It's time to leave Budapest. Train departs for Bratislava, and we're on it. Heading to the land of the EU and quotes from EuroTrip. Full disclosure, I haven't seen the movie. But after traveling with two people who can basically quote the entire script from when they were in Bratislava, I feel like I know those scenes very well, at least.
We arrive at the Backpacker's Downtown Lounge, and after settling into our tiny 8-bed room, find ourselves at the bar with a complimentary shot of Borovička, an absolutely atrocious juniper berry liquor. But it is a very traditional Slovak drink. And after all, we were in Slovakia. And it was free. And it was a drink we would never indulge in again. Ever.
Our hostel was situated very close to the Old Town of Bratislava, but we did get some cool looks at the Bratislava Castle, overlooking the city from the hilltops:
Walking around Old Town was a little interesting at times. Connor commented that it was a bit of a "Disneyfied" eastern European city, which was pretty legit. However, there were a lot of very neat buildings to walk around amongst, some cheap panini to eat, and some winding roads to get lost on.
One of the plagues of the trip has been our inability to find the nightlife. We struck out in Budapest, were shot down in Belgrade. But Bratislava. This would be our town.
After all, they have a KGB bar where you can drink near authentic Communist-era propaganda and memorabilia. Thank you, Lonely Planet, for that find. Only problem being that the bar is not there. At all. Can't find it.
But bless our stars, at least Hacienda Mexicana is open. They even had Herradura Tequila for Wendy. And how do these lovely people take their tequila shots, you might ask? Well, with cinnamon and an orange slice, naturally.
Well, we missed the nightlife again in Bratislava. But at least our server was kind enough to teach us the Slovakian world for "thank you," which happens to be "dakujem." And then we promptly forgot it again.
It had become a bit of a running gag to butcher the words for Thank You in the other languages, when it was just the three of us. Of course, by running gag, I mean a joke I totally killed to the point where I had to stop because it was confusing us as to what the words really were.
But here's a primer:
Bosnia and Serbia
Thank you to the natives: Hvala (pronounced va'-lah)
Thank you from me: Valhalla
Hungary
Thank you to the natives: Köszönöm (pronounced coh'-za-nome)
Thank you from me: Kosovo (or Cocomo)
Slovakia
Thank you to the natives: Dakujem (pronounced day-coo-yem)
Thank you from me: Dagobah
And we wonder why we Americans weren't always the most warmly received...
We arrive at the Backpacker's Downtown Lounge, and after settling into our tiny 8-bed room, find ourselves at the bar with a complimentary shot of Borovička, an absolutely atrocious juniper berry liquor. But it is a very traditional Slovak drink. And after all, we were in Slovakia. And it was free. And it was a drink we would never indulge in again. Ever.
Our hostel was situated very close to the Old Town of Bratislava, but we did get some cool looks at the Bratislava Castle, overlooking the city from the hilltops:
Walking around Old Town was a little interesting at times. Connor commented that it was a bit of a "Disneyfied" eastern European city, which was pretty legit. However, there were a lot of very neat buildings to walk around amongst, some cheap panini to eat, and some winding roads to get lost on.
One of the plagues of the trip has been our inability to find the nightlife. We struck out in Budapest, were shot down in Belgrade. But Bratislava. This would be our town.
After all, they have a KGB bar where you can drink near authentic Communist-era propaganda and memorabilia. Thank you, Lonely Planet, for that find. Only problem being that the bar is not there. At all. Can't find it.
But bless our stars, at least Hacienda Mexicana is open. They even had Herradura Tequila for Wendy. And how do these lovely people take their tequila shots, you might ask? Well, with cinnamon and an orange slice, naturally.
Well, we missed the nightlife again in Bratislava. But at least our server was kind enough to teach us the Slovakian world for "thank you," which happens to be "dakujem." And then we promptly forgot it again.
It had become a bit of a running gag to butcher the words for Thank You in the other languages, when it was just the three of us. Of course, by running gag, I mean a joke I totally killed to the point where I had to stop because it was confusing us as to what the words really were.
But here's a primer:
Bosnia and Serbia
Thank you to the natives: Hvala (pronounced va'-lah)
Thank you from me: Valhalla
Hungary
Thank you to the natives: Köszönöm (pronounced coh'-za-nome)
Thank you from me: Kosovo (or Cocomo)
Slovakia
Thank you to the natives: Dakujem (pronounced day-coo-yem)
Thank you from me: Dagobah
And we wonder why we Americans weren't always the most warmly received...
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