"New Year in one of Europe's n ..." a Bratislava Travel Page by kit_mc

Bratislava was our first Slovak location on our route through the Czech and Slovak Republics and I was looking forward to it the most. I'd seen a programme about Slovakia on BBC a few months before marking Slovakia's entry into the EU and it looked like a rather pretty and interesting place to hang out for a few days.

Rather than spend New Year in Prague, we decided to spend it in the decidedly smaller Bratislava, something we didn't at all regret. Arriving at Bratislava train station from Vienna was something of a shock, but in a good way. It was really quite different to what I'd imagined from this small capital city, but quite exciting that this was going to be perhaps quite different to what I'm used to. As a western European, there was just something so, well, eastern European about the place that I liked. And yes, that is perhaps stating the obvious...

Boyf and I had decided to stay in the SAS Radisson Carlton, Bratislava's best hotel apparently. Elsewhere we were trying to keep costs down, so had felt we could splurge out here. I was grateful we had, as the hotel's location, right on the main central square, made it ideal for sightseeing.

Bratislava is really small enough to see most of the main sights while wandering about. We only used public transport when we needed to get to and from the train station. Many things were closed with it being the holidays, so this meant we spent much of our time walking the streets and getting a really good idea of the city centre. The Old Town centre has been restored, but wander a little further out to the east of the city, near the Blue Church for example, and there are some really beautiful, though sadly decaying, buildings. Just spending the time with my eyes in the sky looking up past street level was enjoyable, soaking in the incredible detail in some of these blocks.

Bratislava maybe isn't as obviously hip or exciting as Prague, certainly not as well known or well trodden, but I enjoyed my time here much more. The streets weren't as busy, things haven#'t been totally wrecked by the worst excesses of the tourist buck, the old town was more 'lived in' than many I've been to.

Like any other capital, there are plenty of museums, although you may need a strong interest in Slovakian Grand Masters and history to appreciate them fully. My one regret is that we didn't have time to visit the Danubiana contemporary art gallery which is around 20km outside Bratslava and sounded like an interesting afternoon trip.

For New Year we sought out a gay club to celebrate the ding-dong of 2005 and then returned to the main square to watch the locals celebrate. Many people had gone home by the time we arrived there, but there was still quite a large hardcore contingent of both adults and children enjoying themselves, doing the 'conga' on the ice rink. It was a really pleasant experience. People were just really goodnatured. The lack of revellers being totally off their faces, no-one being aggressive, just cheerfully dancing in the New Year, was a real relief and the main reason why we'd left London this time of year. This was driven home by the fact that I'd spoken to a friend back in London earlier in the evening who had told me that there were already 10 ambulances lined up near Trafalgar Square awaiting the expected casualties from excess alcohol and drunken brawling. Nice.

On 2nd January it was time to leave Bratislava and head further east. Three days was enough time to rest the weary bones and take in the sights at our own pace. I reckon Bratislava will be visited more and more by Brits now that there is easy access through the budget airlines, and hopefully people will be encouraged to stray a little further into the country to other sites too. I just hope it doesn't become the same 'Stag Night' destination though as Prague, as right now Bratislava still has a charm that's lacking in many European capitals.