Adventures with Jack and Julia

Following a smooth bus ride from Prague, we arrived in Bratislava, Slovakia! Neither of us knew much about Slovakia before this trip, so we were excited to explore a completely new country without too many expectations and preconceived thoughts. Bratislava is the small but mighty capital city of Slovakia and it’s jam packed with things to see. While there, we particularly enjoyed exploring its charming and quaint old town – something that we’ll find ourselves doing in pretty much every one of the cities we explore over the coming weeks.

Some highlights for us included the Bratislava castle, St Martins Cathedral, and the Church of St. Elizabeth (also known as the “Blue Church”). While we were here, we also indulged in some really delicious vegan and gluten free crepes at Funki Punki pancakes. Not at all related to the place we were visiting, but delicious nonetheless! We walked around the whole old town which was super cute. We made sure to see the Town Hall which has a cannon ball embedded from when Napoleon’s army laid siege to Bratislava in 1809.

We had a great time strolling along the Danube river promenade and people watching in Sad Janka Kráľa Park. Since Bratislava is quite small, you can see all the main attractions in one day. We had 2 full days here so we got to slow down and really take everything in before heading to our next destination, Vienna!

Man… we absolutely adored Vienna. It’s one of the most beautiful and charming places we’ve been so far and it’s so full of history and amazing culture while also having a pristine cleanliness that’s not so common for somewhere that’s so old.

As soon as we stepped out of the subway in Vienna following a short bus ride from Bratislava, we were immediately in awe at the beauty of St. Stephens Cathedral. It was one of the most breathtaking churches we have ever seen and we had to spend some time sitting in awe as we took it in. The Gothic architecture is a sight to behold and we found ourselves stopping to look at it whenever we passed through this city square.

Since Vienna was a bit more expensive, we decided to only stay for two nights. That meant we were left with one full day and we did a ton of walking and sightseeing. We saw the Austrian National Library, City Hall, many beautiful churches and the Hofburg Royal Palace. One of our favourites this day was the Votive Church whose architecture is stunning and we sat at a nearby park to marvel at its beauty. There were many others who had the same idea as us and were lounging in the sunny park next to it chatting in groups and enjoying its beauty.

We ended our day of exploring at Stadtpark, which was a peaceful, clean, and tranquil oasis in the middle of the city. One thing that we have noticed throughout Europe so far, is how clean and safe the parks are kept. Unlike in Vancouver, they take pride and care in the upkeep of their parks so they can be enjoyed by everyone. The 1 euro entry fees for the washrooms everywhere are a bit of a shock for us Canadians but is part of the norm here so we’ve had to adjust.

Another thing that we’ve noticed here is how well dressed everyone is! Since we’re still living out of the same clothes we’ve had this whole trip, we don’t have a whole lot of nicer outfits to wear so we certainly stand out as tourists everywhere we go and it’s made us want to dress more nicely when we return home as well. They consider it a sign of respect for themselves and for everyone around that they would dress in nice clothes and we both think that’s a nice way of thinking. Wool coats and trousers would have taken up our whole bags and would have been brutal in south east Asia so we’re happy with what we’ve brought. At some point, we’ll do a post about how we packed for this trip as well as some helpful tips for preparing for long term travel.

Something we both would wholeheartedly encourage anyone dreaming of a change of pace to consider is to take a trip like we have. It doesn’t have to be for such a long time but getting out of our little bubbles that we live in at home has taught us so much about the world and about ourselves. It’s given us a different perspective on life and has fundamentally changed us for the better. We’ve still got a couple of months ahead of us at least before we think of heading home, but we already can say for sure this was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made.

We’ve learned that there are other places in the world that we would love to spend more time in and maybe even move temporarily and Vienna certainly checks a lot of the boxes for us. Although our Vienna was short and sweet, we absolutely loved every minute of it. Our time here has to come to an end for now and we are off to another new country that we also don’t know too much about: Hungary!

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