By no means a grandiose or extravagant site, the castle overlooks the Danube river and offers stunning views of Bratislava, both the old town and the modern parts of the city, from above. There was only one road, and I was going the right direction, so I continued in hopes that it would be further up. I was almost convinced that I got lost since I kept going uphill and didn’t see anything that resembled a castle for what seemed like ages. I made my way to the other side of the city in search for my next destination, the Bratislava Castle. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’ve missed many more though. Aside from these three more well-known statues, I found a few other strange ones while strolling around, including a red bear, a snake wrapping itself around…something, and a dancer performing on a ball. The third statue was that of Schöner Náci, a well-dressed gentlemen greeting visitors passing by. Hubert is now the name of the most famous Sparkling wine in Slovakia.” The legend says, that a wounded French soldier called Hubert fell in love with a nurse from Bratislava, decided to live here and started to produce a sparkling wine based on the French tradition. According to some research, “Napoleon’s armies attacked Bratislava twice and Napoleon himself has visited the city in 1809. I wonder what Čumil is up to though…what or who is he watching?! Maybe he was working underground and just decided to pop out for a short break, or maybe he was a stalker, even a detective…OR, maybe Čumil himself is the real paparazzi! What impeccable style, though – I guess Čumil would do anything that is necessary for his profession □Īfter The Watcher, I found Napoleon’s Soldier hanging out at the city’s main public square, Hlavné námestie. So now he has his own unique traffic sign standing beside him – watch out for The Watcher! Oh, there you are! Glad I saw you there before I stepped on your head! Čumil had been the victim of unfortunate encounters before, as he had lost his head TWICE due to unsuspecting (or careless?) drivers. What disappointment □ I guess it was better knowing it was gone for good rather than finding out that I actually didn’t find it.Īside from The Paparazzi, somewhere in the city dwells Čumil, otherwise known as “The Watcher”. I later found out that the statue had been removed when the restaurant (also named Paparazzi) beside which it stood had closed down. Maybe I got the wrong place, I thought, and so I searched carefully every corner until I was sure that The Paparazzi was nowhere to be seen. I found the exact intersection where it was supposed to be but the statue was…missing. Specifically, I was looking for “The Paparazzi”. I navigated through the streets and alleys of Bratislava in search of the many statues that the city is known for. A friend once told me that I gave off a strong aura of pensiveness with a touch of sadness surrounding me. First impression of the old town: some areas were tattered with an air of sorrow, and strangely, it attracted me. Slovakia is perhaps the second most mysterious (if not the most mysterious) country I’ve visited, next to Latvia. Somehow, unexpectedly, I left a piece of my heart in this blue, melancholic city. It took a while to get to this post, but I’m glad I’m finally writing about Bratislava three months after the visit. An hour by bus and you jump conveniently from Austria to Slovakia. From Vienna, it was a choice between Bratislava, Prague, and Budapest as a day trip, but it was not much a choice at all as Bratislava is the closest one and doesn’t take too much time to reach. One coincidence that I have noticed these years is that my favourite destinations in Europe and some of the most memorable ones all start with the letter “B” – Bordeaux, Brussels, Barcelona, Bologna…and now, I arrive in Bratislava.
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