Category Archives: Bratislava Blog

Latest news about Bratislava, its past, present and future.

Sokovia, Slovakia- what is a difference.

 

civil war- slovakia,sokovia
picture source : marvel.com

Sokovia is a fully fictional country from the Marvel Cinematic universe. It appeared in movies Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Other mentions in movies Ant-Man (mentioned) and Captain America: Civil War (mentioned and footage).

International relations:
It is known for Sokovia Accords- a set of internationally ratified legal documents that provide regulation and frame-working for the military/law enforcement deployment of enhanced individuals, particularly the Avengers.

Alphabet:
Sokovia inhabitants use a Cyrillic alphabet (similar to Russian)

Location:
Sokovia is located somewhere near Czech Republic and Austria.

 

Slovakia is a real country in Central Eastern Europe with the population of 5 million and the capital city Bratislava.

International relations:
It is known as a location where the famous Treaty of Pressburg was signed. It happened about 200 years ago during the Napoleon wars.

Alphabet:
In Slovakia, the common latin alphabet is used (similar to English), with few special characters, e.g. č,š,ť,ž,ň,ä,ô.

Location:
Slovakia is located near Czech Republic and Austria. From Bratislava, you can reach the borders of both these neighbouring countries in less than 20 minutes by car.

Ice Hockey Hall of Fame moves to Bratislava shopping center during the championship

The Hall of Fame of Slovak ice hockey moves to Avion Shopping Center temporarily in order to be more accessible to Bratislava visitors and spectators of games of  IIHF World Championships.

Exhibition shows not only personal belongings of the famous hockey players of Slovak history but also trophies won by Slovak national team. Full set of medals- gold, silver and bronze- won during the last decade can be seen there as well.

Admission is free and the exhibition is open from 9.00-20.00 every day until end of May 2011. Avion Shopping Center is located close to the Bratislava airport, easily accessible by public transport or by car.

More free Wi-Fi hot-spots in Bratislava center

Twelve new outside Internet hot-spots were put into operation in January 2011 to offer free Internet access to local communities and tourists in Bratislava center. Internet should cover the embankment of the river Danube from the New to Old Bridge (Razusovo and Fajnorovo nabr.).  Taipei Representative Office donated the equipment and access.

In Bratislava center, you can now find the free public Wi-Fi access provided by the local authorities also at Primatial Square and Medicka zahrada garden.

One more reason to look forward to warmer days in Bratislava

November is the Month of Photography in Bratislava

November belongs traditionally in Bratislava to photography in all its aspects. The Month of Photography Bratislava 2010 present 34 individual and collective exhibitions of authors from all over the world in the galleries and museums of Bratislava. It is 20th edition of this cultural festival.

The aim of the festival is to present current trends in International, Central and Eastern European Photography to Bratislava public and visitors. It also brings the best from the history of the medium and creates a space for confrontation with contemporary authors. One of the main goals of the festival is to become photographic event of a global interest.

For one month, Bratislava will host a world summit on photography and feature photographic achievements from the five continents – North and South America, Asia, Australia, Africa and Europe. Martin Parr, Frantisek Drtikol, Marcos Lopez as well as winning photographs from the World Press Photo 2010 will be featured this month in various galleries and museums in Bratislava.

You can find more information and detailed program at the website of organizers or  the official leaflet (pdf).

Ice Hockey World Championship coming to Bratislava

Upcoming Ice Hockey World Championship will take place from 29 April to 15 May 2011 in Slovak cities Kosice and Bratislava.

This will be the third time that Bratislava has co-hosted Ice Hockey Championship (with Prague, former Czechoslovakia) but for the first time, this popular sport event will be hosted completely by Slovakia.

In Bratislava, the hockey matches will be played in Samsung Arena in wider city center (see map below) which is currently undergoing the complete reconstruction. Teams of Russia, Slovakia, Germany, Slovenia, Finland, Czech Republic, Latvia and Denmark and teams in semi-finals and final will play here. Due to the convenient location of Bratislava, you can expect a lot of fans coming to support their teams during the Championship.

Ice hockey ranks among the most popular sports in Slovakia. Players like Marian Hossa, Jaroslav Halak or Zdeno Chara are starring in NHL, the game also has got the top national attraction after successes of Slovak national team at recent World Championship tournaments. Tickets for the Ice Hockey Championship in Bratislava and Kosice can be bought here.

If you plan to come, you will realize that it is also no problem to get from the Ice Hockey Arena to the Bratislava center. Do not miss this opportunity. Take the trolleybus No.212 at the bus stop named Zimny Stadion (unsurprisingly meaning Ice Hockey Stadium) and in 8 minutes (6th stop) you will get to the Hodzovo namestie. It is where President Palace is located and where our Bratislava Audio Tour ends.

If you want to get to the Bratislava Castle, switch there to the trolley-bus No.207 and in another 4 min you will get to the Castle- beginning of our city audio tour. Bus ticket should cost about 0.7EUR. You need to buy it before entering the bus in any newstand or vending machine at the bus stops.

Perfect planning is always worth the effort. Download the city audio tour now, enjoy the tournament and your stay in Bratislava.

Golden Crown from St Martin goes on show

Just-refurbished Golden Crown usually sitting on top of the Saint Martin Cathedral is now on show inside the cathedral. It is a unique opportunity to see this bigger replica of Hungarian Crown as it happens only once a hundred years during the regular renovation. The Crown weights about 150 kg and its height is 165cm. Reported cost of its renovation was about 600.000 EUR.

After the completion of the tower refurbishment, it will be placed again on the top of the cathedral tower for the next hundred years.

Opening hours of the exhibition (Ticket can be bought at the entrance):
Monday: 15.00 – 19.00
Tuesday: 9.00 – 11.30, 13.00 – 19.00
Wednesday: 9.00 – 11.30, 13.00 – 19.00
Thursday: 9.00 – 11.30, 13.00 – 19.00
Friday: 9.00 – 11.30, 13.00 – 19.00
Saturday: 9.00 – 11.30, 17.00-19.00
Sunday: 13.30 – 16.30

You can learn more details about the crown and cathedral exterior in our audio track House At the Good Shepherd and about interior in the audio track Inside Cathedral.

Bratislava for kids- the best exhibitions for your children

It sometimes simply happens. You are staying with your kids in Bratislava (great choice) and it just cannot stop raining (bad luck).

Here are two great indoor activities in Bratislava city centre for your children:

kids exhibitions

Bibiana– International House of Art for Children is conveniently located in the city center, in the palace next to St. Martin Cathedral. Bibiana is open daily except of Monday and host various exhbitions where children can play and learn.

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activities for kidsDetske muzeum SNM (Children’s Museum of Slovak National Museum) is located at the rear part of the Slovak National Museum with the entrance from Múzejná Street. It offers a whole range of educational activities for families- interactive exhibitions, creative workshops as well as children’s lab. Open daily.

George Clooney and Nicole Kidman in Bratislava

In the blogpost about the movie Hostel, we discussed the piece supposedly located in Bratislava but shot in completely different location. Now we will reverse it.

Vienna, war-time Sarajevo and Manhattan (New York City) were the locations of Holywood blockbuster The Peacemaker from 1997 starring Nicole Kidman and Geroge Cloney. Interestingly enough, all were actually shot in Bratislava : Continue reading George Clooney and Nicole Kidman in Bratislava