The Kofola incident and how Cockta kicked ass

Being thirsty makes you stupid. You better believe it!

After the extensive tour of Bratislava's historic center and after seeing the Bratislava castle from closeup, my girlfriend and I finally arrived back at the Bratislava Hlavná Stanica (main railway station) with the bus. It was really hot and humid, despite being cloudy most of the time. You would probably not be surprised, if I tell you, that we were not only tired, but mad thirsty. Oh yeah. And we suddenly remembered, that we haven't yet tried the famous Kofola, the Slovakian (previously Czechoslovakian) soft drink, that is usually referred as a former communist version of Coca-Cola and always recommended as something you have to try, if you come to Bratislava. We had some 30min before our train left back to Vienna, so we decided to buy the famous soft drink at one of the small shops in the station area.

Guess what? We were so thirsty and tired, our brains must have been hibernating or something, because we bought the first two Kofola's we saw! Oh yea. That's how they looked like:

We were happy to finally get the drink, that's recommended in every Bratislava guide. But then like a minute later, we paused for a second and thought: Wait a minute! Are we dreaming or is this real? We were totally puzzled. You may wonder what happened. This is what happened:

We paid 4€ for 2 friggin' Kofolas!

That's 5.13USD for two soft drinks! That's sick, man. We were angry at the boy and at ourselves. Well, in defense of the boy, we were pretty stupid. But remember, we were really tired and thirsty, can that be a good excuse? I guess the fact, that my girlfriend was Asian and that I had a big DSLR around my neck gave us away as tourists (duh!), so he just tried his luck and bam! Jackpot. Ok, I may be a bit over the top here, but still...

- - -

For those tourists, who want to buy Kofola at the Bratislava Hlavná Stanica, the main railway station, please don't repeat our mistake and don't buy Kofola at this shop:

This small shop rips off tired and stupid tourists like us.

The shop is located as the first on the right side of the station's main building, when you return from Bratislava's center. There are many shops like this one near the station and the prices for Kofola vary. They are usually between 1 - 1.2 Euros. If you ask me, it's still too expensive. That drink should not cost more than 50 cents!

- - -

Ok, so there we were, inside the station, waiting for our train, talking about the Kofola incident. My girlfriend was mad (like the girl in the video) and kept saying that it was wrong, that what he did made Slovakia look bad and that in Taiwan this can't happen. She wanted to go back and complain and ask the boy to give us the money back, but I held her back and told her, this is not Taiwan, it's Slovakia. The boy will probably pretend he doesn't understand English or what we want from him and won't give us back any money. And I didn't want trouble at that obscure station, believe me.

So the only thing we could do in that situation was to drink the Kofola. What else could we do anyway? And we were thirsty. So I open up that (lemon flavored) Kofola Citrus and slowly drink the thing... and the first thought that came to mind was:

It tastes like medicine O.o

Not only that, it also tasted like Coca-Cola after being open for three days... But we still drank it. My girlfriend and I finished one bottle in no time and we brought the other one to my home in Slovenia. I made jokes about Kofola during the whole ride and my girlfriend was slowly getting sick of it. At one point I threatened her to give her a new nickname: Kofola. I guess these were side effects of drinking Kofola too fast :-P

When we nearly arrived in Slovenia, I suddenly had an idea: We in Slovenia have a similar drink, which is cheaper, healthier and tastes so much better. It's called Cockta (short for Cocktail). I told my girlfriend I will blog about these two drinks and compare them. The next day I went to a local supermarket and bought a Cockta and decided to do a test.

The Slovak Kofola together with the Slovenian Cockta.

I poured the Kofola and Cockta in small glasses and gave my family a try. Guess what? My girlfriend liked Kofola more than Cockta =_= Ok, that hurt! I couldn't believe it, so I gave her more Cockta to try. It didn't help. She already succumbed to the hidden poison in every Kofola that makes you addicted and burns 30% of your brain cells. Ok, the rest of my family was divided. My mum, her boyfriend and I liked Cockta more, while my younger sisters and her friends liked Kofola more. So that day Kofola beat Cockta. I have no explanation for that. I drank Cockta in the 1980s already, because there weren't many soft drinks at that time, but the young people of today have an abundance of these beverages and may not know what is good and what not. Believe me, Cockta is good. If you come to Slovenia, try it.

