Bratislava or Bratisnada?

I went to Bratislava because it was a cheap flight to London instead of from Budapest. One can be forgiven for never even knowing of the Slovakian capital. I'll be honest to say that Bratislava doesn't have too much to offer, my Brazilian friend even jokingly called it Bratisnada.

When I arrived out of the bus terminal I had seen some soviet apartments and as I was walking towards the main street I was greeted with a sight of what looked like a dump of abandoned home appliances. Not a great introduction to the city, after I had left my bag at my hostel, I went to MacDonald's for dinner and I had noticed a huge difference in the MacDonald's that you don't get in Scotland. You can order a BEER with your meal in Slovakian Macdonald's, how insane is that?

On a cold and dark January evening, I navigated my way through the city to walk towards Bratislava Castle, the castle is lit up, making it clearly visible and overlooks the entire city on a hill. Once I reached the castle, the place felt very quiet, I was one of the very few tourists visiting and I had the view of the city all to myself.

After going to the castle, I walked back down to the old town of Bratislava, the architecture of the old town feels quaint in contrast to the decrepit soviet-style architecture which surrounds the city. You might expect a formerly communist country like this to be full of poverty and crime. However, there was none I could see, not in Bratislava at least. The overall feel of the old town at night is very quiet and peaceful, however I could not ignore the fact that there was a Thai massage place and a Scottish pub in the old town and nothing much else that could be noticed. I would have wanted to go into the Scottish pub for a pint, but sadly it was closed. Although I did find a nearby pub in which a pint of the local beer cost me €2.30, a few streets away from the old town is the presidential palace of Bratislava, not much of an interesting building to view, but I guess it's a good place for a photo spot and is on the way to Bratislava Castle from the old town.

The next morning I saw the blue church, I would say that the way it is decorated is unusual. I took another walk through the old town, I saw the main square and the whole area feels a little more vibrant in the day, but still feels very tranquil. At Michael's Gate you can actually enter inside of the tower as it has been converted into a museum. The museum isn't too amazing, it features historical weapons used in Bratislava over the years, including rifles, swords and daggers.

The museum costs 3 Euros for admission if you're a student and an interesting aspect of the museum is that at the top floor there is a door. You can hang around the balcony of the tower in which you can expect to see a beautiful view of Bratislava and the castle. This is probably the best place to get a view of the castle. 

What I'd say about Bratislava is that it's a city with not much to it, however, it was still a pleasant experience to visit. It's not mobbed with tourists, it's relatively affordable and it feels completely safe. I'd say if you're going on a Eurotrip, you might as well give it a go, but I'd say that you could merely spend the best of a night here.