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We were disappointed to learn that Monday was a religious holiday in Vienna and that many things in the city would be closed as a result. We learned on this trip that there is a significant contrast between countries that were once behind the Iron Curtain and those that were not. The former do not seem to celebrate as many religious holidays. We learned that it was not a holiday in Slovakia. Bratislava is a mere hour from Vienna so we hopped on the early train to check it out.
We walked from the bustling train station down a busy road to the pedestrian-only Old Town. We passed a number of interesting sights and the Imperial Palace while en route. 
We strolled around the Old Town and spotted a number of quirky statues that are well known throughout the city.
Of course, we had to sample some Slovakian pastry and compare notes with Austria and Hungary. We tried Kaffee Mayer on the Square. 
We opted for a "Chestnut Nest", a slice of chessboard cake, and a "punch donut". This is how we felt after eating so much sweet goodness.
We walked out onto the UFO bridge that spans the Danube. This communist era relic is known to be controversial among the locals. For us, it was another quirky and enjoyable sight. 
We tried some Slovak wine (not super memorable). We realized our mistake and then tried some Slovak beer (Šariš) -- much better! We save the tiniest amount of room for dessert and decided to try the germknodel which were touted on the menu as steamed dumplings covered in sauce and filled with jam.
The germknodel was a monster! The description on the menu couldn't prepare us for the giant sweet laid before us. It was absolutely delicious but definitely slowed down our pace on the way back to the train station.
We finished lunch about 15 minutes before our train was scheduled to leave. It's about a 15 minute walk from the Old Town to the station. We somehow managed to sprint to the station (full bellies and all) and jump on just as it was about to depart -- we had less than 2 minutes to spare! Whew! At least we burned off some calories on the way.
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