It hasn't rained in two days......

Our number one purchase since the last blog was an umbrella and it sure has seen a lot of use. We've had to learn how to say "thank you" in three different languages and our pockets are filled with worthless coins from the last country.


After some hasty research at the last minute we realised that accommodation in Bratislava was expensive and the standards left a lot to be desired. On a tip off from one website we made our way to Juraj's Hostel ... there were warnings that it was a "different" place. Juraj turned out to be an eccentric who opened the hostel three years ago and is "still renovating". You got the feeling every project was started and stopped at 90% completion. Juraj seemed to run the place singlehandedly working unbelievable hours to keep everyone happy. When we arrived I asked about getting sheets and pillowcases (it was raining and everything about the hostel seemed at sixes and sevens so getting dry sheets was a priority) Juraj looked at me and said "yes .. and you'll need towels too.... later later ... who wants a lift into town?". At 10:30pm that night Juraj came by with sheets etc. by that stage he'd driven half the hostel around and was taking everyones laundry to do overnight.

Interestingly this is the first hostel we've taken upon ourselves to review for hotelz.com. We came upon a nice little earner where you can review and photograph places and get paid for it. Incidentally the ads on the top of the blog are our other little earner. "A click a day keeps M and D away!"

Bratislava is a beautiful little city, well worth a weekend hop if you live that side of the world. We don't have a lonely planet for Eastern Europe, the plan was to get by, do the leg work and depend on Marcus's excellent sense of direction to guide us around. This has worked pretty well so far but every now and again we are missing little snippets of information. We suspect there's a party on somewhere .. and there usually is .. it just takes on a while to find it. Our first two hours in Bratislava were spend wandering deserted streets and checking out the only shop open which happened to be Tescos, needless to say Marcus was pleased! No sooner had we exited Tesco and rounded the next corner we came across the last thing you'd expect to see on a Sunday afternoon in Bratislava - the Slovakian beach volleyball finals complete with, real sand, grandstand, dancing girls and hospitality tent in the middle of a big square. On a recommendation from Juraj we headed out of the touristy area to the 1.Slovak pub for some real Slovakian beer and food. All good value .. made all the better sitting in the covered beer area with the rain hitting tarpaulin.


















:: Bratislavas Beach ..... ::


In an effort to outsmart the high euro prices of Austria we decided to base ourselves in Bratislava for a couple of days and take a day trip into Vienna. The two cities are only about an hour away from each other. On the morning of our departure from the hostel in Bratislava the skies were grey but looking promising. Please note we had checked the forecast and it had advised of widespread rain. We still look back and wonder how two people with the full spectrum of outdoor gear could have departed in sandals that day leaving quick dry pants and waterproof shoes behind safely locked up in the rucksacks. Marcus was, and still is determined not to take his raincoat out until we get to some latitude far north of here or until winter arrives whichever comes first. Anyhow we arrived in Vienna at 11am and the rain was so bad that we contemplated getting the 12:15pm train back. Half an hour later and thoroughly drenched we had stretched the budget to purchase a stylish over the shoulder umbrella for 2.50 euros. We emerged from an underground station into St.Stephans Platz looking for a picturesque place to make our picnic lunch only to take the escalator back down and sit like bums on the floor of the underground eating our rolls. Following lunch we did a whirlwind expedition around the fantastic buildings dodging puddles and bracing ourselves against the wind. We managed to find a nice tram that ran around most of the sights and took shelter in that for a while - squinting out fogged up windows. At 5pm we called it a day and headed for the train back to Bratislava. To round of a miserable day the train took us to a little local station the other side of Bratislava leaving us with a sizeable trudge home. Opening the door of our hostel looking forward to hopping into our nice bed we met Juraj who was waiting to tell us that we had to move rooms. Our new room had a guest already installed and there was an inhumane stink in the room. Thankfully Juraj offered us a bed in an open common/ clothes drying area and gave us a beer to sweeten us up. Turned out to be a great alternative!



We're on our fourth night in Krakow now and heading for Vilnius on the early morning train. There's been so much to do here that we haven't had enough time to get it all posted so we'll catch soon.





:: Vienna in sandals.....::