Bratislava, part VI - Old Town and the Hrad (iv) and wrapup of continental #7

I feel like I was writing the wrapup for continental #6 not so long ago, which actually is true. It's one of those odd periods in your life when you feel that time goes by both fast and slow, which I do not think is a wholly bad thing.

After walking up and down the Hrad, I got some more coffee, then went back to the hostel to collect my stuff. The hot guy was back on duty, and I chatted with him for a bit before going. He laughed a little at my insistence on going so quickly ("Your flight's at 3.30pm and it's only 10am, you can stay for another hour yet") but once bitten twice shy; I'd had enough of cutting it too fine and missing flights, and was determined to leave as much time as I could.

The walk to the AS was straightforward and pleasant, and I was able to stop at SPAR to get some water and stroll my way there leisurely. I was a little disappointed that this trip was coming to an end; but only a bit. Too many things had gone wrong this time for me to be very sorry about finishing it. Continental #6, on the other hand, was absolutely heavenly, and I still regard it as one of my favourite trips.

The brand new, shiny Bratislava AS

So soon? Vienna Flughafen

I'd booked my bus ticket to Vienna Flughafen with Slovak Express for 1 euro (they had an online special), but it wasn't due to leave till 1, and considering my absolutely dreadful luck with delayed buses this time round, I decided not to risk it, and bought a new ticket for an earlier regiojet bus. Again, as luck would have it, all the buses that morning were delayed, including my new bus, and it ended up leaving 15 minutes late, but still earlier than the Slovak Express I had booked.

Other things beckon to me now, but I'm glad I finally visited Istanbul, and Bulgaria, and Greece, places which have been on my bucket list for simply ages now. Clear conscienced and pretty pleased with myself, but for goodness sake, I hope continental #8 will be less troublesome.

Flight/ Wien flughafen

SPAR, how I've missed you!

This is an extract from the travel diary I kept with me.

Monday night, upon the CA flight.

Here I am again, like I always am. It's been two years since I was last seated on a long haul flight. Travel is apparently an activity for either the very young, or the old. Not sure which side of the spectrum I belong to. I'm not particularly young anymore, though a lot of people would have me think otherwise, and apparently I LOOK young. For the past four years or so I've been perpetually stuck at the age 21, apparently.

This is a direct flight, O joy - 12 hrs 25 mins, all told. No transfer - that's why I did this. No annoying layover at Hong Kong or Bangkok. Honestly, just the thought of transferring flights is enough to make me feel physically uncomfortable. I spent so much of my childhood in airport terminals and it wasn't exactly what you'd call fun.

Things I am looking forward to: seeing #1b again. Very much so. I think I will spend a lot of time with this journal during this trip. Probably should have brought the other journal, really, the one with more pages. Yawn. The plane's moving now. Time for airline magazines.

I arrived at Wien flughafen right on time at 6am. It was much colder than Taipei, but I've been in Vienna before, and I'd anticipated that. I stepped into the flughafen and looked around, and something deep within me settled with delight, and I felt as if I'd gone home. I spent the first twenty minutes walking slowly towards the Ausgang in a happy sort of daze. I felt as if I'd come home, as if I'd been reunited with a long-lost lover. I drank in my surroundings happily: the cold damp Austrian air, the shiny granite floor, the German, and the rain and dark clouds. It's always raining in Vienna but I like that. I loved everything. I looked around, al most overwhelmed by my emotions. I hadn't realised how much I'd missed Europe and all of this, till now. I wondered if I'd ever loved anyone like I loved Europe. I went into the toilet and - this might be a little disgusting, but still - I smelt the sharp, acidic smell of detergent and disinfect and was reminded overwhelmingly of England and university there. I think they used the same brand. This, I whispered to myself in absurd delight, this is the smell of Europe.

I wasn't going to stop at Vienna, but straight onwards to Budapest. I'd booked a regiojet that would go first to Bratislava, and then to the Hungarian capital - the pearl of the Danube, they call it. I found the bus station (bussterminal) and then went back into the airport SPAR where I wandered the aisles in a sort of ecstasy, drinking in Europe and the fact that I was here, and that this would be mine for the next weeks to come. I got a Starbucks, dug some EUR change out of my pocket, and sipped away, feeling happy as a clam. Then I got onto the regiojet, and made myself comfy, plugged in my phone to charge, and felt a great peace of mind settle over me that I hadn't experienced in a long long time. I thought of all the people I was going to meet and all the places I was going to visit, and above all, I savoured the sensation of being here again, of being out here again, of being on the road and footnote friends and filtering people and all that bass that sometimes gets old but is also sometimes worth it.