To say Europe is small, is like saying the universe is big.  In fact, some Aussies we’ve met reckon they can travel across three countries in the same time it takes them to reach their back fence at home.

We’ve just finished our ‘light’ Viennese breakfast of muesli, sausages, scrambled eggs and some kind of heavy dark bread that’s guaranteed to stave off hunger for the rest of the summer.  Nanette’s looking pretty relaxed as she sips her cup of tea.  Ok, time to take a shot.

“So, you know how we’ve planned to visit that fancy palace this morning?”  “…yes…”  “Well, I see the first bus stop on the way back is the Hauptbahnhof (central station). We could stop there and grab some lunch.”  “Ok…and?”  All or nothing now.  “And, maybe we could take that trip to Bratislava we’ve always talked about.”  (This is a slight stretch – we actually hadn’t even heard of Bratislava until our Slovakian driver, Oscar, mentioned it a few days back.) “And, it will be really relaxing sitting on the train watching the beautiful countryside roll by – we can book first class again if you like.”

So, here we are at Vienna Haupbahnhof.  By a lucky coincidence, the ticket guy at Schloss Schonbrunn told us there would be a three hour wait to enter the actual palace, but we were free to walk around the 500-acre grounds.  … Two hours later – boy, it sure will be good to jump on that train and rest our tired feet for a while.

Roll forward about another hour –  we’ve finally managed to negotiate the railways ‘Information’ desk (where we get a grunt and general nod in the direction of the ‘other office’ that sells the actual tickets, and the ticket office – take a number, try not to trip over all the sleeping backpackers waiting for service.  The guy is helpful, but chuckles when I ask if we can go first class – “nein – is small train only.” 

Find platform 4B. There’s a train sitting idle, so we climb aboard.  Others do the same.  Passengers are asking each other “Is this the train for Bratislava?”, so we guess we’re in the right place.  Off we go, through the industrial area and into the surprisingly flat and agricultural countryside.  Ah well, it’s only an hour, then we get to see the beautiful city Oscar promised us.

We rattle into Bratislava main station, Hlavná stanica (probably should remember that name for later). Google told us before we left this morning that “it’s abouta fifteen-minute walk to the city centre – or you can catch a tram or bus.”  A tram arrives, but we speak no Slovakian, so don’t really want to risk ending up in Croatia. I suggest we walk – “it can’t be far, and the castle should be easy to spot.”  We start walking.  It’s very hot – and the route to the city centre isn’t obvious.  (We can’t just follow the other tourists because they all waited and jumped on the tram.)

After much trial and error, and occasional assistance from Google Maps, we finally arrive at the castle, perched atop a steep hill (did I mention we’re walking?)  To our surprise, the castle is packed with tourists, including a big group of aging Aussies. Must have come from one of the many river cruise boats.  We stop for a while to admire the views, then decide that, instead of retracing our way through all those little back streets, we’ll follow this much bigger road down into the town.

Unlike the castle, the town is more or less empty on this steamy Sunday afternoon.  We deduce that Bratislava is another casualty of the ‘sail them in, bus them to the castle, then leave’ kind of tourism.  We’re happy we bought a few things from the young lady and her sister at the little shop that’s just slightly too far from the castle to get the tour crowds.  Now – time to tackle the walk back up that other big hill – the one that I’m reasonably sure should get us to the general area of the train station.  Oh, look, there’s a taxi parked in that side street.  “How much to the train station?”  “Seven euros.”  We’re not quite sure we’ll actually arrive at the same station, but it’s nice to sit down and – ah, yes, he’s found the right one – there’s that tram stop where we … Thanks driver.  Here’s ten.  No, keep the change.

The train back to Vienna is full, but we manage to find two seats together.  My phone app says we’ve done a lot of walking again today – and, when we get back to Vienna, we still have to find our way back from the Hauptbahnhof to our hotel in the Museum Quarter.  Nanette and I look at each other.  “Wow! We’ve just been to Slovakia!”

Vienna Hauptbahnhof takes a bit of navigating

Ticket office – take a number – and wait!

The sign says Bratislava – should be ok, we hope

Flat fields grow crops and power

Is this the border? We didn’t stop at this little station

Hlavná stanica – Bratislava

The building remembers better days

This street seems to head to the castle

Oh, maybe we have to climb these stairs

The castle at last

We admire the view of the Danube (and the appartments)

Let’s walk back into town

Town is empty – but there’s a service at the church

Back to Vienna again