See how many bubbles Kofola has? Scary.

Truth is, Cockta has a longer history and wasn't intended to be the communist replacement for Coca-Cola, but was meant to be an original drink. It has no caffeine and it's made of herbs only. Hence it must be healthy. I'm sure some Slovenian doctors prescribe it. The drink originates in the 1950s. Kofola on the other side was meant as a replacement of western soft drinks, was developed in 1960 and has more caffeine than Coca-Cola. Now if you're a Kofola fan and laughing at Cockta drinkers, we'll see, if you laugh in ten years from now when you're gonna turn into a toothless insomniac! I ask you: Why do you drink Kofola? If you're thirsty, drink water or Cockta, if you need caffeine, drink coffee.

Alright! I won't tell you what to drink ^_^. And I admit, I'm biased, because I'm Slovenian and because I got ripped off in Bratislava. But seriously: Cockta is better :-P

✰ Check the COCKTA homepage in English and follow the Cockta story>>
✰ Check the KOFOLA homepage in Slovakian and learn about the drink>>

I think Cockta has a better website, more creative than Kofola's (and in English). There is also a Kofola Facebook fan page and and a Cockta Facebook fan page, you can join them.

So what do you think, which is better, the Slovenian Cockta or the Slovakian Kofola?
Did you ever get ripped off for a drink and got really mad? What did you do?
Do you like Pepsi or Coca-Cola more? Do you have a famous beverage in your country?

[Slovakia is not Slovenia][All photos by MKL except Chuck Norris, 2010]
[Ps: Don't take this post too seriously, if you're a Kofola fan. Thanks.]

Trip to Bratislava: Bratislava Castle

The most famous landmark of Bratislava

The Bratislava Castle from the historic center (zoomed in).

The Bratislava Castle (or Bratislavský hrad) is a huge castle on a hill above the old part of Bratislava, overlooking the Danube river in the south and the medieval part on the east. I must say it's one of the most impressive castles I've ever seen and that's due to its size. When it comes to interesting elements, the castle's facade looks a bit plain, especially today, when the whole complex is being renovated.

This castle is definitely the landmark of Bratislava. It's seen from many corners of the city and it's one of the symbols of Slovakia. The image of the castle is featured on Slovakian 10, 20 and 50c Euro coins (source). From 2008-2013 the castle is being meticulously renovated and when finished, it is supposed to look like on the image on the left (source). I definitely want to return in few years to see the newly renovated castle. Read the history of Bratislava castle here>>

Let me show you my photos of the way up to Bratislava castle and the magnificent view we had over the most parts of the city.

✰ Up to the castle

The road up is partly narrow and steep, but not tough to master.

A nice mermaid statue along the way. Sadly, it's full of graffiti, like most of Bratislava.

The first view of the old city was promising. We continued to go up.

This is the Nicholas gate before the Lugisland bastion.

Another view of the fortifications below the main palace.

✰ Slavín war memorial

Slavín, a famous war memorial, is seen from this part. See a bigger photo here>>

✰ Bratislava castle

And then we finally saw it: The massive Bratislava castle amids renovations.

Another view.

Two sides.

A proud Slovakian flag at the main entrance of the castle.

This detail is interesting.

The main entrance.

The Leopold's gate at the end.

Posing for my readers ;-) See how small I look compared to the castle?

✰ Statue of Svätopluk

Statue of Svätopluk I, King of Great Moravia in the 9th century.

The Svätopluk statue from behind. His pose is directed towards Austria. Will he attack? ;-)

✰ View over Petržalka

The river Danube and the Western part of Petržalka.

Nový Most and Eastern Petržalka, Bratislava's biggest borough.

