#bratislove

[jcgemusicblog]

On rotation 🎧 Soap Kills - Tango 👉 https://youtu.be/9W4zAajdHF0 🎼🎶 #musicblog #jcgemusicblog #indieblog #bratislove #bratislava #slovakia #musicbloggers #musicblogger @soapkillsofficial https://www.instagram.com/p/B_mUSs6jc0H/?igshid=1m588j53968fi

[myfontz]

[ilariacilli-blog]

A peculiar little cafe and a fabulous antique shop with bundles of epoch-old atmosphere. 🔼🔽 Il posto ideale per trascorrere il un caldo e accogliente pomeriggio a spasso nel tempo. . #cillibeanvibes ✌️ . . . . . #bratislavaslovakia #bratislove #life_is_street #yallerseurope #urbanlife #citylife #capturestreets #fromstreetswithlove #life_is_street #burnmagazine #streetphotographyinternational #ourstreets #street_perfection #street_photo_club #hikaricreative #burnmyeye #gf_streets #lensonstreets #urbanandstreet #hsdailyfeature #apfmagazine #thestreetphotographyhub #lacalleesnuestracolectivo #streetoptimist #lensculturestreets #gspc #zonestreet #thestreetphotographyhub #capturestreets #streetphotography #fujifeed @street.classics @streetdreamsmag @streetphotographyinternational @streetleaks @streets_vision @storyofthestreet @friendsinperson @life_is_street @lensculture @eyeshot_magazine https://www.instagram.com/p/BuKH-ruAs0W/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=14gbdh9m3lwnm

[romanabucek]

• M A G I C • A R T O F N A T U R E • . . . #ArtOfNature #Magical #View #PicOfTheDay #Slovakia #Bratislove #Bratislava #HomeTown #AfterStorm #WorkMood #NeskutocneCoDokazePriroda #Instagramers #Sun #Winter #Vibes (na mieste HRcomm - Združenie pre riadenie a rozvoj ľudských zdrojov)

[angelicascardigno]

photographic event in bratislava

[samboskovic]

Most #slovensko #slovakia #bratislava #bratislove #pressburg #pozsonyi #petrzalka #engerau #dunaj #rieka #most #elektricka #nikon #f3 #35mm #analog #film #ilford #nikkor50mm #monochromatic #monochrome #blackandwhite #bwphotography #nofilter (na mieste Bratislava, Slovakia)

[tpehep-cache]

Брат и Слава... Слава не влез в кадр ;) #cachetag #кэштег #bratislove #designofoto #bratislover #скульптура #sculpture (at Bratislava, Slovakia)

[gatsu81]

Bratislove . . . . . . . . . . . . . #bratislava #slovacchia #slovakia #redmis2 (presso Bratislava, Slovakia) https://www.instagram.com/gatsu81/p/Buy8Qk-nVGp/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=je1jfg7jj74c

[tags-sk]

#bratislava #visitbratislava #mijabratislava #bratislavacity #bratislove #bratislover #bestcouple #europe #autumnvibes🍁... https://ift.tt/2CsA9dF , https://tags.world

[jcgemusicblog]

GUSTAV TIGER from Hungary @united_islands 2019 Prague #bratislove #jcgemusicblog #punkrock #prague #czechia🇨🇿 #czechia #praguelovesmusic (presso Prague) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByLOOl8lvjE/?igshid=x271ox5xug66

[myfontz]

Resistenza

An Italian/Spanish type foundry set up in 2008 by Giuseppe Salerno and Paco González, and based in Valencia, Spain.

part 1 of 2 - part 2 of 2

website - myfonts

[romanabucek]

• DON’T WAIT FOR THE PERFECT MOMENT TAKE THE MOMENT AND MAKE IT PERFECT • #LifeQuotes . . . #Photoshoot #InstaLove #OciSuOknomDoDuse #PhotoOfTheDay #Winter #Vibe #BlackAndWhite #PerfectMoment #Slovakia #Bratislove #Smile #Love #DeepEyes #Art #PureNature (na mieste Bratislava, Slovakia)

[karasakakusu]

Since 1997 Čumil is watching the streets of Bratislava #slovakia #bratislava #bratislover #čumil #travel #worldtrip #worldtraveler #weltreise #slowakei #schrittwärts #reisen #voyage #viaggio #viaje #viagem (hier: Bratislava, Slovakia)

[angelicascardigno]

#spanishfolclore #spain #barcelonacity #traveling #barcelona #bratislove #bratisloveblog #winter2018 #december (presso Gothic Quarter, Barcelona) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrIuLL4hRx0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=4rhoz0s3k7g5

[tegyetekelbefottet-blog]

BratisLove #march15 #bratislava #slovakia #travelaroundtheworld #travel #onedayholiday #oneyear #bratislavacastle (helyszín: Bratislava, Slovakia)

[shockinghocking]

Bratislovers and Awe-stria

We had never heard or read anything about Bratislava, but loved strolling through the green, hilly city with its interesting post-Soviet art, delightful craft cola and pastel coloured buildings.  To be honest, we both wish we’d had more time to explore Slovakia, which is supposed to be a window into medieval life, with sleepy villages, wild animals and spectacular scenery.

Nonetheless, we made the most of our short time there.  Bratislava is guarded by the stocky, storybook castle on the hill, which was rebuilt in the 60s after being destroyed by a fire in the 1800s and now sits pride of place over the old town.

The old town square, Hlavné Námestie, has great sculpture and is flanked by buidlings dating to the 14th Century.  

