After the defeat

flyingmonk

April 24

St Michael's Tower, Bratislava, Slovakia

From Budapest the plan was to fly to Bucharest but in order to keep up with the flow of history I changed plans and took a train to Bratislava. As a kid in school I remember learning about the Hungarians' defeat in front of the Ottoman's armies at Mohacs in 1526. But there were way more pressing things to explore at that age than to study the aftermath of that battle. Nor, many years later when I backpacked through Czechoslovakia in 1980s I found any emphasis in Bratislava of its glorious aristocratic past, unwelcome otherwise in the workers' paradise.

Main pedestrian street seen from St Michael's Tower, Bratislava, Slovakia

The Ottoman victory in 1526 signed the end of Hungarian kingdom. Its western territorial remains forced the court to move to Bratislava, named by the Hungarians, Pozsony and by the Austrians, Pressburg. The city's new latin name was coined in 1919 but its roots go back to the first millennium when it was mentioned as Vratislaburgum, Braslavespurch or Preslavasburc by Slovaks, Czechs or Germans.

Main square, Bratislava, Slovakia

The remaining Hungarian territory, a third of the original Hungarian kingdom was incorporated in the Habsburg empire and Bratislava/Pzsony/Pressburg served as the Hungarian capital from 1526 until 1784. The Hungarian parliament continued to meet there until 1848.

National Theater, Bratislava, Slovakia

During this time 19 Habsburg rulers were crowned kings of Hungary in the city's Gothic Cathedral of St. Martin, the city becoming a coronation place not only for kings, but also for archbishops and nobility. Maria Theresa, the famous queen of the Habsburg Empire was crowned here in 1741.

The Hrad, Bratislava, Slovakia

The city, named Pressburg in those time flourished during the reign of Maria Theresa, and became the most important city in the Hungarian Kingdom. It became also the largest, its population tripling.

Guild sign

But enough with history. Bratislava ended up as the last stop on my European foray before I reach Bucharest. A totally unplanned trip that started with a whimsical desire to stop in Budapest before I arrive in Bucharest, and for which I planned for logistical reasons to fly into Vienna. But the plan evolved organically and ended up porting me in 6 countries and 5 capitals, crossing Europe west to east by train, avoiding as much as I could flying. I hoped the train would slow down my OCD of intense travel and it sort of did, maybe not enough but always it's a beginning for everything.

The Blue Church, Bratislava, Slovakia

But my travel-by-train plans stopped at the Romania's borders where train travel is painfully slow, even slower now than during the communist period. So I searched flights to Bucharest from one of these Eastern European's capitals just to find that the connections between these ex-brotherly countries are atrocious. There is only one direct flight from Budapest to Bucharest and none from Bratislava. Besides the price of these flights exceed a high-tier intercontinental flight. There are even less expensive flights from New York to Budapest than to fly TAROM from Budapest to Bucharest (!)

The Bratislava Synagogue was demolished in 1961 to make space for the SNAP bridge, Synagogue Museum, Bratislava, Slovakia

But Bratislava is just one hour away from Vienna, either by train or by boat cruising over the Danube. I hopped in one of the trains that brought me back to Vienna and flew from there to Bucharest for an insignificant cost. And now I can relax a bit after the long walks I put in these countries that averaged 14 miles/day.