Devin Castle
We had a fabulous day yesterday. We took a bus to Devin, a small town just outside Bratislava. We first went to the grocery store to pick up some picnic supplies. It was so terrific to have Joe and Mishka (Joe's Slovak girlfriend) to guide us there. They chose a bunch of classic Slovak snacks. We had a picnic at the base of Devin castle.
Devin castle is a lovely Sunday-afternoon kind of setting. It was full of locals enjoying the sunny afternoon. Picnicing, riding bikes or rollerblading, and even taking canoes down a small offshoot of the Danube river.
We were having such a nice time relaxing and snacking that we didn't pay too much attention to the time and by the time we actually got to the castle itself we found that it had just closed. Mishka jumped in and had a gentle conversation with the guard at the gate. Well, we assume he was some sort of guard. She asked if there was any way we could get in since we had come so far to see this castle. He hemmed and hawed and told her that if we came back in 20 minutes after all the people had left he would see what he could do.
We went stopped at a small pub with a playground (interesting concept, don't you think? Pubs with playgrounds?) to while away the time. After 20 minutes we went back to the gate. Mishka again had a brief conversation with him and he opened the gate for us. We paid a small "entrance fee" (about $8 for all of us) and then went in to enjoy the deserted castle in the setting sun. Amazing to be all alone in such a spectacular setting.
So far I've found the Slovaks to be a bit inscrutable. An unusual number of them on our flight offered to help us find the airport bus to Bratislava. So they've been very friendly. But they don't seem to smile very much, or make eye contact when you are out on the streets. So while Mishka was talking with the castle guard, I was watching his facial expressions. He didn't smile, or even frown, but his face remained entirely passive during the conversation. So as we walked away I asked Mishka about him? Was he kind? Was he angry? She just replied, "Oh, he was completely drunk."
I have to say that while we really enjoyed our time in the castle, we were all wondering if the drunk guard would remember to stay to let us out. We had visions of furthering our castle adventure and story with the ending "...and then we had to sleep in the castle because the drunk guard forgot to let us out..." But in the end he was there, and we went back to Bratislave to enjoy our first night of jet lag-free sleeping.
Today we are off to Prague...
Devin castle is a lovely Sunday-afternoon kind of setting. It was full of locals enjoying the sunny afternoon. Picnicing, riding bikes or rollerblading, and even taking canoes down a small offshoot of the Danube river.
We were having such a nice time relaxing and snacking that we didn't pay too much attention to the time and by the time we actually got to the castle itself we found that it had just closed. Mishka jumped in and had a gentle conversation with the guard at the gate. Well, we assume he was some sort of guard. She asked if there was any way we could get in since we had come so far to see this castle. He hemmed and hawed and told her that if we came back in 20 minutes after all the people had left he would see what he could do.
We went stopped at a small pub with a playground (interesting concept, don't you think? Pubs with playgrounds?) to while away the time. After 20 minutes we went back to the gate. Mishka again had a brief conversation with him and he opened the gate for us. We paid a small "entrance fee" (about $8 for all of us) and then went in to enjoy the deserted castle in the setting sun. Amazing to be all alone in such a spectacular setting.
So far I've found the Slovaks to be a bit inscrutable. An unusual number of them on our flight offered to help us find the airport bus to Bratislava. So they've been very friendly. But they don't seem to smile very much, or make eye contact when you are out on the streets. So while Mishka was talking with the castle guard, I was watching his facial expressions. He didn't smile, or even frown, but his face remained entirely passive during the conversation. So as we walked away I asked Mishka about him? Was he kind? Was he angry? She just replied, "Oh, he was completely drunk."
I have to say that while we really enjoyed our time in the castle, we were all wondering if the drunk guard would remember to stay to let us out. We had visions of furthering our castle adventure and story with the ending "...and then we had to sleep in the castle because the drunk guard forgot to let us out..." But in the end he was there, and we went back to Bratislave to enjoy our first night of jet lag-free sleeping.
Today we are off to Prague...
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