After a warm and restless night for some of us we breakfast at the hostel before leaving for the station. It’s warm but raining again.

We all buy lunch at the train station and get on the 9:49am train to Vienna Meidling via Salzburg in Austria. We actually change at St Polten for a different train into Vienna Hauptbahnhof which is where we’ll catch our Bratislava train.

The train into Vienna is packed. A guy I sit next to tells us Vienna hosts a huge free festival on an island in the centre of the Danube attended by 1 million people! Now we know why all the trains are full of very loud men drinking and partying.

Another very quick change in Vienna onto the 3:17pm train to Bratislava.

We walk from the train station towards our accommodation. It’s only about 1 mile. Stop at the Red Cafe for a pint as we have time.

Kristian greets us outside the apartment building and takes us up to our 5th floor apartment. It’s basic and a little tired but will do for our three night stay. He plays tour guide for a while explaining the transport options and suggesting local bars and supermarkets.

After unpacking most of the group go shopping….but get waylaid by a very cheap local bar. Jacky and I join them . It’s a bit chilly sitting outside and starts to rain but we soldier on under the sun umbrella.Beer is €1.80 a pint and prosecco €2.30 a glass! Sessie and Bev do the shopping and we end up staying all night at the bar. End up inside at 10pm as there’s a noise curfew. Very late dinner of Pizza before bed.