Sat 21.Sep.2013
Bratislava, Slovakia
One last set from August in Bratislava, before I leave Monday evening for
Rodos.
I am pleased to say I'll be fifteen kilos less fat than when I arrived there
a year ago. I earned every gram of it, if only by sacrificing chocolate and
pasta.
Sigh...
High over the city, in the vast forest known as Lesni Park, near the
city TV tower. Officially this is all inside the city limits, but you'd
never guess it from walking the maze of trails, roads, firebreaks and
whatnot.
This, on the other hand, is Horski Park in the heart of the city
proper, surrounded by residential neighborhoods.
After I discovered Horski Park, it became a favorite venue for my daily
exercise walks. A few of those fifteen lost kilos may have been left in
this beautiful forested canyon. I would like to think so.
On private ground next to the top entrance to Horski Park, a summer wedding
party is in full swing.
Down in the old city, a small tower at the side of St Martin's
Cathedral.
The cathedral has some history to it. A dozen Hungarian kings and queens
were crowned here, during the centuries when the Ottoman Turks occupied
the traditional Hungarian capital of Buda.
Look who's here! They operate mostly in the shopping district near the
university.
They are at least better entertainment than the Mormon missionaries,
though they all have their work cut out for them in deeply Catholic
Slovakia.
What's that, Dad?
Well, I guess you'd call it a printing keyboard.
So where is its data port? And how do you plug it in?
No data port, son - you slide a sheet of paper in here and turn this
roll. Then... see those little levers with reverse characters on the tips?
They strike the image directly onto the paper - no computer involved. And
no power plug either - it is purely mechanical.
A purely mechanical printing keyboard that doesn't even save its data.
Brilliant!
... What is it really, Dad?
Some random sights below from Bratislava Castle.
A pair of odd pillars near St Martin's Cathedral in the old city.
On a blazing hot summer afternoon, the Bratislava Water Company set up a
mobile water tank in Main Square, and passed out free drinks.
These pigeons didnt't get any free water, but they had a great view of the
square from Roland's statue's shoulders.
Finally, let's not forget our sense of comedy in everyday things. In this
case, a magazine cover at a kiosk, at a bus stop.
When you see a restaurant name in Spanish, you are in the old town tourist
zone.
If you insist on paying four times as much as necessary for a mediocre
dinner, this is the part of town to do it.
They might even have
Mexicky Gulaš
That is it for year five of these wanderings.
See you all next week in Rodos!