11/8 Day 14: Train from Liptovsky Mikulas to Bratislava. Departed 11.28am and arrived 3.13pm.
Costs
(1) 1 train ticket from Liptovsky Mikulas to Bratislava - EUR14 (including EUR1 for reserved seat with table) from the app
(2) A deck of cards from a gift shop in Liptovsky Mikulas EUR4,90
Accommodation
(1) Airbnb at Bratislava, 3 nights - Apartment EUR272,68 (including Airbnb service fee EUR36,18 and tax EUR31,50) for 3 persons, EUR90,89 per person
Food
(1) Shared french fries on the train - EUR5,50
(2) Late lunch at Slovak Pub, Bratislava - Chicken pörkölt translated as traditional Hungarian style chicken stew with paprika sauce and potato dumplings (halusky) EUR11,90, radler 500ml EUR3
(3) Gelato at Inonni gelato - One scoop with hazelnut flavour EUR3
(4) Drink at Piazza Aperol - Lemonade with cucumber 500ml EUR4,90
(5) Cappucino at Keps Caffeteria EUR2,30
(6) Drink at bar (Stefanka by Pullitzer restaurant) - Lemonade with ginger 500ml EUR6,39 (more expensive than Piazza)
The Story
11082026: Today, we depart Liptovsky Mikulas and our next place is Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. We checked out and walked towards the train station. On the way, we went through town and bought a deck of cards so that we can play on the train. We usually have playing cards with us whenever we take the train but we forgot this time. We went in and out of a few giftshops and finally found one.
I bought the train tickets two days earlier from the app as no there are no train counters at Liptovsky Mikulas train station. I booked our seats that has a table so that we can play cards. The train was 10 minutes delayed and arrived at 11.28am. The delay is not as bad as the train in Germany.
There are food and drinks sold on the train. For coffee, tea and snacks, there is a food cart that comes by occasionally.
Otherwise, one can go to the restaurant carriage. We sat here for a while to have food and my travel companions had beer. We shared a plate of french fries. I was not keen for the food in the menu.
During the train ride, we played cards and it was fun. I think the elderly man sitting at our table found us noisy. Poor fella. It is not a quiet carriage so we were not doing anything wrong. The ride took 3 hours and 27 minutes. We were greeted by a 35 degrees heat in Bratislava. I saw the temperature on an electronic screen.
The walk to our accommodation took us 21 minutes. It felt like forever under the heat. Saw a giant fountain along the way where people could splash and cool themselves here. Even kids had their swimsuits on. However, pets are not allowed in the fountain to maintain the clealiness.
Our accmmodation is an apartment in the town center. Very convenient for us as it is near a tram stop and restaurants. The apartment building has shops on the bottom floor while the top floor are accommodations. Unfortunately (for us), pictures from the Airbnb site can't send out smells. The toilet and manhole from the shower stall had a very sour smell and it was a terrible experience using the toilet and shower. The host commented that this is due to the main piping problem in the building. Of course, it is not mentioned in the accommodation description. I missed this from the comments of three previous guests. There is a washing machine but they don't provide washing machine tablets or detergents. Also, my first time seeing this. It is not even stated in their description to bring your own detergent. Also, it costs to drink coffee here. Each capsule is EUR0,50. We did not touch them. Totally different experience from my stays in Kosice and Liptovsky Mikulas that provided free coffee capsules.
Bedroom. Bed was fitted between the walls so the person who sleeps inside has to climb over the person sleeping outside to go to the toilet at night.
After checking in, we went for our late lunch at Slovak Pub. The restaurant is right across our accommodation.
There are many dining rooms in the pub with their own interior. We took the Poets' room and a description of it is in the menu.
In the restaurant, I could only hear English-speakers so I know that we are in a tourist area. I had chicken with potato dumpings in paprika sauce. During payment, the waiter told me that the sum does not include service fees. I said ok and did not add any service fees, which means tips here. He repeated himself and I just replied ok and made the payment per the receipt. I really do not like the tipping concept.
After lunch, we had gelato. There are a number of gelato shops in town. We went to the one with good recommendations. Gelato at the shop we went to, Inonni, is expensive at EUR3 for a scoop. I remembered the gelato 1 scoop I had at Poprad was EUR1,90. Well, Bratislava is the capital and this is old town. Time to squeeze out as much money as possible from the tourists.
We walked towards Danube River and sat at Piazza Aperol for a lemonade. There were big ships harboured there. I think they are cruise ships for the cruise trip on Danube river. The river flows through 10 countries. The green bridge above the river has train tracks and cycling paths from Slovakia to Austria. It is a known activity to cycle between these two countries.
Thankful to be sitting down under a giant parasol with water sprays from a giant fan behind me and drinking iced lemonade.
When the sun has gone down a bit, we headed towards Old Town again and got coffee. Cappucino at Keps Caffeteria. We were just walking aimlessly and finding a place to sit.
Saw huge bronze statues that form part of the Slovak National Uprising Memorial - a resistance movement against German occupation during World War 2. The statues represent 2 weeping women bidding farewell to a departing soldier.
This is the departing soldier that is holding a World War 2 submachine gun. This statue stands directly in front of the 2 weeping women.
Before ending the night, we took some drinks at a bar that turns out to be an expensive bar. I suggested to buy drinks from a grocery store and sit at the bench but my travel companions did not want that. So, I had an expenive 500ml lemonade with ginger. It was EUR2 more expensive than my drink at Piazza this evening. Is ginger expensive?
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