Europe 2019 - Day 33

8 June 2019, Saturday

Today we meet up with my darling friend Silvia! She fetched us from our hotel and took us for breakfast. It was so good to see her and catch up again! I miss her a lot. She and Brano both. They’re really nice people and I wish they could’ve stayed longer in Malaysia. I gave her chocolates from Switzerland and Belgium, and stroopwaffle from the Netherlands; she gave me 4 cans of beer. A fair trade if I do say so myself.

Anyway, after breakfast Silvia took us to the Slavin War Memorial, the only touristic thing we missed yesterday. The Slavin War Memorial is the largest war memorial in Central Europe. It is 52 metres high and one of the dominating features of the city skyline. It is the burial ground of 6,845 soldiers of the Soviet army who died during the liberation of Bratislava in WW II. We saw the granite plaques with the names of the fallen soldiers and officers of the Red Army and the names of 100 civil war victims who died and were buried here, some in mass graves and others individually. 

And then Silvia dropped us at the main railway station, where we bought tickets to Piešťany. I actually wanted to go to Vlkolinec, which is an original Carpathian village still existing today, with real people still living there. It is about 262.5 km (3 hours) away from Bratislava and accessible by train and bus. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because the village is an untouched and complex example of folk countryside architecture of the region of the Northern Carpathians. The other option was Bojnice Castle, a medieval castle built in the 12th century, but although a shorter distance away, public transportation there was a bit tricky.

But both my friend and Silvia told me there’s not enough time to go to the village and back. Bollocks. I’m pretty sure if I was alone I would’ve gone and come back safely. WIThOUT Google Maps. This is what happens when you travel with less adventurous people. 

So, VERY grudgingly I went to Piešťany. From the stop in Piešťany we had to walk about 2 km to town. My friend complained about walking 1 km to Devín Castle yesterday but today, suddenly 2 km is ok (roll eyes to the back of my head!). 

Piešťany is the biggest and best known spa in Slovakia and has around 28,000 inhabitants. The medicinal springs in Piešťany were already popular in the Middle Ages. They were visited by, among others, a Hungarian king. Of course, even kings have ailments. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Piešťany also suffered from Turkish raids and anti-Habsburg uprisings.

Throughout the centuries Piešťany was owned by several noble families. 

The spa attracted many aristocratic visitors, including Ludwig Van Beethoven.  In 1917, three monarchs (Wilhelm II of Germany, Karl I of Austria-Hungary and Ferdinand I of Bulgaria) orchestrated their war strategy during the negotiations in the Thermia Palacehotel.

In 1945 Piešťany received the official status of a town. In 1959, Sĺňava water reservoir was built south of the town. In the late 1960s and 1970s more spa buildings were built. The Piešťany spa has a capacity of two thousand beds (as of 2005) and treats over forty thousand patients a year. More than 60% of the clients are foreigners (mostly from Germany, the Czech Republic, Israel, Austria and Arab Countries). The spa specializes in treatment of chronic rheumatic and arthritic diseases and post-accident lesions of joints and bones.

Some of the things we saw here were the Chapel of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Thermia Palace, the Colonnade Bridge (built in 1930-1933) and Napoleon's Spa Resort, not to mention many gardens, smaller churches and other buildings. I saw part of a wall which was apparently once a part of Napoleon I’s swimming pool. 

There was some sort of classic car show going on there. I saw an old model of a Ford car from 1917. Charlie’s ancestor. 

I didn’t enjoy myself at all. Most of the time I was wondering what the hell I was doing there when I could be in my Carpathian village. Also I think my period is coming so I’m a bit more emotional than usual.

Then we stopped for a drink (I drank one of the beers Silvia gave me), went to Lidl to buy food for tomorrow’s journey, and then to the train station to go back to the hostel. My journey to Slovakia will now forever be marred by my failure to visit my Carpathian village.