By Anthony Dylan Anak Frankie Jurem
The travel bug is a serious thing. Travelling becomes addictive. It does not matter how near or how far you go, but when travelling with an open mind, one would experience the best of the experience. I completed my east coast tour of the 3 main states of Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan. I had done the same with a trip to Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Muar and Tangkak, Johor.
I have also completed my long-awaited island trip with an over an hour of dangerous expert maneuvering through choppy waves to Pulau Redang’s ‘Taaras Resort.’ That we did because the resort stay was cheaper just at the tail end of the monsoon. I have still not completed my round the Peninsula trip. That is still a bucket list, and the plan is still being built. That should take me through the south and turn up to the east coast heading north before turning back to the west coast and back to Subang Jaya.
In May this year, we went to Europe. We decided on Slovakia, Austria and Switzerland instead of our earlier plan travelling around Italy. That decision was made because of the rather excessive prices of the Italian itinerary as well as the impending crowds as Italy was and still is rather touristy.
We left Kuala Lumpur on the 5th of May 2025 15 minutes before midnight on Turkish Airlines with a stop of over 2 hours in Istanbul. We arrived at Vienna International Airport just after 9am; a 15.5-hour journey. It was our first time experiencing Turkish Airlines and it was as expected. Nothing special.
The airport in Vienna was not that big and was easy to navigate. Our pre-bought online booking was with a bus operated by Slovak Lines at 1230pm. Our bus stop was just outside the terminal and that allowed us more time to discover the airport. The bus came punctually, and we arrived at Bratislava Most SNP bus stop in just under an hour. The tickets were priced at Euro 9.90 each.
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and has a population of 476,000 people. We stayed at Ibis Centrum which was about a 15-minute walk. This was close to the old town and made it convenient for us to discover the whole area on foot. We started the afternoon with a walk around Bratislavsky hrad or Bratislava Castle before we ended our day at Bratislavska Restauracia or Bratislava Flagship Restaurant. We had a good taste of Slovak food at this place. The dishes we shared were the Bryndzové halušky, Bezlepkové cviklové pirohy and Bratislavský rožok.
On our 2nd day, we strolled around the old town towards our meeting point for our free walking tour. This was the first time we tried a free walking tour. You would need to book in advance as spaces are limited to preserve the ideal group size. We took ‘Walking Sebastian’s Bratislava Free Walking Tour’ where Sebastian Zizka himself took our group on a 2.5-hour walking tour around the old town. His passion to explain and with a fun wittiness made the tour exciting. He even handed out some local sweets to try. At the end, his compensation was tips provided by the participants. There is no minimum, and you tip what you believe would be best.
After we ended the tour, we continued to walk around the old town and made stops at many churches and even the beautiful blue themed Church of St Elizabeth of Hungary. The last was the Cathedral of St Martin. We walked through the cobbled streets of a beautiful town devoid of noisy tourists and managed to visit the Old Town Hall, Michael’s Gate, Maximillan’s Fountain, the cute Čumil bronze sculpture and the Schone Naci sculpture.
We ended our day with a stop at Bratislava’s oldest pastry store, the Pressburg Bajgel which has been around since 1890. The bajgel or a rozok tasted good. Each could be with a filling of walnuts which is shaped like a ‘C’ whilst the poppy seed filling would ‘U’ shaped. Another would have pistachio filling. I also tried the crackling pastry bun, Pagac’ which has bacon bits.
All these were washed down with ‘Kofola’ a cola alternative to the western world. On the internet, the following explained Kofola:
“Kofola is a popular, traditional carbonated soft drink from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, known for its unique herbal and citrus-licorice flavor profile, which is less sweet and contains less sugar than mainstream colas. It was developed in the 1960s as a Cold War-era alternative to Western colas and is made from a secret Kofo syrup containing 14 natural ingredients.”
We continued walking the historical street and reading about the trials and tribulations the people faced. That included a visit to the famous UFO Tower at SNP. The following was found online:
“UFO SNP Bratislava” refers to the UFO Tower, an iconic observation deck and restaurant located atop the Most SNP (Bridge of the Slovak National Uprising) in Bratislava, Slovakia. The bridge, officially named Most SNP, is commonly called the UFO Bridge due to the distinctive flying saucer-like structure that houses the viewing platforms and dining facilities. The tower provides panoramic 360-degree views of Bratislava, its castle, and the Danube River.”
We ended day 2 at Bratislava’s famous gelato spot, Luculus’ where we shared a cone with a scoop of dark chocolate and pistachio gelato each. The walk back to the hotel was cool as the sun had set and the temperature had dropped close to a single digit.
On the 3rd day, we checked out of our hotel after a hearty breakfast spread which was included with our 2 nights’ stay. It was time to head to our next destination. Our Slovak Lines Bus cost us Euro 10.90 each to the Vienna Haupt Bahnhof (HBF), Vienna’s main train station. It took us just over 1.5 hours due to some slight traffic congestion in Vienna.
Bratislava is a must visit when you are in Vienna. It is just a short bus ride away and the scenery is beautiful. Bratislava is not yet as touristy as the main cities in Europe and is more laid back. The old town is a wonderful place to walk and soak in the local culture and learn about the history of Slovakia. Slovakia, or officially the Slovak Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Poland is to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest.
This ends the first part of my series of travel writing in Europe. Next would be the magnificent capital city of Austria, Vienna.
