Duran Duran

For Erin & Paula's birthdays, we bought them tickets to Duran Duran, playing in Bratislava on Oct 15th. Along with Glen, Mamura, John and Hachemi, we had a blast! Slovak concert goers are very polite and we were able to get quite close to the front to see old Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and John Taylor in action. (okay, I may have had a few posters and "Teen Beat" magazine pull outs of them back in the 80s...)
What was a little strange about the concert was that it was full of screaming, singing, crazy-excited.... MEN. Yes, the crowd was about 80% male; and they all loved Duran Duran, knew all the words to every song. The quote of the night heard by Glen was "Das ist SO AMAZING!!!!" Some German or Austrian guy who came all the way to Bratislava to fullfill a lifelong dream of seeing Duran Duran?

See "Duran Duran" at

Shan's Sony Image Station Photo Albums

for more pictures.

Transportation in Blava

One word - cheap! For 55 cents you can get just about anywhere in Bratislava by bus or tram. Buses run all over the country, quite regularly and very inexpensive (for example, we took a bus to the town Modra, about an hour away for $1.58)

There are 2 small problems: in this picture of the average Slovak bus - does it look like it has air conditioning, or even windows that open properly? That's right, not a chance. Now, not a problem, in the summer - they turn into stinky sweat boxes from hell. At one point on a 1/2 hour trip to Senec, I was so hot I was sweating into my eyeballs and thought I was going to go blind.

The other problem is the total lack of any kind of map of the transport system. Forget about those nice little London Underground Tube maps, colour coded and nicely labeled. There is nothing like that. If you are lucky, there will be a torn, graffitied, rain warped paper that lists some street names. And don't always expect to be able to buy a ticket. (okay, so maybe 3 problems) Many bus stops don't have ticket dispensers. (You can't pay the bus driver, you have to have a ticket. You also need to know exactly how long you will be on the bus, b/c tickets are sold as 10 min, 30 min, etc.) If you are caught without a proper ticket there is a $55 fine.

We actually quite like not having a car. We can walk or take the bus or tram to anywhere we need to go. Taxi's are fairly cheap too, but you always need to phone for one. If you hail one from the street it is double the price. Really!

There is also a o% tolerance for drinking and driving here.

See "October in Blava" at

Shan's Sony Image Station Photo Albums

for more pictures.

Fall in Bratislava

Up until recently, the weather here has been beautiful - sunny and mild. However, fall has finally arrived, and the leaves are starting to change colour. It's starting to get dark around 4:30 here, so I have feeling we are in for a very gloomy winter!

See "October in Blava" at

Shan's Sony Image Station Photo Albums

for more pictures.

Halloween

So, there was no big Halloween party for me this year (very sad about this!) Instead we wandered over to the cemetery across the street from our apartment. Halloween is not celebrated here like it is at home. Poor kids - no trick 'r treatin'! Instead, November 1st is the holiday (day off work!) which is All Saints Day, to be spent remembering the dead and visiting graveyards, leaving flowers and lighting candles.