Body heat from the mass of Slovakians at the Christmas market raised the temperature to a nearly bearable level. |
The weekend before last I made a trip so brief that I nearly forgot to make a comment about it on the blog. During a weekend visit to Vienna, I took advantage of the fact that European countries are packed onto their tiny continent like sovereign sardines in a multi-cultural tin can and decided to check out Bratislava - a completely different city with a completely different language just forty-five minutes away!
Admittedly, the timing for my day trip was less than ideal as the temperature was creeping down toward zero (Fahrenheit!) most of the time we were out and about and it finally reached that frosty barrier after the sun went down around 3 o` clock. The bitter cold surprised me as Bratislava and the comparatively tropical Vienna are at roughly the same latitude. Seemingly, just crossing the former Iron Curtain reduces the temperature by ten degrees. Nonetheless, I wanted to cross Slovakia off of my list of Austria's eight bordering countries and I'm happy I did so, even if my fingertips and nose were not appreciative of my efforts.
The so-called UFO Bridge is one of the worst mistakes I`ve ever seen. |
Funny characters such as this smiling sewer worker are spread around the city center. |
Today I've picked two of my new favorite wintery German words, both of which are in today's frontpage headlines in Austria.
Der Vorweichnachtsstress is the pre-Christmas stress familiar to many anxious Americans, less prevalent here.
Erfrieren means "to freeze to death," which felt like a real possibility in Bratislava.
Are they closer than Rome and the Vatican?? please inquire and report back. (oh this is Lana.)
ReplyDeleteLana, note that I said Bratislava and Vienna are "two of the world's closest capital cities." that superlative properly belongs to rome and the vc, but arguably that's just an irritating technicality.
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