We could not stay in Vienna; there was far too much to see and we were fearful that if we allowed ourselves to visit a museum or explore some corner a bit more, we would be swept up and get way off schedule. Of course, we found ourselves distracted on the way to Bratislava in Slovakia. We stopped in Carnuntum, a Roman settlement on the Danube near Bad Deutsch Altenburg. The Romans sent their legions to guard the Roman frontier against the barbarians in the East, and in time, a city was constructed for the legionnaires next to another for the civilians. Houses and baths and amphitheaters and shops abounded; we found two mini Romes next to each other. Of course we had to stop, because that is what our father would do. The place had not been excavated when he was a child, but my father has a deep and avid knowledge of Roman history, and loved showing us Roman remains and regaling us with stories about the Romans. It turns out that his father and his grandfather were also very interested in history and knew about the Roman presence. A house and the baths had been painstakingly reconstructed using ancient materials and building methods, which turns out to be an effective way to help the viewer understand what all these ruins signified. I was reminded of my childhood, where we would go to Ostia Antica and scramble all over the ruins.
My father would go to Bratislava regularly with his father as a child. His father had met someone in the First World War who lived in Pressburg (Bratislava), and they remained good friends after the war. This friend owned a mill, and the two families would have exchanges regularly, with Tony and my father going to the family's home in Pressburg, while the Pressburg children would visit his family in the Batschka, so he knew the city very well as a child. Tara was insistent that we visit Bratislava, and at first I was very skeptical. The approach to the city was unimpressive, with miles of unattractive boxlike cement apartment buildings disinviting us to the centre. Looking for parking was confusing, since we could not read the Cyrillic writing. Nothing looked interesting or attractive initially. The castle on the hill was massive, but poorly renovated and did not appear to be worth entering. At one time, the palace was important and housed Hapsburgs and their contemporaries and was probably magnificent; now it looks luck a stucco box with towers on each corner. We walked to the view over the Danube and the city looked just as I imagine a communist city would look; sad and grey and hopeless. A curious UFO like structure was built during the Cold War and sits above the bridge over the river.
Once we entered the pedestrian only part of the old town, the city came alive. Coffee shops and restaurants were full of locals and some tourists. Medieval and Renaissance palaces lined the narrow streets, and churches were everywhere. We were relieved to see some Gothic and restrained Baroque architecture, I suppose we needed a break from all the excess of Vienna. The city was truly delightful, and Tara's enthusiasm brought us to every corner of the old city. The buildings were not as well preserved as Vienna, or most of Austria, but there was abundant charm and energy, and we enjoyed ourselves more than we expected. I wondered what happened to the churches during the Communist era. We listened to Slovakian folk music in a church and groups of drinking men singing loudly.
I had read that Slovakian food has a good reputation, and at the castle, the menu on offer at the restaurant nearby looked wonderful, but we were disappointed when we tasted the 'Slovakian gnocchi' specialty with chess and bacon. There had been so many other possibilities, and we clearly made the wrong choice.
We left Bratislava and followed a Slovakian road north of the Danube. The land was flat and fields of sunflowers and hay spread out in all directions. The colours were stunning and no camera could capture the sight. The roads were narrow and bumpy and the speed limit was often 50 kph, so it took hours to get to Esztragom. The light was perfect as we scrambled out of our car on the Slovakian side to look at the massive church across the river. It was exactly as expected, grand and imposing. We walked over to Hungary and back and then took the car across the bridge. Our hotel was another half hour away on the Danube, in a town called Visegrad, which my father tells me is very important because it was where the bible was first translated into a Slavic language, and where Cyril and Metodo, two priests who became saints, came to preach. I am excited because there is a castle on the hill to see, and we are staying right on the water. We took a walk along the river and ate dinner near the water. Our trip is very much about the Danube; it is nearby, we cross it, we travel down it, beside it, look for it on the map, it guides us, it orients us, it reminds us of our father's journey every step of the way.
My father would go to Bratislava regularly with his father as a child. His father had met someone in the First World War who lived in Pressburg (Bratislava), and they remained good friends after the war. This friend owned a mill, and the two families would have exchanges regularly, with Tony and my father going to the family's home in Pressburg, while the Pressburg children would visit his family in the Batschka, so he knew the city very well as a child. Tara was insistent that we visit Bratislava, and at first I was very skeptical. The approach to the city was unimpressive, with miles of unattractive boxlike cement apartment buildings disinviting us to the centre. Looking for parking was confusing, since we could not read the Cyrillic writing. Nothing looked interesting or attractive initially. The castle on the hill was massive, but poorly renovated and did not appear to be worth entering. At one time, the palace was important and housed Hapsburgs and their contemporaries and was probably magnificent; now it looks luck a stucco box with towers on each corner. We walked to the view over the Danube and the city looked just as I imagine a communist city would look; sad and grey and hopeless. A curious UFO like structure was built during the Cold War and sits above the bridge over the river.
Once we entered the pedestrian only part of the old town, the city came alive. Coffee shops and restaurants were full of locals and some tourists. Medieval and Renaissance palaces lined the narrow streets, and churches were everywhere. We were relieved to see some Gothic and restrained Baroque architecture, I suppose we needed a break from all the excess of Vienna. The city was truly delightful, and Tara's enthusiasm brought us to every corner of the old city. The buildings were not as well preserved as Vienna, or most of Austria, but there was abundant charm and energy, and we enjoyed ourselves more than we expected. I wondered what happened to the churches during the Communist era. We listened to Slovakian folk music in a church and groups of drinking men singing loudly.
I had read that Slovakian food has a good reputation, and at the castle, the menu on offer at the restaurant nearby looked wonderful, but we were disappointed when we tasted the 'Slovakian gnocchi' specialty with chess and bacon. There had been so many other possibilities, and we clearly made the wrong choice.
We left Bratislava and followed a Slovakian road north of the Danube. The land was flat and fields of sunflowers and hay spread out in all directions. The colours were stunning and no camera could capture the sight. The roads were narrow and bumpy and the speed limit was often 50 kph, so it took hours to get to Esztragom. The light was perfect as we scrambled out of our car on the Slovakian side to look at the massive church across the river. It was exactly as expected, grand and imposing. We walked over to Hungary and back and then took the car across the bridge. Our hotel was another half hour away on the Danube, in a town called Visegrad, which my father tells me is very important because it was where the bible was first translated into a Slavic language, and where Cyril and Metodo, two priests who became saints, came to preach. I am excited because there is a castle on the hill to see, and we are staying right on the water. We took a walk along the river and ate dinner near the water. Our trip is very much about the Danube; it is nearby, we cross it, we travel down it, beside it, look for it on the map, it guides us, it orients us, it reminds us of our father's journey every step of the way.
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