My princess from the Far East :-)

The Nový Most or New Bridge over the river Danube.

Had to zoom the top of the UFO restaurant on the New Bridge, cuz it's fun.

✰ View over the old Bratislava

Nice view over the southern part of Bratislava's historic center.

The Old Town hall at the Main Square and the St. Martin's Cathedral on the right.

This is Bratislava. Do you like it?

✰ Bratislava in conclusion

We spent one afternoon in Bratislava and we liked the city, but only if by city you mean buildings. But we didn't like the people, who were mostly unfriendly or looked a bit annoyed. Did we take too many photos? Are Bratislavans generally not nice to foreigners or interracial couples? Of course that's hard to say, because we only met few. I'm sure there are many friendly Bratislavans, but I have to yet meet some. The city really has a rich history and a lovely old part, which is clean and neatly renovated. So is the castle. But the further you are from the center, the dirtier it gets. And there are a lot of graffiti everywhere, which is a pity. Makes the city look bad.

The highlights of the trip were: The Old town, the food and the castle. I would definitely return to Bratislava on a short trip from Vienna, but I'd not go to Bratislava as the main destination. I want to see how the renovations of the castle and the St. Martin's Cathedral will proceed and I also want to try the traditional Slovak dish bryindzové halušky again. Well, just when we thought we'll have a happy end in Bratislava, something happened: The Kofola incident. More about that on my green blog soon.

St. Martin's <- BEFORE ✰ NEXT -> The Kofola incident

[Bratislava map][All photos by MKL except where otherwise noted, 2010]
[Slovakia is not Slovenia][Ps: I know my watermark has a typo =.=]

Trip to Bratislava: Nový Most

From Nový Most to St. Michael's Cathedral

Trinity Plague Column (or Morový trojičný stĺp) from 1713 was built in memory of the people who died of plague (source). It's located very near the New Bridge.

After we finished our tasty meal, but with shockingly bad service on Hviezdoslav square, my girlfriend and I decided to see the New Bridge (Nový Most) and then later move on to see the famous castle above the city. The part of Bratislava here is very close to the Danube, the river that doesn't only flow through Bratislava, but also through Vienna, Budapest and Belgrade (all capital cities of European countries). We haven't stayed too long here, because the weather started to become gloomy and it looked like it will rain, but we didn't bring our umbrellas with us. Lucky for us, the rain didn't fall that day and we could still take some nice photos and enjoy the view from the castle hill. Here are some photos of the famous New Bridge:

The Nový Most (or New Bridge) was completed in 1972. It's a so called cable-stayed bridge, because it consists of a column and cables supporting the bridge deck. The bridge is 430.8m long and spanned over the river Danube. It connects the central Bratislava with Petržalka, the biggest borough in Bratislava (and in whole Slovakia), which is famous for being full of paneláks, the ugly concrete prefabricated panel buildings, built during the Czechoslovakian communist era. It's still the largest residential are ever built this way (source).

On top of the Nový Most is a unique restaurant called UFO Restaurant. It's one of the wackiest restaurants in Bratislava. The top is at over 80m and has a nice view of the old center and the castle. But the food is very expensive. From what I read from a tripadvisor.com member Bos, dining for two can cost you over 60€. Here is one of his photos from inside the restaurant.

My girlfriend's camera lens was really great. I could zoom in the observatory on top of the UFO restaurant, which is 95m above the ground. You can even see people taking pics from there. Amazing!

Beautiful, isn't it she?

The famous St. Martin's Cathedral is located nearby. Sadly, it was being renovated, so I couldn't take any good photos. It's the biggest church in Bratislava and one of its landmarks.

More about it here>>

And then we headed uphill to the castle.

We turned left here and slowly walked upwards.

More about the Bratislava Castle and the marvelous view in my next post.

