Up at 5am - checked Facebook and emails. Rang the missus. Breakfast at seven. Checked out of the hotel at eight and stored my luggage until I was ready to catch my bus to Vienna. Generally I found the Hotel President to be very clean, toilet was a bit cramped in a separate room where you had to maneouvre underneath the basin to sit down, warm, very slow heat up for the shower, very good breakfast and great wifi. No problems staying here again.
Walked through the city and over a bridge, Starý Most, that the road has been decommissioned on and has become a pedestrian bridge. Nice view of the city. Only 2°C.
In the Petržalka are I walked down to a new bridge and then along the frozen mud of the riverbank. Different view of the city on offer. Ventured to Sad Janka Kráľa, a park, and it looks a bit sad in winter. Saw a brown squirrel.
Was interested in taking the lift to the top of the UFO restaurant but it was 6.50 euros and it didn't open for another half an hour so I didn't bother. Walked across the bridge, Most SNP, and made my way, the long way, to the clock museum. Turns out this didn't open until 11 so I shot up to the castle. There was a sign telling me where the tickets could be obtained but there was nothing in that direction. Went to the entrance, hurriedly after noticing a busload of Japanese tourists (!), and was told to go back to the ticket office. Duly did so, asked in Slovak for a ticket costing 4 euros, and was provided with a free ticket. Dunno why.
Didn't find the displays of tapestries, history of Methodius and Cyril all that interesting though. Not overly anyway. Some of the paintings on display were nice but you had to have paid for a ticket allowing you to take photos if you wanted to. Display for a castle that was damaged by fire provoked me to make a donation towards reconstruction. View from the turret of the castle was great.
Clock museum next. Three cramped floors of clocks dating from the 17th century. Pity no photos allowed as there were some interesting ones.
Spent some time souvenir hunting before returning to collect my luggage and then walked to the bus station. Had what I thought was my ticket, it was all that I required to get from Vienna to Bratislava, and was told off by the bus driver for not having the correct paperwork. Nevermind. Wifi didn't work so well on the return leg. Grabbed some lunch from Spar in Vienna and talked to the missus on the free wifi.
Found my driver for the trip to Leoben and waited for my Chinese colleague. We talked all the way. Checked in at the Kindler Hotel just before 6pm. Had a shower, possibly best I've ever experienced in a hotel, and met downstairs for dinner at 6:30pm. Nice evening, lovely food at Arkadenhof Gaststätte Schwarzer Adler, dating back to 904 (think that is the town of Leoben and not necessarily the restaurant itself), of sauerkraut and black pudding. Went to bed very tired.
1 comment:
Sausages for brekkie???!
Black pudding????!!
But I like the man at work :-)
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