Bratislava, 11-13.4.2016, Hamburg 13-18.4

11.4 Monday
It was time to change country, from Czech republic to Slovakia. This was also a spontaneous decision, but that is the best part of traveling by Interrail ticket, you don't need to plan before that much, just jump into a train and you will end up somewhere. In Bratislava I slept in a really nice hostel very close to the train station, which was really good!

I took a direct train early in the morning to Bratislava, capital of Slovakia. Spending here a few nights before going back "home" to Hamburg.

The hostel was not that close to the river Danube, but in a walking distance. I visited some parks on my way, then passed by the Grassalkovich palace (picture).

I decided to go around in the old town and just make a quick sightseeing in the town. On the left you can see the St. Michael's gate, which actually is the one of the oldest buildings in town and the only one preserved of medieval fortifications. Close to the gate is the statue of St. Michael and the dragon (d.r). This statue was placed after the reconstructions of the gate in 1758, but the gate originates from the year 1300. During the old medieval times this gate was one of the four entrances you cloud use to get through the surrounding walls.

Under the gate there is a big compass that shows the directions to different cities from this spot. Among the cities I also found Helsinki, 1430 km!

One must visit in Bratislava is the castle, that is the main castle in the city. It stands on an isolated hill of the little Carpathians, directly at the Danube river. From here you have lovely views over the city, towards Danube, the town, the parks... You can also see all the way to Austria and partly to Hungary! (d.l): one of the four entrance gates, Sigismund gate, located in the southeast, build in 15th century.

Climbing up to the castle

The amazing view towards Danube. In the bride Most SNP you can see an UFO resembling building, that serves as a really expensive restaurant today. I heard you also need to pay in order to just take the elevator up in order to enjoy the view. From here it works as well!

Here you can see part of the surrounding wall that protected the old town. I had dinner in a really good restaurant and then walked to the river. The sunset was really nice and enjoyed sitting there and just doing nothing special. Even though Bratislava is really small compared to the other cities I have been visiting

This hostel I slept at was not only a place to sleep, it also had an own bar in the cellar and you got an welcome drink (up). After a long day I decided to spend the evening sitting in the bar.

12.4 Tuesday
Today was a really long and active day. Went for swimming in the morning, then hurried to the center in order to take the bus 28 from the Most SNP station to the Devin castle, which I was strongly recommended at the reception of my hostel.

After half an hour bus tour I arrived at Devin (down, u.l). On the hill you can see the castle Devin, Hrad Devin. In this area you can find a lot of endangered species as well as ruins from Roman buildings found from the 3th century (u.r). This reminded me of the castle in Lisbon as well as in Sintra, were these similar ruins were to be found. 

The castle is situated on the perfect location, in Slovakia but at the frontier between it and Austria, as well as at the border of the rivers Danube and Morava, from where they had a perfect view over the river. This was an ideal place for building a fort, from where they could control the trade route aloge the river Danube. Here has been settlement since the Neolithic times and forts were build during the Bronze and Iron Age, later occupied from the Celts and Romans. Before entering the castle you can visit an exhibition where you can learn more about its history. 

Here, at the foot of the hill, you can see how the two rivers confluence into each other. Up on the castle I met a German guy, Kai, from Berlin and we sat here enjoying our fruit wine. At this place, prior to 1989, ran the Iron Curtain, that was raised between the West and the East Bloc.

The southern fortification of the castle area (up) and the Gothic portal (d.l) in the rocky cliff. Unfortunately this fort was under constructions and it was not possible to enter the fort. This portal was a surprising discovery under the castle: 11.5 m long tunnel cave under the fort, ending into a Gothic portal. There is also a 55m deep well in this castle area.

The view from the castle. You could spend your whole day here, going hiking in these mountains and walking around in the town. I stayed here for only two hours. 

Arriving at four in the afternoon to the center in Bratislava, I decided to enjoy the lovely weather and the coming sunset in Vienna, my favorite city! So I walked to the train station, took the next train to Vienna, only one hour trip, and then with the subway to the center of the city. It could not have been a better way to spend the last evening before going to Hamburg tomorrow!

