His View 

Slovakia- Feliks' perspective

 

We were not planning on going to Bratislava, but after doing some math and seeing the availability for hostels in Vienna, it was much easier to stay here and make a day trip to Vienna. Our hostel was in Old Town and it was a pretty cool place. Right outside the hostel was the Christmas market with lots of street food. There was also a stage where they had middle schoolers singing Christmas songs. Some songs were in Slovakian but there were numerous songs that they sang in English. Jingle Bells was in my head pretty much all night after we walked around the market. 

 

We did a free walking tour in Bratislava and learned a lot about the city. There was quite a lot to see and learn. Bratislava apparently was where the Velvet Revolution started with the protest of students. The guide was pretty proud of this and even explained that most people think that it started Prague, which had their protest a day later. 

 

We were recommended a local pub for some local food. The pub was simply called Slovak Pub, nothing fancy. I ordered the traditional potato dumplings with sheep cheese and Caywood got the garlic soup. After the meal, neither one of use could move and we both smelled like garlic. It was amazing. The potato dumpling were somewhat like pasta with a cheese sauce. The bacon on top was so crunchy and really made the dish amazing. The Garlic soup was like drinking straight garlic and finishing each bite with a piece of the bread bowl was a perfect combination of deliciousness. 

 

Overall, I’m really glad we had this unexpected stop in Bratislava. The city seems like it didn’t attract too many tourists, yet it had everything a tourist would want. It was relatively inexpensive and small enough to walk everywhere. I would love to come back and hang out some more. The streets were pretty clean; I couldn't comment on WiFi. They had bathrooms set up for the Christmas market but I also saw some in McDonalds that looked free, most in fast food restaurants are not.