Day 3) The ugly duckling among the Danube metropolises

Route: Ljubljana-Villach-Vienna-Bratislava

A big step for mankind; a small step for humanity.

On the third attempt, I finally managed to climb the stairs onto the train. The distance between the first step is probably 80 centimeters high. Snorting, I look around the car. The night train from Ljubljana to Villach is an ancient train that seems to come from the time of socialism. The windows can be opened, the compartments are lined with real wood, and the curtains are made of heavy, blue velvet. I wouldn't be surprised if General Tito suddenly walked out of the compartment. There are only seven people in the whole car. Practically all compartments are empty. I let the cool night wind glide through my hair and am only woken up 3 times by ticket collectors in 1.5 hours. In Villach, I changed to the night train to Vienna. The nice train attendant shows me my sleeping bed and explains how everything works. As soon as she leaves, I realize that my bed is already occupied. So I have to call the ticket collector again, wake up the whole compartment, and set up a sleeping bed. As soon as the ticket collector leaves the compartment, I notice for the first time that the headrest of the seat falls onto my shoulders. I put it back up and it falls again with the next movement. After the third time of putting it up, there is an angry knock from the neighboring compartment. I leave the headrest down and manage with less space. The next morning, I was woken up for the first time in my life with breakfast in bed. Fun fact: I paid less for the reservation of the sleeping compartment (5 francs) than breakfast would have cost (5.50€). In Vienna, I took the 'city shuttle' that took me to Bratislava in an hour. Vienna and Bratislava are the closest capital cities in Europe. But when I get out of the train station, I am almost struck by a cultural shock. Bratislava looks as if it were in the far east. The city reminds me of Pristina. I walk half an hour to my hostel and almost get run over three times. The city is probably one of the least pedestrian-friendly cities in Europe. After arriving at the hostel, the receptionist sends me on a free sightseeing walk through the city. During the tour, I make friends with 2 Finns and 3 Brazilians. The old town of Bratislava is quite beautiful, but not really impressive. Most people visit Bratislava just because it's on the way or because they stay nearby. This results in a mediocre attractive city with an excessive number of tourists who are usually only there for 1-2 days. After the city tour, I walk with my new Brazilian friends to Bratislava Castle (big, but not really beautiful; the Habsburgs didn't want to build a beautiful castle because no kings live here) and to the monument of the fallen Soviet soldiers during the liberation of Bratislava (very impressive).

The thermometer keeps rising. The signs on the roadside show temperatures between 36 and 41 degrees. That's why we decide to take a siesta. In the evening, we all went to the UFO Tower to admire the sunset over the Danube. Then we had a small pub tour that ended in the KGB Pub; a pub where pictures of Stalin and Lenin, Soviet flags, and other relics from the time of the USSR were exhibited.