After spending exciting and busy touristy days in Budapest, we took a 9:00 o clock bus from Budapest Nepliget going to Bratislava. We had our breakfast at Budapest Nepliget terminus. It was a 2-floor bus terminus with buses arriving on the ground floor and underground floor with access to shops and small cafes. Once the bus arrived, our online tickets were checked and bags uploaded in the bus storage. I booked our tickets online from GoEuro website with Eurolines bus services for 169 CZK per person only a month in advance. It was a hassle free 2 hours 50 minutes journey. 

After reaching Bratislava, we bought a local bus ticket directly at the bus stop. We were the clear foreigners of this town. ‘Bratislava Autobusova Stanica’ (our bus depot where the bus stopped), is not really close or far from the city. Thanks to google maps we figured which bus to catch and which way to walk. For the first half an hour of Bratislava, we were really apprehensive, we could hardly see people and it looked like we have reached a post-apocalyptic world. It was Saturday morning, we could hardly find any local people and also a proper road until we reached the city centre. 

Finally, as we approached the city centre, we could see people and we felt relieved. We entered a very friendly English speaking Ice cream parlour / Gelateria called ‘ i Nonni Cremeria’.  They had 12 different kinds of Chocolate flavours for that particular weekend, which made me feel great. 

After finishing our gelatos,  we walked further straight in the direction of the old city and we stumbled upon ‘Man at work‘. 
It is a bronze statue of a sewer worker peeping out and resting over a manhole and looking at passersby. So many of us tourists stopped to take a picture with this funny man! It’s impossible to ignore the people around him yet you might miss the statue if you are not paying attention. He is also called as Cumil – the sewer worker and installed in 1997.  The two rumours are that he is atypical communist worker while more one he is a cheeky man looking under women’s skirts.

Then we walked towards the Ganymede’s fountain. It has figures from ancient mythology. We ended up enjoying the vibe around the fountain. As we were roaming during the summer, mist showers were highly welcomed by the tourists.

Next stop was heading towards the main square. There are two-three spots to be seen around the main square. One being the Napolean’s Army soldier.  The story behind this statue is quite romantic and positive. It’s said that when Napolean’s army was passing through Bratislava, this soldier named Hubert was part of the army. Hubert fell in love with a local girl in Bratislava, he stayed back in the city and later even became the producer of wine.

This statue is located in the main square near the old town hall. It is difficult to miss it though. After this, we were roaming around the second spot of the Main Square which is the Townhall and The Ronald’s fountain. I won’t be able to tell you any particulars of this city that needs to be seen. We just visited small street shops and tried to get a vibe of this cute, quiet Slovakian capital.

Tomorrow’s blog will have the continuation of us exploring Bratislava, which can be summarised in these words:  wedding party,  a string of pots and pans, music man,  Football World cup and UFO observation desk. We took a bus to Vienna from Bratislava.