Two castles

Bratislava Castle

We woke at 0400, with our body clocks on Taipei time.  I gave up trying to doze at 0500 and lay in bed to plan the day.  Kim was able to fall back asleep till around 0700.

After a breakfast of muesli, we headed out to Bratislava Castle which sits on a hill overlooking the city. Despite its 11th Century origins, what stands today is largely from the 1950s after a fire in 1811.

The museum inside was closed being a Tuesday but for us, it was a good enough visit to the outside and the courtyard.

I guess it would be the typical room after room of opulence which we have seen plenty of at our age.

Back down at the old city, we grabbed brunch at the same café as yesterday before returning to the room briefly.

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Devin Castle

In the early afternoon, we found the bus to Devin Castle outside of the city.  The ruins date back to the 13^th Century and sit on top of a hill overlooking a confluence of the Danube and Morava Rivers, with Austria on the other side of the water.

The walk up wasn’t difficult and the remains were clumped on two ends of the little plateau, with an open area in between.  The ruins on the highest part included access to a little basement.

We finished with a walk around the lower part of the castle grounds.

The outing was surprisingly enjoyable, in part due to the stunning weather which was still pleasant and not too humid.

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Back in the city

We returned to the city by bus, alighting near the Blue Church, formally known as the Church of St Elizabeth.  This church was completed in 1913 and is prominent due to its blue exterior. The interior isn’t completely blue but also a pale buttery colour.

From there, we walked to the Eurovea mall where we grabbed a salad to have in the adjacent square by the river.

With the glorious sunshine today, we had several little explores of the old city (and the broader area).  Everything looked so much nicer in the better light.

We had Part 2 of our dinner in the tree-lined pedestrian area near our hotel, purchased from our nearby Billa supermarket.  It was a repeat of the delicious sub sandwich and meat patties which we had last night.  Good things are worth repeating!