Bratislava Day Trip

With an early morning flight from Edinburgh, Miran and I met up with Eiko in Bratislava.  I haven't seen her since Thanksgiving so it was good to catch up.  But the bad news is that she is moving to Stockholm in a few months.

I've been to "Bratsville" more times than I can count but I never seem to have time for any of the touristy stuff.

On top of the New Bridge is the UFO restaurant.  For €6 you can go to the observation platform.  It's a great view of the city and the Danube. 

I finally made it up to the Bratislava castle.  It was going through renovation when I first starting going to Bratislava.  From what I understand the renovation project went over budget for the exterior and now there is no money left to redo the interior.  But at least it looks good from outside.

The last time I went to the Blue Church the doors were closed.  Well this time I finally got to see the inside.

Slavín is a Soviet Army memorial.  It was built from 1957 to 1960 and honors the thousands of Soviet Army soldiers who died liberating the city in April 1945.  It opened on the 15th anniversary of the city's liberation. 

But to me the interesting thing is that while the Germans were fighting here, the city had not actually been occupied.  Slovakia was an ally of Nazi Germany and Slovak troops helped Germany invade the Soviet Union.  There are 6,845 soldiers buried here.