This city is undoubtedly on the way to being named a “must-see” trendy European destination in the near future, and the charming old town will make many visitors feel like they’ve stepped directly into a fairy tale (we posted a few images here).  What lies under the surface is the otherworldly contrast that is seen between the grey Communist blocks and the playfully ornate art deco and Austro-Hungarian buildings outside of the tourist stomping grounds.

An embarrassingly quick history of this gritty Eastern European capital: once a part of Czechoslovakia, the city of Bratislava was under the control of the USSR following WWII and it fell behind the iron curtain during the Cold War with the United States.  In 1993 the nation was split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with Bratislava becoming the capital of the latter.  Slovakia is now a free nation and is a part of the E.U., but the Communist influence remains.

^^^Sights like these make for an interesting landscape: the infamous Blue Church (of St. Elisabeth) sits directly beside a long-abandoned Communist hospital.  These crumbling testaments to a bygone era are everywhere… and always a thrill to photograph.

^^^The first asymmetrical suspension bridge (Most Slovenského národného povstania or simply Nový most) welcomes visitors to the city and is a testament to the once dominant Communist aesthetic.

^^^Bratislava wastes no time transitioning from dreary to dreamy, and this is clearly evident in the most beautiful mailbox ever!  Long love live!  Wait, that’s not right… people have been telling me that this tagline thing is important so I should probably get it straight…  Long live love!