Tue
07.Aug.2012
Bratislava, Slovakia
From Vienna back to Bratislava, from the Giant Wheel (Rad) to the
Castle (Hrad)
Language note:
Many words with "g" in Croatian or Slovene
change the "g" to "h" in Czech or Slovak.
Ljubljana Castle = Ljubljanski Grad;
Bratislava Castle = Bratislavsky Hrad
Generic Mall sights
To make it official that we are in Bratislava, here is this year's first
Martian Attack picture.
For some folks, the New Bridge really was like an alien attack. The
Communist-era authorities demolished most of what remained of the city's
Jewish quarter, including two centuries-old synagogues, to build the freeway
and approaches.
This brand new mock-up of one of the destroyed synagogues stands in a
now-truncated square next to the freeway where the real thing stood. It was
not there last year; in fact, the sign by it seems to say (in Slovak) that
it was opened the day before I arrived here last June, and will be open June
- September for the next three years.
Long, lively Hviezdoslav Square is always a nice way to get from
the New Bridge to the center of the old town.
Doesn't matter what you wear ...
... just as long as you are there.
That can't really be Mickey Mouse ears that the young lady is
wearing. I am pretty sure I would have noticed something like that.
The temperature was 38°C (100°F) the afternoon of these pictures. The name
of the game was dress comfortably - fashion can just take its own chances.
That attitude is one thing I like about Bratislava in the Summer. I can
dress as dorky as I like, and still blend right in.
Our old friend The Primate's Palace.
[Stipulate the usual
primate joke here; I have used it twice before, and I am too
lazy to type it again.]
Roland's Fountain in Main Square.
I got my first Slovakian haircut this week, at a well-hidden barber shop
here on Odborárske Square, (whatever exactly an odborár may be). [Later:
I looked it up: labor unionist.] Slovakian businesses keep a low
profile, at least to American eyes. I only learned that there is a barber
shop there last Summer, even though I had twice before lived just down the
block from it.
Similarly, there is a chain drug store behind me in this picture, that you
would not know was there if you didn't notice the small sign, and wouldn't
think was actually open unless you tried the door... or just knew.
Similarly, the street where I am sitting and typing right now... A few years
ago I dismissed it as a lane of dingy wannabe stores. Now that my eyes have
adjusted to the local light, so to speak, Obchodna Street is one of
the most vibrant hives of shopping and eating in the city. And full of
students from the nearby university to boot.
Anyway, that is my local barber shop with the loopy lettering. The yellow
store to the right was an interior designer, now regrettably gone.
I was apprehensive about getting my haircut. With the language barrier,
would I be able to communicate to a woman barber what I wanted in a men's
haircut. The pictures of fancy styled fashion types in the window didn't
reassure. But the sign on the door - that little white square - said,
RELAX (so help me, in English!), then in Slovak "Men's Barber Shop".
The middle-aged barber lady turned the chair so I was facing the mirror,
making communication a snap with getures and a yes/no vocabulary. Piece o'
cake!
A shiny polished car hood, parked near the barber shop.
My first Summer here, I lived in that building.
This fountain sits under a statue of Hviezdoslav in the square
named for him. Mr. H. was a the first writer to produce world class
literature in the Slovak language, during the century or so after the
various dialects and variants had coalesced into a definable language. He
presides at this east end of the long square, while Hans Christian
Andersen, of all people, smiles sadly at the west end.
Contents Copyright 2012 Jeff Bulf