July 4, 2015: European Rail Trip : Day 10: Bratislava

Tanya's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN: BRATISLAVA

The Adventures of my LIFE

Hello there! 

Welcome to Travelin’ Cousins and Greetings from Bratislava, Slovakia!

And Happy 4th of July to everybody back home!

Well my day actually began in Budapest, and I’ll fill ya in on the haps since last night…

Elisa and I and headed out to catch the Hungarian Folklore Show and we sat in the beautiful little Duna Palota theatre along with several other travelers and most of them in Budapest with River Cruises.

The show started and it was Brillant! 

I loved it! The music, the dance, the costumes, the performers…
I was on the edge of my seat the entire night, smilling and clapping along. It was just so very lovely!

So much so that I will be writing up a review with plenty more pictures for your enjoyment.

We then went on our way in attempts to hopefully find the highly rated Marquis de Salade. 

It clearly wasn’t meant to be, as we looked high and low for this place and since Elisa was not wearing schlepping shoes and chose to wear more fashionable footwear; 
We had not opted to give up and just find another place for dining. 
Elisa had ordered a vegetarian Quesadilla (no Greek flair option for this one), and I had my current usual (on this trip) a side of ’Grilled Veggies’. 

As for this morning I had thought about going up to Castle Hill, but instead opted to save that for when I come back with Dave…who knows maybe on a river cruise!

So I got the day started with a good workout and worked up a good sweat in the Fitness Center. 

While a the spa level, I decided to take a peak at the Royal Spa Baths - as they looked quite lovely, I just had other running around to do rather then spending my time relaxing..

My life if nothing is eventful and this morning was nothing less than eventful.

Elisa and I were planning to take a stroll up Andrassey utca and head to Heroes Square, but based on the extreme heat Elisa chose the comfort of staying in the very lovely air conditioned hotel rather than join me on my little adventure…

At first the weather was quite nice and there was a delicious breeze, but as I got closer to the square it became quite sunny and rather HOT. 


Oh well, the things I do to satisfy my curiosity.

Arriving at Heroes Square and finding a slew of motorcycles from several european countries, as tour buses galore, and a gorgeous blue sky dabbled with beautiful white puffs of clouds. 

It was a bit odd that with as many vehicles as there was, there really wasn’t much of a crowd - perhaps because it was too hot!

After taking my share of photos, I decided that it was time to head back (as we had a train to catch).

I had walked a few blocks and then heard a something ahead…it was a parade! 
I love parades! 

How lucky was I?! 

It was a Hare Krishna parade and they were in song and dance, dressed in colorful attire and chanting along with the music. 

Of course I had to take my fair share of pictures, but then I continued and moved on… 

Then within minutes I heard sirens heading in my direction…it was another parade!

This time a motorcycle parade, and there were a ton of motorcycles, with each waving a flag from their home country.

Finally getting back to the hotel, and finding Elisa waiting with all of our over sized and very heavy bags…that keep gaining weight!

It was almost time to hail a cab and be on our way to the Train Station. 
Our driver left much to be desired in terms of personality. 
Elisa had mentioned that the handle on her luggage had snapped off - which totally sucks!...

But what if we were traveling back when the suitcases didn’t have wheels! 

That would be so much worse. 

At this point we went on with additional “What Ifs” and had found ourselves quite comical! 

If you knew us then you’d know that we really are quite a riot!

Ya know, we are just so spoiled…

Ugh you have no A/C?!…
But what if we lived in a time before A/C!!!

GASP - The train had no wifi…can you imagine life with out the internet?!

But remember when we had dial up…or before that when there was no such thing?!

Yet the thing that upsets us most is if we chip a nail! Lmao

Ok how about this what if... 

What if you're cousin makes you miss the train stop???

Well guess what folks...

Yup exactly that's what she (Elisa) did - this cousin-o-mine was taking her sweet time gathering her belongings (and I do mean sweet time!)

