Bratislava, in text

We took the train from the Keleti station in downtown Budapest, and four hours later we were in Bratislava. The ticket cost something like 12 euros. Having overcome some problems with the reservation at the first-Devin had been canceled, and the new reserve was slow to arrive-we could go out and give a tour of the historic centre of Bratislava. It's small, but a great beauty, particularly at night. Much of the architecture is similar to that of Prague, but the streets are narrower and the extension covered by the traditional party is fairly minor.

By the way: in Slovakia still use their own currency, the Koruna. The change at present is to round, 30 Koruna per euro. As far as I said, the country would join the unified currency area next year.

Besides the night walk through the city, and as our stay was only 24 hours the next day we chose to tour the castles. At Bratislava, which lies on a hill overlooking the city and is visible from the centre can be reached by walking up steep streets-the first picture is the beginning of this route.

The castle was rebuilt too. While it was burned almost entirely in 1811, was restored during the communist rule, to 1950. Today looks like a fairly modern building, and I was not very clear what castle. We could not enter because it is in refacciones. So it should be limited to looking at it from outside.

Indeed, since the Bratislava castle there is a very good view of the city, which lets you see the complex of buildings, one equal to others, made during the communist government. Today there are really expensive to buy properties.

The other site we visited if looks like a castle, but is in ruins: the Devin. It's easy to get there, with a trip of about 20 minutes. The part underneath the bus terminal is located below the new bridge, in front of the Danube. The trip will cost slightly less than one euro. Get currencies because the tickets are bought in some vending machines located on the street, although in the case of the terminal that leads to Devin is a ticket. The 28 bus leaves about four blocks away, but the 29 reaches the foot of the ruins. There are buses every half hour. To get to see the ruins of the castle, you have to pay an entry of 2 euros. In the vicinity there are some basic places to eat for a few euros.

Some facts about Bratislava: taxis are not expensive, and a race from the train station to downtown can cost from 5 to 8 euros, depends where they are. Since we are with the train service linking the city with Budapest is really very comfortable, but at this time of year the heat inside the wagon is quite high. The areas near the station in Bratislava are not very nice, but not stop guided by that impression, because the rest are truly worth. Public transport is lower than that of modern Prague or Budapest, but very efficient. But we must ask before drawing ticket agreement where travelling, as there are three sections divided by travel time.