Meet Naci. He’s one of several statues scattered around Old Town, Bratislava designed to give the city a new image following the dark days of Communist rule that ended in the mid-1990s. Naci was actually a real person who would dress up in elegant clothes and wander the streets of the city. He liked the ladies. He was known to pick out a woman at random, tip his hat, bow, give her flowers and sing her a song. Here, our sister-in-law, Frances, poses beneath his top hat.Here’s a statue the Communists left behind. Quite the contrast, huh. It says a lot about Communist Russia’s rule of the Eastern Bloc countries. And, traveling much further back in time, I decided to throw in this statue. Not because of the Madonna standing on a crescent moon, but because of what else she is standing on…That is one depressed dragon! Check out the eyes and ears. You can almost hear it whining: “Damn, skewered again. And all I wanted to do was give her an apple.”And then there was this guy, inviting visitors into a restaurant that featured sausages.We spent our time in Bratislava exploring the Old Town section. This is a view of the tower connected to the Old Town Hall built approximately in 1370.Views of the tower can be seen from many different locations in Old Town.Here, it peaks out from behind the Old Town Hall. Its top features the same striking green we saw on several buildings in Vienna.The historic old pharmacy building also featured a green top.St. Martin’s Cathedral, known as the site where 11 Hungarian Kings were crowned between 1563 to 1783, has a dramatic green and golden steeple.A closer view.The church backs up to the ancient city walls. It actually served as a part of the fortification.As might be expected, a statue of St. Martin is included in the church. At first I thought he was threatening to kill the guy on the ground. Instead he is cutting his coat up and offering half of it to a poor man he had found outside suffering in the cold with minimal clothes, a saintly act for sure.A number of attractive, classic buildings are found in the Old Town. This is the Primate’s Palace.These buildings grace Bratislava’s main square. The steeple of St. Martin’s Church can be seen in the background.A street view leading off of the square. Part of the Old Town Hall is on the left.And finally, even the Carlton Hotel was a class act. That does it for Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Next up, we continue down the Danube to Budapest, the Capital of Hungary.A view looking up a hill toward Matthias Church in Budapest.
That’s great. To quote the 1st Cavalry’s slogan from back in the day when I knew some of their people, Drive on!
For as long as the wheels last, Ray…
Such wonderful architecture! You are SO lucky! I look out at the Capitol dome from my apartment and think it is looking kind of old and dirty. I think a clean will be happening in the next year and it fun to watch those folks scramble about on this huge thing.
I especially liked the statue with the “evil one” being crushed. He does have a sad look in his eyes. I remind a priest that we had some years back…it only took one bad apple.
In a nice bit of coincidence, an Italian blogger I follow posted recently about what they call St. Martin’s summer. In that post, he told the story you shared here about the saint sharing his cloak — with a couple of other interesting details.
I suspect the Carlton might have been a model for some of the famous buildings in this country, like Saks 5th Avenue. On the other hand, that sausage could be straight out of German Texas. All those spires are gorgeous. It looks like even the old town hall had some copper gutters that have turned that attractive green.
ps: If you happen to find yourself in the neighborhood of Tillamook’s limited edition apple crisp ice cream, take some home. How they managed to create it, I can’t say, but it’s one of the best I’ve ever tasted. It’s just like eating homemade apple crisp with ice cream on top.
Will do, Linda. Sounds delicious. We always try one of their special editions when we are there but it has never been apple crisp.
Interesting on St. Martin, Linda, Thanks for sharing.
I learned from one of my followers this morning that the sausage was actually a poppyseed filled bagel. Fooled me!
Today’s post on Budapest has a very green king on a green horse.
The architecture is marvelous! Love the Town Hall tower and the Primates Palace gave me a chuckle. What a surprize to see those pretty pink and blue tiles, and the depressed dragon.
The Old Town was filled with interesting things to see, Crystal, and I love catching things like the expression on the dragon’s face. I really think that the sculptors have a sense of humor.
That “sausage” isn’t a sausage, it’s a Pressburg Bajgel, and the shop is a bakery. We had lunch there, on the recommendation of our guide who was a big fan of their pastries. The bajgel is the pastry stuffed with poppyseeds I asked if you’d tried in your last post. (I tried it, and wasn’t a fan…)
Bratislava used to be called Pressburg, before 1919. It has a charming old town, doesn’t it?
