Hello everyone! So this is my last chapter about Bratislava, written in Bratislava. It feels weird. I haven't written anything in past two months simply because there was so much going on, friends visiting, having road trips around Slovakia, having exams (yeah, that too :P) ... I feel I am staring at the last weekend of my Erasmus exchange after being here for a ... month, maybe. It went by so so fast, and I know it is a cliche to say that, but that's just how I feel. My BF is coming today, we'll be here until Sunday, and then I'm back home in Ljubljana. I won't even go into how I feel about leaving, to put it shortly, I do not want to leave.
Today I went to Štúr, possibly for the last time (although I just might go on my own again tomorrow - my BF dislikes going out for coffee, you know, "why go out for a 2€ cup when you can cook coffee at home for couple of cents per cup" mentality), and remembered I really wanted to write about my favourite places for eating, drinking and, well, just be, with a book or some nice company. :) So if you're ever in Blava and want to go to a nice place, here are some ideas.
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| source: http://www.asb.sk/architektura/interier/kaviarenska-terapia-sturom |
Štúr is a cafe, essentially, with a vast offer of food, from soup of the day to delicious cakes. They have their own blend of coffee that is amazing and they also offer tea and smoothies and lemonade and ... well, just about everything really. There are located on three places, all in Staré Mesto or just about there, one on Štúrova (really close to Evrovea, University and Tesco, and maybe five minutes walk from Slovak national theatre), one on Panská (heart of Old Town, if you go from cathedral to Main Square, you pass it) and Obchodná (big shopping street of Bratislava, really close to 1st Slovak Pub too). My favourite is actually on Panská. The atmosphere in there is perfect, waiters are really nice, they also speak English really well. The prices are very decent, you always get a great product for it. Cappuccino is 2€ and in 5 months of being their regular customer I haven't gotten a bad cup of coffee. Plus the food is just yummy, sandwiches, salads, quiche, CAKES (cake is the language of love!!). I really recommend it.
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| source: http://www.slovakpub.sk/fotogaleria |
If you want to try some good, traditional Slovak food, 1st Slovak pub (1. slovenska krčma) is the place to go. Located on Obchodná, you can reach them in 10 minutes of walk from Michalska brana. They have 8 different rooms, each dedicated to some part of Slovak (or Slovan) history, from room of Slovak poets with poems written on the wall, to hall of Pribina's knights, with the knights' table. It is a little bit like a maze, but a cozy one. In room of Janošik you actually have a smal furnace and the smell of the fire can really make your lunch or dinner even better. :) The food is superb and comparing to other "tourist" traditional food restaurants really cheap (comparing to another restaurant near Hviezdoslavovo namestie: soup in Slovak pub is usually under 2 eur, in that restuarant around 5 or 6). You can get a really nice waiter or a bad one, in average I had 80% good experience with them, either speaking Slovak or English, so all in all is good. Read their entire menu as well, it is fun! They explain what brynza cheese is and have a special menu for poor student, or student, trying to impress his girlfriend. :) They also have an offer of half the portion for 70% of the price, which, trust me, can be a very good idea, because Slovak food is rather heavy and their portions enormous. If you are up for traditional Slovak food, I recommend the Slovak table for 2 persons, but bear in mind, 3 to 4 people can get full off that. Oh, the pub is separated to smoker and non-smoker rooms, the ones that look best are of course smoker rooms, which I do not like, but what can you do. The coffee, however, is not good, at least not for my taste, go up Obchodna to Štúr for an excellent one!
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| The menu in Uisce Beatha :) |
Uisce Beatha is a small Irish pub in the heart of old city centre that I absolutely adore. It is hidden in a little street called Na Vršku and you will need to walk through a few small alleys before you get there (but it is rather close to Michalska brana, so it is near tourist spots). In this era of GPS I doubt you will have any trouble finding it even if it is your first time in Blava. You will not regret it. It is cozy, people working there are extremely nice and friendly. Obviously they speak good English, they have good and cheap beer (although they do not have many brands to offer, the ones they have are good!) and vast choice of whiskey. Oh, and their Irish coffee is actual Irish coffee, you can taste real whiskey in there, extra points! It is the pub I visit by far most often and I love it there. Sure am going to miss it.
There is plenty of other places I like. Čierny pes is like a minute of walk away from Uisce Beatha and is a lovely place as well (they serve Bernard beer!), if you have a chance you need to visit Randal club, especially if there is a good rock/metal concert going on there, the bar is beyond awesome, great beer, great pizza (served any time of the night!). A lovely pub in city centre is also U Kozla, and another right under the castle called Zamocky pivovar (Castle brewery). Oh, another place I am forgetting is the La Putika cafe, that is amazing. There is three or four of them in Bratislava, I visited two, and they are great, I do recommend them as well.
Naturally there is many more places to see and visit, but these are on my favourites list and I visit them most often. I am one of those people, you know, that find a place they love and they just stick to it. So I did not really visit every single cafe and pub in Blava, but those that I have and I like, are really amazing.
Next time I will get back to you from Ljubljana, until then, have a lovely weekend!
