Devin Castle and The Memorial

Devin Castle Ruins is situated about 12km away from the main city centre on the banks of the Danube..
Nearby the castle lies a moving memorial to those who lost their lives from 1945 to 1989 thanks to the Communist Regime. Many people lost their lives trying to cross this spot on the Danube river to get to Austria. This memorial shows how many victims died under the communist regime in different circumstances. According to the memorial, 2,200,000 people were deported from Slovakia from 1945 to 1989. 20,000 Slovaks were also sent to gulags from this period.

Bratislava from Novy Most at Night

The most romantic time to visit Novy Most, the restaurant monstrosity on the bridge is at night when the city lights bring life to the place. The Grey Soviet tower blocks thaty can be seen when looking south from the tower most certainly look better. 100skk

Lost in Translation

After a hard day's graft teaching and sitting in the office, I decide to go and have a pint and enjoy the lovely sunshine we've been having. I watch the world go by and have a game of Sudoku to stop my mind from wandering.
A man asks me in Slovak if he can sit under the same umbrella away from the sun. I say yes. I try and get back to my game of Sudoku when he insists on speaking to me. I keep trying to say 'Nierozumiem Slovensky' which means I don't understand your language. I don't understand Slovak and he doesn't speak or understand EnglishHowever, he is determined to communicate with me. I accept. Our 'conversation' is somewhwat limited to comparing the weather and drawing pictures. I find the phrase in my slovak phrasebook downloaded from the internet 'I'm in a hurry.'

Stags and Hens

Bratislava as a weekend destination is gaining popularity, particularly among English lads who come here on a stag weekend. Since Prague has become more expensive and oversaturated with tourists, many are looking further afield for their kicks. Many stag are well organised with groups of lads having T shirts made for Some see this as a benefit to the city as they spend their money on beer, food and strip joints. However, many locals simply find such people a nuisance more than anything else. Some locals complain that people on English stag weekends are rowdy and obnoxious.
There have been many attempts to calm down British stag=doers. Companies now hire young ladies in their 20s to show stag parties around the city. This seems to work as lads always tend to behave themselves more when there are women present.
Please do not think that i am stereotyping all British stag weekenders. I have spoken to many andmost seem like regular guys who want to have fun.

Austria Round the Corner

The path to Austria

The Austrian border os approximately 3-4km from Novy Most, the distinctive grey bridge with a restaurant over the Danube. Although most sensibly cycle to the border, it is possible to walk to the border. It takes 20 minutes by bike and 60 minutes by foot. Many Slovaks frequently pass through this border to visit Vienna 40 km away.
I managed to walk over the border to a place called Hainburg, which is approximately 12km away. Hainburg is a beautiful town that is often overlooked by many who drive straight to Vienna. Dating from the 12th Century, Hainburg boasts a castle around 400 metres above sea level and a historic centre. It is a part of the Donau Auen National Park that stretches all the way to Vienna.

Settling in

Svaty Jur (Saint George) zzzzzzz

I arrived safely to Europe’s second newest capital, Bratislava.Well, almost. I am actually 14km outside Bratislava, in the region’s wine country, Svaty Jur. Compared with Bratislava, it is a sleepy little town that only has 3 restaurants, 1 hotel and a couple of shops that sell almost next to nothing. It has many things to do there. There is a hill I can walk up to get some exercise. I can try asking for things using my ever abysmal Slovak. Or, I can sit on one of the patios drinking beer and eating pizza.

My landlady is a woman called Mariana who speaks very little English. We get by thanks to help from an old slovensky slovnik (Slovak Dictionary) where she can look up difficult words. She is very hospitable as she insists on making me dinner and sorting me out breakfast. Mariana also insists on doing my washing, but I think this is taking things too far.
She is afraid that I don't know enough Slovak to read the labels, so she marks every food item in English.

My office is a stone’s throw away, which is very handy. However, most of the teaching takes place elsewhere in companies around Bratislava.

More pictures soon. In the meantime, enjoy the link to small town Slovakia

http://www.svatyjur.sk/english.php