Thanks, Dave. We were hurrying and I snapped a photo. It was interesting. I thought ‘poophead’ when I saw it. Sausage seemed like a more civilized way to describe it. Grin.
And yes, the old town was charming. I wish I would have had more time to explore it.
The difference between Naci and the Soviet statue was striking indeed, Curt. What a dour regime that must have been, so ponderous and stark.
Wonderful buildings too. There’s just a different feel about them that we don’t get here in the States. Maybe it’s the attention to roofs (?) like the Old Town Hall.
I’m looking forward to Budapest. Your sneak preview photo is mesmerizing. 🙂
Wandering through Time and Place 
Some unique statues.
They had fun with them in Bratislava, G.
Once again, I am enjoying your travels.
Thanks, Ray.I never thought we would make it to Eastern Europe, but we’ve used the last few years to catch up on places we missed.
That’s great. To quote the 1st Cavalry’s slogan from back in the day when I knew some of their people, Drive on!
For as long as the wheels last, Ray…
Such wonderful architecture! You are SO lucky! I look out at the Capitol dome from my apartment and think it is looking kind of old and dirty. I think a clean will be happening in the next year and it fun to watch those folks scramble about on this huge thing.
I especially liked the statue with the “evil one” being crushed. He does have a sad look in his eyes. I remind a priest that we had some years back…it only took one bad apple.
Happy travels !
Love,
Wendy
Hi Wendy. We could spend our whole time just wandering the streets looking at buildings. And that’s true just about anywhere we go in Europe.
I laughed when I noticed the expression on the ‘evil one’s face.’ Dragons pretty much have a bad rep in the West. In Asia it is different.
Thanks. Curt
In a nice bit of coincidence, an Italian blogger I follow posted recently about what they call St. Martin’s summer. In that post, he told the story you shared here about the saint sharing his cloak — with a couple of other interesting details.
I suspect the Carlton might have been a model for some of the famous buildings in this country, like Saks 5th Avenue. On the other hand, that sausage could be straight out of German Texas. All those spires are gorgeous. It looks like even the old town hall had some copper gutters that have turned that attractive green.
ps: If you happen to find yourself in the neighborhood of Tillamook’s limited edition apple crisp ice cream, take some home. How they managed to create it, I can’t say, but it’s one of the best I’ve ever tasted. It’s just like eating homemade apple crisp with ice cream on top.
Will do, Linda. Sounds delicious. We always try one of their special editions when we are there but it has never been apple crisp.
Interesting on St. Martin, Linda, Thanks for sharing.
I learned from one of my followers this morning that the sausage was actually a poppyseed filled bagel. Fooled me!
Today’s post on Budapest has a very green king on a green horse.
Thanks for the tour of Bratislava. Looking forward to Budapest!
Glad you are enjoying it, Diana. The first Budapest post is now up.
The architecture is marvelous! Love the Town Hall tower and the Primates Palace gave me a chuckle. What a surprize to see those pretty pink and blue tiles, and the depressed dragon.
The Old Town was filled with interesting things to see, Crystal, and I love catching things like the expression on the dragon’s face. I really think that the sculptors have a sense of humor.
Me tooo!! I have seen some great examples of that humor.
I love the architecture, Curt! As always, another fabulous trip and post! I’m running out of adjectives, and the word I keep returning to is “Wow!” 😁
“Wow,” works just fine. 😁
😂😁
That “sausage” isn’t a sausage, it’s a Pressburg Bajgel, and the shop is a bakery. We had lunch there, on the recommendation of our guide who was a big fan of their pastries. The bajgel is the pastry stuffed with poppyseeds I asked if you’d tried in your last post. (I tried it, and wasn’t a fan…)
Bratislava used to be called Pressburg, before 1919. It has a charming old town, doesn’t it?
Thanks, Dave. We were hurrying and I snapped a photo. It was interesting. I thought ‘poophead’ when I saw it. Sausage seemed like a more civilized way to describe it. Grin.
And yes, the old town was charming. I wish I would have had more time to explore it.
The difference between Naci and the Soviet statue was striking indeed, Curt. What a dour regime that must have been, so ponderous and stark.
Wonderful buildings too. There’s just a different feel about them that we don’t get here in the States. Maybe it’s the attention to roofs (?) like the Old Town Hall.
I’m looking forward to Budapest. Your sneak preview photo is mesmerizing. 🙂