More pubs and stuff

One of the best hangouts in town is Nu Spirit on Medena Street, not far from Tesco. Jazzy music and a nice vibrant atmosphere. The Free WiFi service makes up for the expensive beer @ 35sk for 0,3 litres.

Cachtice: The home of Elizabeth Bathory

Cachtice is a small town in the lesser Carpathian mountains. As a town, it is a typical Slovak town with baroque architecture. It has an old church, a churchyard and a restaurant. However, its beautiful castle ruins are world-famous for being the home of being the former home of Elizabeth Bathory (1560-1614) who became known as the female dracula or the bloody countess. According to legend, Bathory drained the blood of her victims and bathed in it.
To get there from the village, you have to take a 30-minute hike up the hill. The place is free of charge, and the views are tremendous. On the downside, there is no information in English, so you will have to rely on kind Slovaks to translate for you. Alternatively, check out the link.
http://www.spectacularslovakia.sk/ss2002/cachtice_ascii.html


It takes approximately 90 minutes to get to Nove Mesto Vahom from Bratislava and takes a further 5 minutes by another train. Be warned!! Getting back can be a problem on Sundays, especially as trains are infrequent
More later plus pics

House hunting, Bratislava style.

'Sick of trees, take me to the city. Train coming round the bend.' Lou Reed

When I arrived back in town, my landlady gave me a badly written piece of paper on how she has found a buyer for her new place.
This means that I have to find somewhere new to live by the end of the month. It also gives me an opportunity to move closer to the city.
The first place I visited was about 11,000 sk a month - way too expensive for someone on Slovak wages. However, the location was in an area called Bajkalska, a convenient junction in the city. When I visited the place, I couldn't believe that the woman told me that she would be taking the TV, washing machine and sofa with her.
The second place, close to the city centre in a region called Kramare seemed promising with nice housemates, but there was no bed.
I finally looked at a place near my favourite restaurant in Ursynyho, close to Racianske Myto. At 6,600sk par month, this was place seemed promising, but the person who I would have to share with gave me the creeps. I would also have to see this person every single day. This place is definitely out of the question.

One of the most popular sites for renting is a site called reality.sk. Unfortunately, most of these places seem far too expensive for my budget. A one-bedroom flat in Petrzalka costs around 9,000 sk. Yet there are many hidden costs. There is not only a deposit of 9,000sk, but there is a one-off payment of 9,000sk that you will never see again. These letting agents will also try and charge more for foreigners.
Anyway, will keep you all posted on my whereabouts soon.

HRH Prince of Wales award for fine modern architecture

Bratislava has some amazing architectural gems from the 'glory' years of the Brezhnev era. On a recent visit, HRH Prince of Wales, a big fan of Brezhnevian architecture, picked some of his favourite pieces of 'classic' design from the 1970s. The odd triangular building is home to a Bratislava radio station. The other is my favourite tower block with a distinctive cylinder design
More pics soon.

The warmest January.....ever???

It is the beginning of January, and there is no snow in sight. Infact, the weather is so mild that it feels like Spring. The birds are already singing and flowers are beginning to bloom. Some people are even wearing T shirts. The midday temperature is currently +13C - the warmest January in Slovakia for over 100 years.
Many Slovaks are unhappy about the warm winter as skiing is one of the most popular passtimes for them. There is no snow anywhere, even on the highest peaks of the Tatras!!!

'The Terrorist.'

After all the speculation of the 'muslim terrorist' on EZY flight 5443, there was no terrorist. The person who threatened the hostess turned out to be a drunken Hungarian who probably had a few mental health issues.

Nightmare on flight 5443

This morning I flew to Budapest from Gatwick on EZY flight 5443. It was a flight that I'll never forget.

The plane was delayed for an hour, thanks to an essential change of a front tyre. This was chaotic enough as there were so many restless people determined to get home after the Christmas holidays.

The actual flight itself was uneventful. I did the usual stuff people do on planes - talk to the person next to me, read and sleep.

We arrived in Budapest 30 minutes late, which was expected due to the delay. However, the plane never made it to the terminal as it stood to a complete standstill in the middle of the runway. We all sat there wondering when we were going to disembark. 30 minutes later, the person next to me asked the air hostess in orange, 'can you please tell me what's going on?' The hostess said 'I'm sorry, but I can't.' Two minutes later, the captain announced there is a Muslim terrorist on board. It was believed that the 'terrorist' said to a stewardess as she was serving tepid tea and overpriced Pringles, 'Watch out. I'm a Muslim Terrorist.'

The captain asked us to remain seated with our seatbelts fastened. I looked outside to find the plane was surrounded by the Hungarian army and armed police. About 20 armed policemen came on the plane and dragged some light-skinned, wired eyed looking person off the plane. As you would expect, there was a massive round of applause.
10 minutes later, we were all allowed off the plane. We then had to wait another hour for our baggage, as they had to sniff out any bombs.

I am still in one piece after my brush with terror, despite the fact I'm a little shocked.

Yet everything is is still a total mystery. Who was the guy? Was he a real terrorist or just some nut job acting out alone? Was he just a Schizophrenic? I tried to find out stuff on BBC, but found nothing. I was interviewed by RTL Hungary TV and told them my piece. However, I may never know about this mystery situation.