Similarly old is St Martin’s Cathedral, an imposing Gothic church that doubled as a fortification, built as it was in the city’s ancient city walls. 

The church’s surrounds as are pretty as the building itself, with a little vined courtyard, beautiful religious buildings for housing the adepts and a cobblestoned paths and roads.

Our wandering continued, leading us to the funny statue of Cumil (“the watcher”), the manhole peeper who spies on the goings on of the old town and is accused of eyeing up all the passing ladies:

He’s apparently lost his head twice as a result of inattentive drivers, so has his very own “Man at Work” sign above him keeping him safe!

We also saw some other cute little galleries - check out the Renault!

And then on to the eye popping baby blue “Little Blue Church” (Modrý kostolík), a masterpiece of the Hungarian art-nouveau style.

Having worked up a mighty hunger on our wanderings, we indulged in some meaty delights of the Slovak variety at the 600 year old brewery  Bratislavský Meštiansky Pivovar.

Not too much beer for us though, as we had a little drive to do in order to spend the night the night at the foot of the eerie Devínsky Hrad, a castle that dates back to the 600s, but in a location that has been a site of dense human settlement since the Neolithic era... That was to be where we lay our head in our little van for the night, spooky!

We made it through the night without any hauntings, and slogged up the hill in the beautiful sunshine to the archaeological site and castle ruins.  The location of Devín Castle is on the confluence of the Danube and Moravia Rivers, so was of rather invaluable strategic importance for centuries.  We saw the remains of a 1st C Roman tower, and the ruins of the 15th C castle, which is a maze of staircases, gardens, towers and walls.  It was blown up by Napolean when he rampaged through the area.  Check out the little door in the cliff - it’s a tunnel that passes through the entire cliff.

The watchtower below the castle, standing alone on a rock in the river is known as the Virgin’s Tower, (allegedly) being either the site of maidens being locked waiting for rescue, or the site where a young bride jumped to her death when her disapproving family killed her groom.

Refreshed from the vitamin D and ancient history, we pointed the van due west and drove into the Baroque heart of Austria - Vienna.  We’d already been to both Innsbruck (briefly) and Salzburg in Austria, and had loved them both - especially the incredible ice cave near Salzburg! The rambling, majestic and downright regal Wien proved just as lovable.  We parked up on the east bank of the Danube a wee way out of town and strolled into the city, starting with the cathedral, Stephensdom.  It is unmissably grand, with its colourful tiled roof and outrageous Gothic decorations, and is smack in the centre of the Viennese old town. Oh, and it’s massive - this thing has 18 alters just in the main part of the church, with more in the chapels attached.  

Inside, you’ve got a Gothic pulpit, a masterpiece of stone work, but dwarfed in the massive space.

In all this glitz, it’s important to keep it real: the sculptor of the pulpit did, carving himself staring out of a window under the stairs of the pulpit with such an expression of satisfaction on his face he’s earned himself the name fenstergucker - window gawker. 

Having been guckers ourselves long enough, we treated ourselves to a delightful Sichuan meal in the suburbs and headed off to bed.

The next day we started with a tour of the Rathaus, an unfortunate name for a rather impressive building that has served as the city hall since 1833.    

The building is Gothic, but in the Belgian style and arranged around Baroque courtyards, and is very pointy, lacy and spindly.  Inside you have salons, festival halls and galleries which are all, of course, lavishly decorated.

Perhaps best of all, it has an active paternoster, or continuous elevator, which are increasingly rare because of how dangerous they are!  They’re called paternosters because they work in a loop like rosary beads which are used to help recite the Lord’s Prayer, aka the Pater Noster.  Good one, Europe. 

Anyway, we very much enjoyed playing on it!

With a stop in a famous Viennese coffee house - all marble benches and whitewashed timber panels, a stroll through Margareten, a suburban district of Vienna and a peek at the neoclassical Musikverein, we were chilly enough to huddle into bed for the night!

Working harder than we had in months were the riders who we saw practicing at the Spanish Riding School inside the Hofburg Palace the next day. The Lipizzaner stallions perform classical dressage to music within the palace while the public watch from beautiful balconies under glittering chandeliers.  The riders wear uniforms dating back 200 years and the whole thing is like a trip to the ballet, but with white stallions! Photos are against the rules, but we snapped a couple of sneakies just for posterity.

The horses are treated like kings, including spending summers in the meadows and woods of Heldenburg and their winters at the palace! 

With the afternoon at the Albertina Gallery, home to the biggest collections of prints and sketches in the world (think The Young Hare by Durer and pencil studies of The Last Supper) and afternoon tea at Demel, a patisserie established in 1786, we were fully getting into the high society life.

However, we were still urchins in reality, and living in a shopping mall carpark in the burbs, cooking toast grilled in a fish-shaped set of tongs in our sleeping bags every morning...

We also spent all of one evening going in a loop on one of the Viennese free trams just to warm up, so it wasn’t all Baroque architecture and gilt framed artworks!

However, we still got to spend our days carousing through palaces.  We visited the seriously cold but beautiful Schloss Schönbrunn, the former imperial summer palace of the Habsburgs built in 1740 in the neoclassical style.    It includes beautiful gardens that feature a whimsical (fake) Roman ruin and a gloriette, which is a European thing meaning a pavilion-like structure on a hill above a garden...  

From the Habsburg delights of Austria, we decided to tootle back to see a little more of the Czech Republic, chugging three and a half hours to the Southern reaches of Bohemia to spend a few days in the sleepy wintery village of Český Krumlov where we got to relax and unwind on the medieval streets away from the Crowds of the big gilded cities!