I was behind her and being rather patient when finally I calmly said "Elisa you're making me nervous!"

Famous last words - "Elisa you're making me nervous!"

As we get to the door and Elisa pushes the green button for us to exit - the train starts moving forward! 

And off we go to who-the-hell-knows-where...

Elisa remains undoubtedly calm and goes to find out what our options are...

Needing to walk through several cars and climb over people's luggage (in the cattle car), she went to talk to the conductor. 
He told Elisa that it was no problem and that we need to get off at the next stop in Kuty and wait for the next train to take us back to Bratislava.

Well luckily the stop was only 25 minutes away, and we thought we only had to wait 25 minutes for the next train. 

But the train was delayed 25min. Thus losing -1hr 15m
And what a comedy of errors it was - sitting there with nothing better to do than take selfies, we sat and we waited for "our" train. 

As we are sitting there, a couple with a cute small dog approach and the pup nearly peed on my suitcase! 
Are you kidding me?!?! Yea that's all I needed!

Finally a train approaches, not sure if it is ours and not wanting to miss another train, we truck it on over and are told to that THIS IS THE TRAIN. 

So we dragged our heavy a$$ suitcases through the gravel and thankfully a kind chivalrous Slavic seeing us struggle helped us lift our bags into the train! 

Thank you Mr. Slavic man!

Side note - What on earth are we gonna do about our incredibly heavy suitcases?!

And do ya wanna know what's not helping the situation out in these parts... 

There is a heat wave going through that originated in Africa - so I can honestly say that it's "Africa HOT"!

Ok, so the fact that you are reading this means that we made it to our destination! Woo Hoo!

Watch the video for a few more laughs and I apologize that it's sideways - if and when I can fix it I will.

Hope that you have a Great July 4th no matter where you are! Be happy and be safe!

See y'all tomorrow,
-T

Elisa's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN: BRATISLAVA

Happy Fourth of July from Europe!

GREETINGS FROM BRATISLAVA!!!

Just because we are traveling out of the country, doesn’t mean we have forgotten that today is Independence Day in our beloved United States of America.  Here’s to a Happy and Safe 4th to all of our family and friends back home!

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A little re-cap of our last evening in Budapest…which, I will describe in two words …DELIGHTFUL and FRUSTRATING.

Delightful is what I would use to describe the Hungarian Folklore show we went to see last night.  Kudos to Tanya who discovered this show, which was full of traditional Hungarian music and dancing.  It was absolutely the perfect way to spend our last night in Budapest.

Alrighty then, moving on to Frustrating…Once again, hats off to Tanya, (my BABY cousin!) for all of her amazing restaurant research throughout this trip.  She has discovered some real foodie finds - vegetarian and vegan!  Well, last night, our plan was to dine at a restaurant called Marquis de Salades,  a short walk from the theatre, following the show.

Map in hand, following it to a “t” with my favorite T at the helm, we could not find it!  We walked all along the street that it was “supposed” to be on, with no success.  UGH!  Of course, I had decided to get alittle dressed last night and break out the wedge shoes, as I was tired of looking like a schlepper. Not smart, considering we had to walk a bit more than expected and still didn’t have any success finding the restaurant.  bummer!

Instead, we settled for a little bistro-style restaurant, where I had the most delicious (but very different) quesadilla.  Filled with sauteed onions and peppers, and cheese,  it was VERY tasty.

Couldn't resist this picture on the way to the restaurant last night

Back to our trip - we are now in the 4th city on our European rail trip - can you believe just how fast it is going by!!  I can’t.  Though, I will say, we have done so much each day, that in many ways, it feels like Tanya and I have been gone longer than 10 days.

I’ll tell you what I do miss - my family, of course and my girls’ smiles.  Texting all of my friends regularly.  Constant wifi.  My morning routine at Starbucks with my hot chocolate and seeing the usual morning gang.

St. Stephen's Basilica at night

I had all good intentions of finishing my Foodie Friday Segment about The Farm in Prague when I returned to the room, but that just wasn’t going to happen.  My eyes were so heavy and I just called it a night.

