two backpacks and a diaper bag

Monday, April 9th. Bratislava. Our Airbnb is located at a perfect place for exploring Old Town. The view from the apartment is also quite amazing. We could see the UFO bridge, Bratislava Castle, and various Old Town church towers.

Yesterday, we started our day by heading to Bratislava Castle. We went through Old Town Square to get there. Just before we left, Arthur had taken a nap, so he was fully awake in his car seat as we walked around. I put on the carrier just in case he wanted to get out of the car seat.

There was a marathon event going on and we had to cross the “street” to get to the other side. We waited until there weren’t many runners.

Right before we started our climb to the castle, Arthur wanted to be taken out. We placed him in the carrier instead and Sean pushed the stroller up the hill. It was a good work out. We noticed that Arthur prefers to sit facing out. He wants to see things, not be mushed up against my body.

At the top of the hill, it got really windy. So we decided to put him back in the car seat and put him to sleep. It worked. Sean and I were able to walk around the castle afterwards.

As we tried to make our way back to town, Arthur woke up. He didn’t sleep for very long. We found a bench and I fed him. We looked around and noticed a restaurant with a great view of Old Town. We decided to have our lunch there.

We chose to sit outside.

But then it got too hot out there. The wind was great but the sun was just piercing. I took Arthur out of his bear suit. He seemed to feel better afterwards. However, if we had stayed out there throughout the meal, I was afraid Arthur might get sunburned. So after appetizer, we asked to be moved inside. It was much better. We had a whole section to ourselves and we were able to take out the portable bassinet for Arthur to lay on as we ate our main course. We even had the opportunity to change him.

We took our time at the restaurant. During dessert, we could tell he was getting sleepy. So afterwards, while I waited for the check, Sean put him to sleep again.

He didn’t sleep for very long. He woke up about 30 minutes later as we made our way down from the castle. We took him out of the car seat and soothed him. Then we changed the stroller arrangement by placing the car seat on the bottom and having Arthur sit on the bassinet portion.

When we got to the square, he got all squirmy again. We took him out and put him in the carrier.

Walking down the pedestrian-only boulevard, we noticed the number of young families that were out and about. Some mothers were feeding their babies out in the open, kids running around the statues, strollers parked next to the benches with parents reading a book and kids eating ice cream. It was such a nice sight. We ended up sitting on the side as well, feeding Arthur and people watching.

For the rest of the afternoon, we ended up roaming around Old Town. We even got some ice cream along the way.

At one point, we stopped at a courtyard just behind the Primate Palace to feed and change Arthur. While we were in the middle of changing Arthur, a tour group came by to talk about the statues next to us. Sean found it hilarious and took a picture of the whole scene unfolding.

On the way home, we stopped by the Market Hall once more. This time, they had a different set up. It was a vegan event. All the stalls were vegan food and on the upper floor, there was a talk set up about everything vegan.

While walking around the hall, Arthur started having short bursts of cries. We knew he was sleepy. So we went back home. While I put Arthur to sleep, Sean went back downstairs and waited in line at one of the outdoor stalls for some noodles. I took a picture of him waiting in line. The line took at least 30 minutes to clear.

We had noodles for dinner.

This morning we started our day by visiting the Blue Church.

It looked like a fairy tale church out of a Disney movie.

From here, we took an uber up to Slavin monument.

Then we took an uber again to the presidential palace. The uber driver told us that we weren’t allowed to go into the palace but there’s a nice garden outside that we could explore. Our intention was only to walk around, but the grass looked so inviting and we weren’t in a rush to go anywhere. So we decided to just sit for a while.

We took out the portable bassinet for Arthur. He was, surprisingly, agreeable. We sat there for quite a while.

When Arthur was finally getting tired, we decided to put him to sleep and head to lunch at the UFO restaurant. This required us to walk across the bridge.

The food was really good. The view was even better.

Sean had kangaroo tartare as a starter and I had the tiger prawns with Malaysian laksa sauce. For our mains, Sean had venison and I had the tenderloin on cognac sauce.

The kangaroo starter came in a super cool way.

After lunch, we went to the mall, Aupark, to look for new mittens for Arthur. We ended up getting me new sunglasses as well because I left mine in the uber from Slavin monument to the presidential palace. So sad.

Afterwards, we took an uber to a boba shop a block away from our place. Unfortunately, the boba shop was closed for no good reason. So we ended up going back home. Before we went home, though, we stopped by Market Hall again to see what kind of new event had been set up. There was a security guard outside. He said we couldn’t go in because they were setting up for an event. We asked what kind of event and he said the Slovakian Oscars.

When we got home, the clothes that we had put in the dryer since yesterday still has yet to dry. There might be something wrong with the dryer because we’ve done so many rounds of 150 minutes cycle.

We ended the night with a home-cooked meal.