Bratislava

Bratislava

 

23.05 – 24.05

 

 Our experience in Slovaquia, started with the visit of the production plant of Volkswagen near to Bratislava.   They are the third biggest producers of cars in the world, in terms of volume.

For me It was rather clear, a proof of the Taylorism in the 21th century: big chains of production, high control, repetitive tasks and the degradation of the workforce.  The reason: “just in time “standards and efficiency. As sad as it may sound it seems that this old model works well in the automotive industry, at least in terms of profitability, and it makes you wonder how long and how much more we can and are willing to progress at the expense of humans. 

 

This is Slovaquia, a mixture of the old and the new, As the prices started to get lower than in west Europe, I started to feel standing in the east part of Europe. It is easy to perceive  the remains of communism.  Nevertheless, Bratislava, the capital city has emerged  from the communism era in time to be part of the Europen Union, and nowadays seems to be a promising city for commercial investors.

We took advantage of the conditions, and decided to go for a walk into the city centre, located 20 min far from our hostel. Bratislava is a really small city, and the main area is around the centre where all Cafes, restaurants and bars stand. This time we found the best local spot to eat typical food, fried cheese and schnitzel for 3,5 euros, and the very best Kofola: The Coca  Cola from the east. They argue that this was the original one,  I don’t know if it is true, but I must say it tastes better.

 Afterwards, with free tickets to try the vodka and Absenta we started the night at our hostel and the night went by.

 Second day started, with the second main attraction the Castle of Bratislava, a  city’s reconstructed 15th-century castle with views from the ramparts and has a 36o view of the city. The day continued with the visit to Jhonson Controlling,  a company that switched its model from business process outsourcing to Business center.

And this was Bratislava, walks through the ilumanated city, scenary spots for more picture, strange language, and maps of the city, the best bread  and finally some quotes for not being perceived as a turist. 

Prague

Prague

 

22.05

Prague is on my top list of most beautiful cities and places in the world!

It is bohemian, artistic and medieval.

Romantic, classic, artistic

Full of live and young people!

During the day the city is crowded with tourists visiting the most popular attractions:  the castle of Prague, the park of Kampa, and the multiples churches.  It is also worth to stand in the main square and wait for the clocks to ring every hour.

This time, we arrived in the city with the rain, our itinerary started walking through the small and sneaky streets, this for me is the best attraction and the best spot:  The red placards with the name of the streets, a couple of lovers holding their hands while listening to a piece of violin, or an artist painting one of the postal that will be for sure appreciated and valued by any visitors of the city.

Then we end in one of the few not touristic and rather local restaurants in Prague, as its name says: “Lokal.” It provides a high variety of Checz dishes: Cambembert chese fried (185 cz), Goulash soup (150 cz) potato salad (45 cz) and the original one: a glass of Bier (30 cz – 45cz) depending of the brand and size. I really recommend this restaurant is one of the cheapest places in the city,  it is a crowded place so it may better to make  a reservation.

Then the night in Prague starts: the city is beautifully decorated with lights,  and there stands the amazing castle and the bridge of Prague. It is just beauty,  just judge it by yourself:

 

About the nightlife, the city always offers a couple of beers in any of the bars and terraces of the cities, and for the ones who prefer party, there are plenty of clubs to know too.

Next day: we start with a company visit, BPO Solutions, a small company located in the outside area of Prague, a provider of Account services and a business partner of some consultant firms in the east of Europe.

The topic of presentation was  process outsourcing, and I found it really interesting considering the international and non-European background of the majority of attendees.  Good projects, tendencies of the markets, and why not future professional opportunities J.

Luxemburg

18.05 – 19.05

Back in time to a land of counts and dynasties, wars and victories, fortresses and promontories – we landed in Luxemburg!

Go wandering in the pathways to forests, castles & villages…  and get hypnotized with the beauty of this land.

The third smallest country in Europe, while one of the most international: more than a third of the population are immigrants, mainly Italians and Portuguese. The official languages are French and German. To our surprise the Luxemburgish (Mother tongue) was not considered for a long time a language. A heaven for taxes, and one of the healthiest economies in the old continent.

In my opinion a small country, but still a country with abundance and high standards! Very International, Medieval and at the same time modern! The best itinerary for me,  just to walk through the streets, find a nice spot in a park for a picnic, look for a geo-cash or spend some time in a patisserie!

And when the sun goes down, take the time and visit  Diekirch, have a beer with the locals and try to speak and follow up a conversation in (Luxemburgish – German and French)  If you success tell me how J.   As the motto call up the people’s character: “Mir welle bleiwe wat mir sin” we want to remain what we want, what is attractive for me about this place is  the link  with my own past (France) and my present (Germany)… and the future mind-set I am working on: abundance!

Echternach & Trier

We decided to follow the Tip of  our couchsurfer to visit Echternach and Trier in the way back to Germany!

Echternach is a small town near to Luxemburg with a big Basilica. The country ‘s most important religious building is the town’s main sight. After a rainy day we decided to buy a éclair, is it typical from France or Luxemburg? I don’t really know, but it was the top of the cream to finish our trip in Luxemburg!

Trier: The city of Karl Marx , it injects life among the Roman ruins, the main sight is the Porta Nigra that dates from the 2^nd century AD.

Nice statues of Karl Marx of about my size, I found this a very friendly spot to take photos and play with the colors!