Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
The castle of Devín (Theben) is some kind of national sanctuary to the Slovaks. It was the centre of power of the Great Moravian Empire, the first independent Slavian state. Today you can visit the remains of an old castle with a good touristic infrastructure.
A green Danube river, beautiful forests and swamps full of domestic animals – nothing at the point where river Morava flows into the Dunaj close to Devín could make you think about borders, escape and death.
You can reach the main sights in Bratislava on foot, you can go to the Danubia Meulensteen Art Museum by boat and to the castle of Devín by bus. But if you want to see the Červený Kameň castle, explore the little Carpathian mountains or simply don’t have enough time to wait for ships and busses, it is time for car rental.
If you’re not going by plane to Bratislava or Vienna airport, the ride to Bratislava is pretty long. I went on a 7,5 hour train passage from Göttingen via Würzburg, Regensburg and Passau in Germany; Linz and St. Pölten to Vienna in Austria. In Vienna main station I had to switch to a regional train going to Bratislava.