BRATISLAVA-HUNGARY TO SLOVAKIA BY TRAIN
The idea of visiting Hungary's nearest neighbor was firmly woven into my wanderer's mind, long before stepping into Budapest. There are quite a few trains from Budapest to the Slovakian capital of Bratislava. So, while in Budapest, we opted for the early morning train from Nyugati railway station for a day trip to Bratislava.
The train's scheduled departure was 7.40 am. So we started off early at around 6.30 am, when it was still slightly dark outside in the month of October. It was quite cold also, and on our way sighted a number of homeless people huddled up on benches that line up the entire stretch of pavement along the avenue leading to the station. It took about 10/15 minutes’ to walk down to Nyugati from our apartment in District 7.
Traveling by train in Europe has always been a cherishable experience for me. Almost all trains are high speed (200 to 220 km/hour on average), smooth and noiseless, very comfortable seats and interiors, and large glass windows for enjoying scenic sailing through the East European countryside. In Hungary, it stopped at Vac, Nagymaras-Visegrad, Szob. All very small towns, and at the same time pretty. Szob district borders Slovakia. There were only two more stations Stürmo and Novezamky before the train reached the capital Bratislava. The entire journey took two and a half hours. Bratislava Central station or Bratislava hlavná stanica is a small station with respect to its international stature. There are only six platforms. But well connected to the entire city of Bratislava by an efficient public transport network. We wanted to take a ride in the tram. So, instead of moving out of the main gate, we turned left at the concourse, went down an escalator, and then turned right to arrive at the tram stop. There were quite a few trams of cherry red color standing there. So pretty and attractive that our first impulse was to get in the first empty stationary streetcar, relax and wait till it moved. Like I used to do at Ballygunge or Park Circus Tram Depots during the heydays in Calcutta. But alas, the driver of one of the trams who observed our movement repeatedly sounded the horn and asked us to go ahead to the boarding stand and stand in a queue for availing the service. Boarded the tram when it arrived as per its schedule displayed on the electronic board at the stand. We got down at the City Centre Square and walked down in the reverse direction to reach the approach road to the Old Town.
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