This morning, I was up early (though, not early enough, since Tanya was already gone and at the gym) and I began work on this feature.  It’s a funny thing.  Sometimes, I can just crank out an article and others, I have so much on my mind that I have a hard time focusing with the right discipline to get my writing done.  

My mind kept wandering to starting my Saturday daily blog; I was thinking about what I was going to wear today; would the train to Bratislava have wifi or at minimum Air conditioning; what were Gianna and Kelsey up to at home;  So, needless to say, I had to keep refocusing.

I managed to get all my photos for the article uploaded, which is usually the time consuming part, but I still had to write. When Tanya returned from the gym, she was showered, dressed and ready to go quickly.  The original plan was to go up to Hero’s Square, one last time to spend more time than just the drive by we did on the “tourable” Cityrama bus ride the other day.

I opted to stay and force myself to get Foodie Friday one - as it was, the article was late!

Vegetarian Quesadilla - yum!

My efforts with this article went from the hotel room, to the hotel lobby after check out, to the train from Budapest to Bratislava!! The good news is, I’m happy to report, it is now completed and published, ready to read.  CLICK HERE to read “Lunch at The Farm in Prague”

BRATISLAVA BOUND…
Our taxi driver back to the train station in Budapest was the polar opposite of the gent who drove us to our hotel upon our arrival.  This guy had no personality and he was impatient when we were trying to confirm the train station from which we were leaving.

Trying to get started with Foodie Friday in Budapest Hotel room

Working on Foodie Friday in the lobby of Corinthia Hotel in Budapest

Once again, finalizing Foodie Friday on the train from Budapest to Bratislava

in the cab - goodbye Budapest!

It gave us a good laugh when we got out of the car.  Having exited the train station from the platform, we never got to see the inside. Both Tanya and I were taken aback when we saw how lovely it was inside and both of us began snapping away.

Main Entrance in Budapest Train Station

See Tanya’s side for struggle with getting our bags up on the train. She is truly my hero, as I was being a princess for fear of knocking out my back (which is not unusual) and she “moosed” up both suitcases!!  Well worth it too to get on early since the train was air conditioned and it was such a beautiful thing with the heat outside.

Of course, like many others, our large bags lined the path on the train since they were too large to lift onto the luggage racks. 

The train ride was very scenic with images of the countryside scattered with red roofs streaming past my window, as well as picture postcard views of the hills and a large lake.

In the dining car having some tea and honey cake

Tea and "Honey Cake" on the train

HOLD EVERYTHING!!!!
We had a little mishap folks.  Nothing too crazy.  But, considering that we vlogged it, please watch this little video commentary of what happened as our train made its approach into Bratislava station.  I implore you to get Tanya’s take on this by watching her video before reading on with my blog below.  This is a classic!!
<<<<——<<<<——<<<<——<<<<—-

That's right folks -- we missed our stop!!!
I totally take the blame for lollygagging - but I thought it was a main stop and they would give us more time!!!


So, there we were headed for Kuty, 30 minutes out of Bratislava - and then another 25 waiting for the train to come to take us back.  

It was an experience.  If it wasn't for the heat and the heavy bags (and not a chivalrous man to be found in this God-forsaken country) and the severe hunger I was experiencing - it wouldn't have been so bad (NOT!!!)

But, in the end, we did make the best of it and had some good laughs!

So, as we waited, we really had nothing to do for 30 minutes, so we amused ourselves by taking selfies.  Enjoy!

We caught the train join in the opposite direction back to Bratislava - arrived unscathed, but wilted from the heat!!

Arrived at our lovely little hotel and here we sit trying to post our blog for our deadline.

It was an adventurous day with LOTS OF LAUGHS.  And I'm still alive to describe it (since Tanya didn't kill me!! lol)

Hope your Fourth is a Happy one!!!

Catch ya back here tomorrow!!

-E
xoxo