Bratislava

FYI... The trains going north are getting SO MUCH BETTER! They offer more spacious seating, tables, so clean, assigned seats, schedules online, first class options, good bathrooms, air conditioning, food and coffee options too.

I grew up knowing Slovakia and Czech Republic as Czechoslovakia. Well, evidently in 1993 those countries became independent of each other, so we are squeezing in two countries instead of one.

We visited Bratislava, the capitol of Slovakia, for a day. It was a slower paced stop which was welcomed after our busy time in Budapest. More often than not, we hear songs from America and this stop had lots of things written in English. Even most clothing across the countries has English words on them. Seth and I often talk about how we feel the people we encounter, despite the language, could easily have come from Rockwall. Traveling seems to reminded you that all walks are life, places and people are many similarities. We hit a lovely coffee shop for cake and cappuccinos. Then we were off to play at the park before checkin. The fast trains and short routes don't give us enough time between checkout and check in. Luckily we have learned that most places have bag storage and train stations have baggage lockers. Otherwise we would be carrying our bags around while visiting the city and waiting in check in time.

Demi climbed and found bundles of "ripe helicopter seeds" (sycamore seeds) for Seth to twist and fly in the wind. Mabel and Adalynn played monkeys and beautified their pretend zoo (monkey bars) with berries and leaves. Mabel tried her best to make it across the balance beam and eventually she did after many tries. She also tried to terrify me by hanging upside down everywhere she could like her big sisters. She was successful, but I was nervous the entire time. We have really enjoyed experiencing all the different playgrounds. The parks in Europe are much like well kept playgrounds of the 80s. They seem less concerned about kids getting hurt and more focused on kids exploring.

We played hide and seek with the girls among the many large planters around the Glassslkovich Presidential Palace, walked to old town and climbed the many stairs to the Bratislava Castle. At the top, we found a prickly fruit of sorts (says likely poisonous to mammals), a great park and a lovely view of the "UFO Bridge" or Bridge of the Slovak National Uprising. At the top, while looking into the distance, Mabel stated, "that is another country." We checked the map and she was right, Austria was that close.

Our apartment was just awesome and we could not have asked for better weather. I really like these apartments that look straight off of the IKEA floor. We had all the giant windows kipped and balcony doors wide open allowing the lovely 60 degree breeze to blow through. The view from our place overlooked a lush green space with a park far in the distance. This apartment had an extra room, but all the girls still liked sleeping on the sofa bed together. Seth has found some great spots!

One day of exploration and now to Czech out another country!Les mer