Reportage of one of the most beautiful cities in Europe which tries to get freedom  from a difficult past to be forgotten.

Bratislava is a city which has suffered for centuries, having been the subject of contention between Austria and Hungary because of its location close to the border of three different states: Slovakia, Hungary and Austria. Even during the Second World War it couldn’t be easy to find peace: the Nazi occupiers in fact split Czechoslovakia into two states weaker and more easily controllable. In 1945 it finally managed to free itself from the Nazi yoke and then be under the Soviet Union one until 1989 when it get free of it with the Velvet Revolution: in 31 December 1992 Czechoslovakia was officially divided and Bratislava became the capital of Slovakia.

All this can be seen from the architecture of Bratislava, the contrast of a modern attempt to emerge, the ancient which survives with its past history charm and the essential and very heavy Soviet-style, which unfortunately still permeates much of the city.
The difference between new and old generations denotes those who lived under the domination of the USSR and who face the new challenges of the future with greater and different sensitivity: it will become much easier to find someone who speaks English and who is willing to help among the new generation of Slovak capital rather than in old men and women looking tired and sad.

Most of the monuments and sights in Bratislava can be found in an area not very big: the old town. Indeed this area encompasses a few square kilometers and its city streets, with their beautiful houses built in a style now lost, several statues of pranksters who roam the streets standing still (from Napoleon leaning on a bench to individuals who emerge from manholes or saying hello cordially raising their hat), the beautiful St. Martin’s Cathedral, where there are concerts of classical music, the town hall, the door and the tower of St. Michael, the only still healthy example of the medieval Bratislava, and just over Old Town is also possible to admire the Slavin Monument, which commemorates the fallen Red Army soldiers who liberated the city from the Nazis, and the Bratislava Castle which acts as a museum and allows a beautiful view over the city.

It is also to be mentioned for its beauty the Devin Castle, a place which in the past maintained a garrison of Roman soldiers to defend the boundaries of Rome, not far from Bratislava and easily accessible by two different bus lines.

Bratislava is also known for its excellent beers and the unique quality of its food: to not forget at least a couple of visits to the wonderful chocolate shops, cafes and especially try a baget, excellent sandwich with mayonnaise and other ingredients that will help satiate the stomach in long laps trip and while waiting for a more substantial meal, and also a dish based of utopenec, delicious pickled sausage, or a delicious plate of halusky, potato dumplings and fried onions.

Bratislava, in contrast to Prague, it doesn’t offers plenty to see and therefore is the perfect candidate as a city for a touch-and-drain of a couple of days, perhaps helped by the fact that the Euro became the official currency (with pros and cons ) and that the low-cost airlines are offering very competitive proposals.

Andrea Mascolo