What really matters is who your audience is
In Bratislava, there is an entire banking system marketed for just good lads....
After reading that my travel partner, Trip Advisor, had waxed lyrical about Stur Cafe, I didn't waste time making my way there on what was turning out to be a right old scorcher of a day. It was 8am and already pretty toasty so even as I walked into the cafe, I knew my day's plan would have to be al fresco. You would be forgiven for incorrectly naming Michaela and Nicola who work at the cafe; they wear a different name in their name badges every single day just because they can and it keeps things interesting. I'd never thought of it before, but now I will think twice when I see name badges in a coffee house. Maybe, it's a 'thing' that coffee shops do. If it is, I like it and have a new found respect for the Starbucks culture. Michaela and Nicola had been out late and when we really became friends was when I asked for a panini and cappuccino and they both asked 'Would I mind just making it myself!?'. If they did this to everyone, then I think their days at Stur are numbered, but if they thought I would find this funny, then they got my wavelength bang on. We were friends right away.
I spent a good hour or two there writing and planning my next move, but I couldn't get out of my head that there wasn't more to see in Bratislava. Peto had told me the night before there wasn't much to see here but I'd been unwilling to accept that. It then came to me as I flicked through web pages of ideas: today, I would go water skiing. I exchanged details with Michaela and Nicola in case there were around later, texted Peto to see if he was free later too and jumped in a taxi to Zlate Piesky.
It was only wake boarding sadly but still the set up was classic 'boarders', and I'm not talking boys who only come home from private schools twice a term. 'Board' culture is all the same whether it's skate, snow or wake; the tight age range is 16 to 24, you must have no hair or too much, wear sunglasses or goggles at all times both indoor and out, do very little of the sport you are dressed for but spend hours talking about it on the sidelines, chew or smoke anything that happens to be next to you at the time (cigarettes, keys, sticks from the ground), act like your neck muscles don't work properly and wear a wooly hat but only if it is inappropriate to do so. Nonetheless, they were really friendly at Wakelake Sports and I immediately booked 45 mins. I think Peto had actually mentioned Fly Boarding the night before and so when I saw it on offer, I 'added it to my cart' and my morning plans were coming along nicely. Watch my day at the lake here.
True to boarder-form though, the talent turned up too. Girls came in hightops and bikins with sun glasses the size of small countries and the last piece of the puzzle was in place. I was in Eastern European Skater-town.
Sadly this t shirt actually exists in Bratislava, about as good an indication of the place as you get.
Sadly Peto hadn't texted yet but Michaela and Nicola had got in touch and we met up by the river around 9pm. Nicola couldn't make it but I chatted with Michaela about her life growing up which was fascinating. Just then like the hand of fate was tilting the day back upright, Peto walked past and we all cheered. He was with a few pals and his girlfriend and eventually we all joined forces. Michaela is a mother in her twenties but separated from her son's father. She spent a while telling about the values instilled in her by her parents growing up in the countryside 300 miles east of Bratislava in a small village. Her father worked literally on the rail tracks for 20 years, and her mother was a tailor but now earns good money taking care of the elderly; this has become a common job in Slovakia for retired women as you can earn very good money alternating weeks on and off. Michaela told me one very interesting story about teaching her son, Christian, the value of money - she said she wanted to teach him the very important difference between what you need and what you want, something her parents had taught her. Months ago they went shopping for their food for the next few days. They had 8 euros. Michaela told Christian that he could have 3 and she would take 5, and that they could do what they wanted. Christian started buying bread and yoghurt but when he saw a toy car he put the others back. Even though Mum explained the consequences, the young boy stuck with the wheels. The next day, on asking for his breakfast, Junior got the bad news and was reminded he picked the car. That was the last time he bought himself a toy instead of food. Christian is four years old and has his priorities more aligned than some my age, maybe even me.
After the riverside we went to a bar run by a friend of Peto called Parklife for what was basically a lock in. Drinks on the house and a guy on a guitar singing songs he'd written himself. After a few minutes, Peto asked everyone to listen while I told everyone my 'story'. Being me, I obliged willingly, but remained apprehensive as my life story is not an interesting one. Middle class upbringings and private education to a career in finance almost sends my iPad to sleep; but they were transfixed as I told them all about Oxford, hedge funds and New York City. It really is all about perspective isn't it? In the exact same way, Michaela had been shy earlier that her 'story' was a boring one but, of course, I couldn't have been more hooked knowing nothing of life in rural Slovakia at all.
I was leaving early in the morning so I went home to bed around midnight but on the way I realized that I had managed to find the most interesting thing in Bratislava after all: it's the people. The trouble is, they just don't think they are. I guess we are all fascinating people, you just have to be talking to the right audience.