Bratislava, Slovakia 斯洛伐克

June 20, 2022

We went back to the Hofburg Imperial Palace this morning to see the other two museums, Sisi Museum and Imperial Apartment (Kaiserappartements), since we only had enough time to see the silverware collection yesterday afternoon. The Hofburg is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty. Now, it is the official residence and workplace of the president of Austria. The tour of the Sisi Museum, the Imperial Apartments, and the Silver Collection are three tourist attractions open to the public. We purchased combined tickets which covered all these three museums as well as the Schonbrunn Palace outside of Vienna. The Sisi Museum displays many personal objects contributing to the life of Sisi, Empress Elisabeth, and the famous wife of the emperor Franz Joseph, letting us know that money and status do not necessarily bring happiness. The Imperial Apartments are filled with historical fittings and furnishings. It is where Franz Joseph and Elisabeth lived and worked. The picture taking from the Imperial Apartment was not permitted.

After touring the two museums, we went to the Wiener Minoritenkirche, the beautiful 13th-century Gothic Church. The highlight of the church was the exquisite mosaic reproduction of Da Vinci’s Last Supper, commissioned by Napoleon over 200 years ago, and it was amazing.

Done with the museums and church before noon, we decided to go to Bratislava, the capital of the neighboring country of Slovakia, just over an hour by train from Vienna. It was a last-minute decision, but it was well worth the day trip. The Old Town was about 20-minutes walking distance away from Bratislava's train station. The bus station was just outside the train station, but since we didn't research local transport options, we thought it would be easy just to do the two-feet option. We walked past the Grassalkovich Palace, the presidential building, and saw the last minute of the guard changing ceremony. Once in the city center, we were eager to find a place to eat and take a break. After having a simple lunch, we strolled around the Old Town.

Bratislava had the fewest tourists compared to this morning's Vienna or any other town we have visited. We walked to the little Blue Church, one of the city's famous tourist attractions, and it was a very unique and beautiful church. From there, we walked to Bratislava Castle. The castle campus and the castle gardens were gorgeous and free. We had a mesmerizing panoramic view of the old and new Bratislava from the castle. Earlier on the way up the hill to the castle, we saw the big Chinese Restaurant across from the castle and thought we might want to have dinner there. But since we had not had authentic Slovakia food yet, we decided to try a different restaurant. On the way back to the train station, we had dinner at Bratislava Flagship Restaurant, the largest restaurant in Bratislava. We ordered the traditional Slovakian cuisine, a combo of sausage, potato, dumplings, and cheese. There were a lot of dumplings, and they were delicious. Now we understand the new meaning of dumpling dishes.

We returned to Vienna by train at night. We did more walk around the city center and went to the St. Stephen's Cathedral. The street was a lot quieter by now and we enjoyed it.

欧洲游第三十一天：今天继续看霍夫堡皇宫里的另外二个景点，Sisi Museum (茜茜博物馆)及Imperial Apartment (皇家公寓)。茜茜博物馆展示了大量的私人物件以及一个真实的皇后，让我们知道金钱和地位并不一定能带来幸福。看完二个博物馆后临时决定去邻国Slovakia (斯洛伐克)的首都Bratislava（布拉迪斯拉发）。从维也纳坐火车一个多小时就到了，去了古城，总统府，蓝色的教堂，城堡和一些景点，在回维也纳前，吃了一顿斯洛伐克的晚餐，那里的饮食还是离不开香肠，土豆，面疙瘩和奶酪。