16 May 2007 (Day 4)
Bratislava. Just to give an idea how far Bratislava is from Vienna (Wien): The train ride from Vienna to Bratislava took us about 1.5 hours. Vienna and Bratislava are supposedly the two closest capital cities in the world, only a short 64 km or 40 miles away.

16 May 07 - 9:00am : On the way in Vienna to catch the train at Wien Sudbanhof. Trains depart for Bratislava at pretty frequent regular intervals here. We walked past a stand selling bread. The aroma of the bread is nice! :)

A close up of the stand. Note the different types of bread, pretzels, rolls etc etc. We did not have the chance to sample them all, but I guess they should taste very nice. People pick up a bread or two on their way to work or trip.

As for us, we had our breakfast in the Macdonalds. Here, we had our "regular" egg and ham combi that came with bread and coffee. Pei smiling happily...

At the Wien Sudbanhof train station.

A quick photo before boarding the train and we will be on the way to Bratislava! Here we come!

Arrival at the Bratislava Main Station or Bratislava Petrzalka. Within the station, it was rather run down, dark and gloomy. We felt safer when we went out into the light of the day.

This tram operating between the train station and the city part of Bratislava is free in the sense that it is included in the ticket price of the train ride from Vienna to Bratislava.

Finally, we managed to make our way and alighted near where we think we should start. Surprisingly, the train station and old trams from the train station was only one part of the city. In the main city area, trams are newer and I think the city is bright, cheery and nice.

The Slovak National Gallery or Slovenská národná galéria in Slovak is a network of galleries in Slovakia. It has its headquarters in Bratislava.

View of the Reduta Building near the Slovak National Gallery. Reduta building houses the Bratislava Casino, and it also houses the ticketing counters for the various arts and culture events around town.

Cafe scene on the streets of Bratislava. It is nice to be able to find some time, order a cuppa of coffee and sit here, watching the world go by you.

The Slovak National Theatre is the oldest Slovak professional theatre. The Neo-Renaissance Slovak National Theatre, standing at the end of the long Hviezdoslav Square (Hviezdoslavovo námestie), was built in 1885-1886 during the time of Austria-Hungary.

Pei at the Ganymede's Fountain in front of the theatre. Bratislava native sculptor Victor Tilgner crafted this famous Ganymede's Fountain in 1888.

A close up view of the theatre and the sculpture on top of the fountain.

Dolls on sale in the souvenir booths along the Hviezdoslav Square (Hviezdoslavovo námestie) wide and long walkways.

Hviezdoslav Square (Hviezdoslavovo námestie) is one of the best-known squares and is located in the Old Town. It is named after Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav. The square is primarily a pedestrian zone with lots of green. Closer to the theatre end, we came across this larger-than-life-sized
statue of Hviezdoslav.

Cafe scene by the side of the Hviezdoslav Square promenade walkway. Shady and cool, it provide a calm and peaceful place from the busy tourists around the square.

Restaurants line the many streets of the Bratislava town square area. This is one with nice red/pink wals and the commonly found alfresco dining area.

Streets of Bratislava showing the architecture of old buildings.

There is a vegatarian restaurant called Vegetariánska Jedáleň Divesta, on Laurinská street in the old town. It serves food which lonely planet recommended was cheap and good; unfortunately when we visited it, there was a long queue of people waiting to eat. We had to find another place to eat our lunch... :(

In the courtyard of the Primate´s Palace (Primacialne namestie). The exquisite fountain of St. George,depicting the legendary knight battling the dragon,stands in the square. inner courtyard of the Primate’s palace.

Pei with the Municipal Museum, the oldest museum in Bratislava as well as in Slovakia. It was founded as early as 1868. Its collections can be seen in one of the ten permanent exhibitions documenting Bratislava’s rich history, including the history of crafts and trade, coronations of Hungarian kings, science, technology, cultural life in the town, sacral arts, life style of nobility, ideas of national revival as well as development of industry.

While we were there, we noticed that graffiti was not as bad as in austria (we could be wrong, though). But still, we could see that this "practice" can still be leave its mark around the streets of Bratislava.