Vienna is really close to Bratislava, former Pressburg. 

When arriving at the Wien Hauptbahnhof around six in the evening (d.r), I wanted to walk through the city park, Stadtpark. Vienna is familiar to me from before, so it was easy to walk around there. There were lots of people sitting on the grass, enjoying the sun, it was just lovely! In Stadtpark there is also for example the statue of Strauss (d.l).

I walked around inside the "ring", passing by the church Stephansdom and walking then towards Hofburg.

It was really beautiful in Vienna! The sunset at the palace was just lovely! Before going back to the train, I had time for taking a break in a nice book cafe, close to the museum area, opposite to Hofburg.

I stayed in Vienna just for the evening, then found my way back to the train, being back in Bratislava around 9.30 p.m. Even though the short time, I discovered some new places, such as Wien museum and the Karlskirche at the Karlsplatz (down), the colorful fountain Hochstrahlbrunnen at the Schwarzenbergplats (u.l), as well as the Belvedere-park and its palace. 

In the evening I wanted to get to know the nightlife in Bratislava, but when arriving there around 11 in the evening, it was pretty dead. Maybe because of the weekday? However, we had a nice evening together.

My favorites in Bratislava: the castle, Devin castle (really worth a visit!), walk at the Danube, old town and evening trip to Vienna!

13.4 Wednesday

As you can see in the map, I had a long train trip ahead of me, 11.5 hours in the train. But it was not at all bad! The route was really nice, passing by Czech Republic (Breclav, Prague) and then going through eastern part of Germany, passing by Dresden, Berlin and finally arriving to Hamburg-Altona.

I sat in a cabinet with six chairs, so during my trip new people came and went, talked with them, also met a nice  couple on their way from Prague to Dresden, and they were kind to tell me about their home town and about this beautiful sandstone mountains at the Elbe, also called Saxon Switzerland Sàchsische Schweiz) and Bohemian Switzerland. This mountain range and the area lies at the border between southeastern Germany and Czech republic, with the river Elbe breaking through the mountains and running in this narrow valley.

I was really fascinated about the geography of this area! These Elbe sandstone and other rocks in this region were once a former sea, deposited and accumulated on the bottom of the sea millions of years ago, Cretaceous sea. After marine regression, retreat of the water in the sea, the surface was influenced by weathering and erosion, mainly shaped by the river. Later the movements of the tectonic plates resulted in uplifts of the sandstone plates and through history they were also affected by volcanism, when magma forced its way through the sandstone, resulting in basaltic hills seen today. The rock surface has then through times changed through weathering, erosion, frost, making caves, pilars and different rock faces. The karstification, erosion of the landscape in a way of leaving the weathering-resistant rocks, is the main formation method for the formation of the rocky landscape of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. On the picture you can see these crags, relicts left from erosion processes. Today parts of this area are under protection and are used for hiking, climbing, rehabilitation and cure facilities, for example in Bad Schandau there are a health resort and swimming baths. One poplar tourist destination is the Bastei bridge, going through the cliffs. Also hotels are build up on top of these cliffs.

Passing by Berlin and finally reaching Hamburg in the evening! Went for a run at the harbour and I felt like being home! <3

 14-18.4 Thursday-Monday

During my stay in Hamburg I met many of my friends from Hamburg, from my Erasmus time and my relatives. I really loved it and I was so happy to be in Hamburg and to meet all the lovely and amazing people again! I really missed it all! And the weather was also good! Not raining, but sunny and warm! Went for parties, walks at the harbor (d.l), coffee with friends, sports at Unisport, visiting the University, waking in the city centre (town Hall upper photo)... Enjoying the sun and sitting outside in a cafe close to the Alster having cake and tee with a friend (d.r). Just lovely!

(U.l): university visit. (U.r): Elbphilharmonie in Hafen city. (Down): at the Alster.

Alster


So I really enjoyed the time in Hamburg! Two weeks of traveling around in Germany and in countries close by before coming for the last time back to Hamburg in the end of April and then taking the ferry back to Helsinki, final destination.