Nothing since the fall of the infamous Berlin Wall has opened up Eastern Europe as much as the advent of the low-cost airline. Cities many Western Europeans had previously barely heard of are now just a couple of hour’s flying time away and offer endless opportunities, not just for business but for enjoyable short breaks.
Prague has long been on the radar, of course – not surprisingly so considering this is a serious contender for the title ‘The Most Beautiful City in the World’ but its near neighbour, Bratislava, is only now being more widely discovered.
These two gems, situated at either end of what was once Czechoslovakia, have a lot in common: long proud histories, citizens with a strong sense of identity, a vibrant cultural life and a dazzling array of majestic buildings.
It was the so-called ‘Velvet Revolution’ of 1993 that overthrew Communism and led inexorably to the happily bloodless ‘Velvet Divorce’ that saw the Czech Republic and Slovakia go their separate ways.
Bratislava, which had been a rather sleepy provincial town under the old regime, suddenly became the capital city of a brand new country and, thanks to massive foreign investment, suddenly blossomed.
For centuries, the city – which was founded by the Celts, way back in the mists of time –.was known by its Germanic name of Pressburg. That changed in 1919 when the Versailles Treaty signed in the aftermath of the Great War led to the foundation of Czechoslovakia. At that time there was even a proposal to re-name the place Wilson City, after the American president who had been the architect of the treaty but that idea fell by the wayside and Bratislava is became.
Set strategically along both banks of the mighty Danube, in the south west corner of Slovakia, Bratislava is still a trading crossroads. It’s a 24-hour fun city, with narrow coblled old town streets, graceful squares ad a vibrant caf`é society, both in and out of doors. The cost of living is low and the shopping’s good, with two major new shopping malls set within easy reach of downtown and lotys of little shops and boutiques in the centre.
Attractions include many fine Baroque buildings, massive churches and a 13th Century cathedral, good museums and not one but two mighty castles – one in ruins – standing an rocky outcrops above the river.
Prague’s buildings are even more remarkable. In this elegant city stands a microcosm of the history of great architecture. The castle is claimed to be the largest in the world, St. Vitus Cathedral is a Gothic masterpiece, the Charles bridge is studded within statuary and you will find outstanding examples of mediaeval, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neo-classical, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Cubist, modern and futuristic buildings – both public and private – all over the city.
Don’t miss the astronomical clock in the Old Town Square, the National Museum, the soaring Zizkov TV Tower with its fabulous views from the observation deck, a walk in the gardens by the gentle River Vlatava or the vast Wenceslas Square, scene of so many dramatic events in the history of both the Czech and Slovak peoples.
