We ended up arriving in Zilina late and in the darkness. We had a small break before heading to Stanica for a performance. "Stanice" is the word for station in Czech. The event space was a cultural center that's been built into a working train station. The only train is cute and antique looking, but it still functions. A group of people that we met transformed the space at the station to have a performance space (with a bar. It's Central Europe, alcohol has to be involved). We went and saw a dance performance.
I was wary because some of the dance performances that we've seen have been just plain bizarre. Just ask me about "Dance Calligraphy" sometime. But I really enjoyed it because it seemed as though the dancers were having fun. We got to meet them and some of the other volunteers at dinner after the show. People were from ALL over. One dancer was from Germany, one was actually from Slovakia and the other was Swedish but lived in Vienna. The volunteers at Stanica were from Slovakia, France, and Lativa!
We got to help the French volunteers with one of their projects the next morning. They are taking a small park space near the Stanica and transforming it with art and general attention. They don't technically own the space, but the city which does does not have the time, effort, or money to fix it up. So each helps the other in a way, but it's technically not all on the up and up. We helped to rake leaves as well as to create mosaics around the park.
After that, it was on to Bratislava
How to Discourage Tourism, Central European Style
1. Have awful weather
We arrived in Bratislava on a bleak day. It remained bleak and gray for a majority of the trip. We had a lot of free time in Bratislava because of some illness/schedule mix ups that meant we did not get an official tour of the city or have the lecture on the Roma in Slovakia. More time to wander the streets by ourselves. Bratislava is supposed to be one of the most developing, "happening" cities in Europe at the moment. My hopes of disproving EuroTrip's portrayal of it were crushed as I was walking around. It's not the shithole described in in the movie, and let me tell you, I spent way more than $1.87.
2. Have a history of Communism
As if I needed one more reason to hate Communists, they positively destroyed this historic city. There's a bridge built in the 70's which crosses the Danube and in order to connect it into the city, they tore down much of the historic part of town. Which includes most of the old Jewish quarter. There's a beautiful old church now only about 10 meters from the highway. It's almost impossible as a pedestrian to figure out how to get from one side of the highway to the other. Which you have to do, if you want to see Bratislava Castle.
I'll give Bratislava Castle one thing. There are great views from the top, if you can make it up the hike. Unfortunately, most of the castle is under reconstruction at the moment. Not simply renovation, but they're actually rebuilding parts of it that were destroyed a long time ago so that it looks like it once was. I've been looking at museums not only for my own interest, but also because of a project I had to do for class on cultural events. The history museum at the Castle was perhaps the worst I've ever been to in my life. I wrote about it for class -- no desire to relive the negative reaction.
3. Close all major Cultural spaces (museums, restaurants, etc)
We tried to go to into the Castle. Closed. We tried to go to the Jewish Museum. Closed. We tried to enter a gallery of the National gallery. Closed. It's like the country has suddenly realized that by being on the Euro in 2009 means that they'll actually have tourists whose expectations will be a lot higher and so everything needs to be fixed. Perhaps that will encourage them to keep places open later at night. We went out to eat a few times and it seemed like nothing was open. And this was in the middle of the week, at about 8 at night!
We did make one crucial mistake when it came to food. My father loves to talk about the Polish-Mexican fusion restaurant he went to in London many years ago. When I was in Poland, I was tempted to eat in one but resisted. However, in Slovakia, there were not so many options so one day we found ourselves in a Mexican restaurant. I use the term "Mexican" lightly. Not only were there no Mexicans to be seen, but they also offered Pad Thai on the menu. The overall experience was horrific -- I felt nauseas the rest of the day. This photo is of how everyone rated the experience
We did get the chance to do a few interesting things in Bratislava. We went and visited their Communist era housing district, Petrzelka. It's referred to as "The Bronx of Bratislava." Now the New Yorkers on the trip took offense at this -- but hey, if it's an insult to New York, I think I'm okay with that. Gotta love that dirty water. Since privatization, the people have started painting these massive concrete blocks full of colors and designs. On the one hand, it's a bit strange to see huge orange buildings. On the other, I can imagine that if I lived there I'd like it better than gray concrete.
In Petrzelka was a NGO that we got to visit. It's not quite art therapy, but they provide art projects for mentally challenged adults. They also make the adults feel needed as they have partnerships with several businesses to sell their products. They do ceramics, paper work, and painting on glass. I bought a small something while I was there, in part because I met the man who made it and he was soo happy that I was interested in it.
On Friday night, the last night in Bratislava, we went to an Animal Collective concert. I think I'm a little old lady, but it wasn't my favorite part. It was too much sensory overload and I was tired -- I just wanted to sleep to get ready for Vienna.
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