Home Base: the Main Square
It is a nice place to hang out, and it has several free wireless access
nets.
BTW, that bell tower at the top end of the square? It isn't just me;
it really does stand a little off-vertical.
The good hotel Narodny Dom, my
home away from home these past four days, is a curious place. Attached
to the City Opera House, it keeps a wierdly low profile for a business.
You can sort of guess that there might be a restaurant in here, but
there is not a visible hint of a hotel. I knew where to look, and I was
looking, and I still passed it by the first time.
In the entry hall to the restaurant is
a door labelled Hotel.
At the hotel desk is a laminated 8-1/2x11 sheet saying the desk clerk
is in
the restaurant.
On t'other hand, it is probably the cheapest 3-star digs I've ever
stayed in. Costs a hair less than my much more minimal apt in
Bratislava. And I am 5 min walk from the main square,
or in the other direction, the train station, where I will be going all
too early tomorrow morning.
SNP Museum
SNP Stands for Slovak National Uprising, an abortive national
uprising against the occupying (German) fascists in 1945, that cost
the Slovaks dearly and still looms large in national memory.
Banska Bystrica was the heart and epicenter of the uprising, and
maintains a significant museum to the event.
I did not intend to visit the museum; I didn't even know where it
is. I got drawn in, to the outdoor part at least, by this old
plane, soviet made, looking very much like a DC-3 or C-41. I'd seen
some of those still in service in Central America in 1980.
The Passages
Often in Slovakian Cities, shops and restaurants are located not on the
street, but in a covered passage through a building, or in a courtyard
at the end of the passage.
You see this in other European cities, but not usually this pervasive.
For example, tourist office literature warns you to ask when you are
looking for a particular restaurant.
As in Prague, basement eateries are a tradition here. They are easy to
find in Summer because they usually set an outdoor terrace out front.
Contents Copyright 2012 Jeff Bulf