Old Town Bratislava

I made it okay, and I don't want to bore anyone with details about my flight or the ridiculous layovers and what is up with JFK's international terminal anyway?, but after dinner I went with a small group on an awesome walking tour of some of the old parts of Bratislava. This will probably be mostly pictures, because I still need to take a shower and get to bed so I don't almost fall asleep during the Slovak lesson tomorrow afternoon.

the hrad (castle), which is apparently being restored, and which would look really cool at night if they shone some lights on it

Michalská brána (Michael's Gate), the entrance to the old city; the actual gate is just out of the picture on the right

These next few are from the Hlavné námestie (main square)


a courtyard off the Hlavné námestie

the Primate's Palace

the National Symphony to the left and the former Carlton hotel to the right

the Slovenské Národné Divaldo (Slovak National Theatre), where the opera and ballet perform

the plague column; in the background is the big street the Communists built that made them have to tear down the Jewish quarter

two views of St. Martin's Cathedral, where the rulers of Austro-Hungary were crowned

the Presidential Palace, known to the Communists as the Pioneer Palace, also known as the Grassalko Palace

Random thoughts:
Today is pondelok.
The exchange rate is about 20 Slovak crowns (SK) to a dollar, so I spent 50 SK on a Fanta.
My ATM card actually worked.
It's pronounced Tisovets.
The Slovak language has no articles (a, an, or the).
This morning one of our leaders asked us to think about where we were on September 1, 1991. I was starting third grade. Here in Bratislava, it was the first day of school for the Lyceum, the first Lutheran school to open again after the separation. The Lyceum was originally founded in 1604. Pretty cool.