We lived in Bratislava (B’lava) for 27 months. And while it is not as touristed as nearby Vienna or neighbors Prague or Budapest, it is beginning to attract tourists dutifully following a flag that looks like it’s suspended from a ripped-off car radio antenna. (When we lived here, we had to be sure to push our car antenna down and to take the wiper blades with us.) Suzi was commenting on the visitors and I was thinking, “yeah, and now we are among them.” We are and then we aren’t. While we are tourists visiting Bratislava (or Belgrade or Tirana) we are, in some way, still part of those communities. They are in us and at a crucial time in history we may have had the ability to nudge them, perhaps ever so slightly, in the direction of liberal democracy, human rights and free information. Certainly, each place changed us, as we became part of these communities.
And I love showing Bratislava off, talking to friends a little about history, culture and our experiences. This trip was more about seeing people than places, although seeing changes in places over the years is certainly part of our experience. This time two friends, Judith and her son Phillip, who used to live in Sitka but now live in Slovenia got on a train to join us for dinner (of course at the Cafe Mayer) and breakfast and a walk around Blava. I know of little things of interest, like the plaque commemorating Blava’s first witch burning.
It’s fun showing off a place you have experienced over time to friends. And it is fun to see friends who you worked with at a crucial time in the transition, how are they doing, what are they doing, was what we did together worth it? Around the world we see backsliding democracy but also signs of hope. At the end of this trip, I hope to consolidate my thoughts about that in an essay/blog post. But the short answer to was it worth it? Yes, if for no other reason than our growth as individuals because we knew and worked with each other. In Slovakia it’s good to see how many of our colleagues and partners are paying it forward by working in development in other countries, through Slovak aid, in developing independent media and human rights networks, by providing monitoring and consultation on elections and by teaching. And along the way we enjoyed eating good Slovak food and good Slovak Pilsner in a variety of local cafes, pubs and restaurants. We used to go to Sunday Brunch at hotels in Bratislava. Now they advertise the “No waste brunch” where you pay a fixed fee and if you eat it all you get a 5 euro refund. I see the point but I’ve learned that there are dangers to being in the clean plate club.
Being in Bratislava was a respite from the heat, while it was unseasonally warm, it was not hot and we were able to enjoy walking more and for greater distances than in Belgrade. Here is a final gallery of pics from Blava with love.
