Tuesday 28th October 2019
I was awoken around 5:30 by the trams. My room was overlooking where the tramway came to the bottom of a hill and went around a corner. I couldn't get back to sleep. I eventually gave up and checked out around 7:30. The receptionist said that I should have asked for a different room. The trams don't run overnight. I decided not to have their breakfast. I wasn't enjoying my stay in Bratislava.
Both the hotels that I had paid for a good night's sleep in were near the castle. I went to have a look. It was 8:00 and a bit drizzly.
I'm not sure how old much of it was, but parts were several hundred years old. It was overlooking the Danube and the town. I then decided to head towards the old town as the rush hour kicked in. As this photo hopefully shows.
From this bridge, the castle is up the hill on the right, the old town on the left and a modern road going over the Danube in-between. The old town seemed to have many of the bars etc that a modern, back-packing tourist attraction needs. I soon headed back towards the railway station. Nothing there tempted me for breakfast. I bought an open return ticket to Budapest.
09:57 Bratislava hl.st. to Budapest Nyugati 12:20
It was time to rejoin the Metropolitan on its way from Prague to Budapest. I headed for the restaurant car with breakfast still on my mind. I went for the omelette with ham, mushrooms and peas. The waiter went to check with the chef that he had some eggs left and it was on its way. After leaving Bratislava, we were rolling across some largely flat agricultural land. Breakfast appeared with some bread and a roll. All seemed ok with the world as I sat and watched the world go by. Replenished, I eventually decided to go and find a seat elsewhere. After stopping at Sturovo, we started to run alongside the Danube on right-hand side. We crossed into Hungary at Szob. We stopped at a few stations along the way and it seemed to be local families using the service rather than the international crowd you might expect on a service that connects three capitals. We soon headed south away from the Danube into the suburbs of Budapest.
We were a bit late in. We arrived slightly behind and away from the main entrance. The station had seen better days. The glass roof was very leaky. There were a lot of people around including quite a few beggars outside the station. Once across the road, it felt a bit more cosmopolitan. It was raining and I decided to head towards the river.
I went down a side street. It seemed to be the diplomatic area with large grandiose buildings lining relatively small streets. Not what I was expecting from a former communist country. As I approached the river, the parliament also came into view.
The buildings had become even more grandiose.
There are more across the river in Buda.
So I headed towards the river and the Chain Bridge.
The Danube looking north.
Once across the river into Buda, I decided that climbing the hills would prove too tiring and time consuming, so it was back to Pest.
The Danube looking south.
I was starting to get a bid fed up of all the big buildings and decided to look for an old part of the city where ordinary people might have lived. A few blocks away from the river, things started to look a bit more normal. The smaller streets provided a glimpse of the largest synagogue in Europe.
I was tiring now and my shoe developed a leak as the rain continued. I bought a roll and a pudding in a Spar shop before finding my way back to the station to eat them. Soon after I saw a train on the platform where the Metropolitan was due to leave. It hadn't been cleaned and wasn't showing any signs that it was about to return to Prague, but people were boarding. So I joined them.
15:40 Budapest Nyugati to Praha hl.n. 22:09
As I was onboard early, I had a good choice of seats even after some paper reservations tickets were put in place. The train filled up with commuters before departing. I had sat on the left for a view of the Danube again, but it was getting dark by the time we were there. The train was a lot quieter by the time we arrived in Bratislava, but we picked up quite a few there. I was booked on this service from there to Prague. As we approached Brno, I went to get some dinner. The restaurant was busy with what looked like people having some after work drinks. A seat soon became available though. I ordered some freshly cooked chicken schnitzel and a beer for about £7. Very pleasant.
We pulled into Prague on time. When I had wandered around the station the evening before, I noticed that some people walked off the end of the platform to nearby houses. This seems to be relatively common with the more open stations and rail tracks of Europe. There were signs at the end of the platform though saying no pedestrians. So I decided not to take this shortcut to the hotel.
The Tabor was about a mile uphill away. I was soon checked-in and in my room. One of my feet was still wet. I could hear the trams nearby, but not enough to keep me awake.
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