worth a look around though, plus the toilets were free which is always a bonus.
This girl was looking ever so sad, not sure why though. She was the star of many a photo taken by the Coates Clan.
I think the citizens of Bratislava are very proud of their nationality. There are flags EVERYWHERE.
It is a long running joke in the family that if someone is taking a picture, Mrs Blackbird will invariably be in it. More often than not she is taking a photo of the same thing. I was glad to say that even after many months of separation, she has not changed.
Of course it was very nice to see the Parents again, but one thing was a bit sad about the week. Mr Boring was unfortunately unable to join us. Luckily there were plenty of fountains so he was never far away from our thoughts.
It wouldn't be a trip to Bratislava without going to see the Blue Church. I do love it, but alas, it is not reason enough to fly over 1000 miles, so I doubt I'll be seeing it again for a long time.
We had a nice drink at a swanky riverside cafe and then went to Tesco for a lovely picnic in the "picturesque" square by the hotel. I know it is probably politically incorrect to say the P word (peasant) but there are quite a lot in Bratislava.
So after our brief Communist sojourn we boarded the train and set off on our way to Wienna. I think I will save that for another post though and I warn you now- it is going to be a BEAST!
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