Shocking experience <- BEFORE ✰ NEXT -> St. Martin's Church

[Bratislava map][Slovakia is not Slovenia][All photos by MKL, 2010]

Bratislava: Great food, but poor service

Just my experience with a rude waiter


After my girlfriend and I walked from Bratislava's Main station to the Presidential Palace, then walked through the Michael's Gate to the Main Square, we arrived at the Hviezdoslav Square, and that's when we really got hungry. So we decided to find a restaurant around there. The first restaurant we saw was Slovenská reštaurácia (Slovakian restaurant), but it seemed very fancy and the prices were pretty high, so we skipped that one and walked on.

Slovenská reštaurácia from the outside.

Next to Slovenská reštaurácia is Café and Restaurant Verne, where we decided to have our lunch. It looked cozy and small and the prices were reasonable. They had wooden tables and chairs placed on the sidewalk of the Hveizdoslav square. There was also an interior part, but we just sat outside. We put our small cam and the DSLR on the table and started to check the menu. It was in Slovak and in English, so it was easy to find out what they had, but with my Slovenian I could understand most of the menus they served. Since I wanted to try the famous Slovak dish Bryndzové halušky and just have coffee, we had to choose something for my girlfriend. They mostly served some modern West European food. Since my girlfriend wanted to try something new, we went for chicken cutlet covered with tomatoes and mozzarella.

Everything seemed fine, but then... we were waiting... and waiting... and waiting. Now and then waiters passed by, but nothing happened. We felt like we were invisible. Must have been like 10min, before we saw the waiter near enough, so that my girlfriend, who was almost starving, turned her head and called him by using a hand gesture. The guy (who looked like a rickety student with long hair and a tattoo on his leg, wearing sneakers and an apron over his shorts) would not bother me at all, had he not given my girlfriend a weird look, as if she was rude by waving him over. Helo? Isn't waving the waiter over like the ultimate hand gesture acceptable everywhere? Maybe everywhere but in Bratislava? I mean, what can we do? Tsk him over? And we were waiting like 10min to get our order... =.= what would you do?

This is how the tables look like.

I haven't noticed his weird look, but my girlfriend was a bit shocked and told me: "The waiter just looked at me as if he was a bit annoyed. Did I do anything wrong? Is he unfriendly, because I'm Asian?" I replied: "No, maybe he is moody or stressed, I'm sure it's not, because you're Asian."

So the guy comes over after a minute and already looks a bit annoyed. No smile, he doesn't even welcome us, he just stands there silently. So I ask: Do you speak English? He looks at me and then mumbles something like: "Yes, and you?"

What? Did he just reply "Yes, and you?" O.o Was that supposed to be funny or something? "Yes, and you?" Is this the Slovakian humor? Sorry, if I did not laugh at your sarcastic reply, but I was starving and annoyed with the poor service. Seriously, I never came across such an unfriendly waiter, not in Ljubljana and not in Macau. Bratislava tops my list of the cities with the most unfriendly people I've ever met. I guess I should've paid 50eur for a meal in Bratislava to get some friendliness along with it? I don't know, but I'd love to be enlightened about that, because except some young girls at the main station, who helped us with the directions of the luggage storage service, we only encountered rude or annoyed Slovakians that day.

We ordered drinks first, I had a latte, my girl had tea. It was both very good. And we weren't served by that rude waiter, a girl brought us the drinks and the food and at least she smiled. I think.

My latte and my girlfriend's blueberry tea.

And after some 10min of waiting, I finally got the famous Slovakian national dish: Bryndzové halušky! It's a simple dish made of potato dumplings, sheep's cheese and bacon.

Brindzové halušky: Simple but soooo yummy!

I would go to Bratislava just to try this dish again.

My girlfriend's dish wasn't bad either: A chicken cutlet covered with pieces of tomatoes and mozzarella cheese and with fried potatoes and vegetables. It was very yummy and also very fulling. We had no complaints about the food, it was superb.

And we also ordered pancakes with walnut filling for dessert: Tasty as well.

When we finished our food, we had to wait again for the waiter to pass by. I spotted him drinking beer at one of the tables and chatting with some friends. Nice. When he finally came around the corner, I asked for the bill and of course he didn't smile or anything, just went inside. When he came back, he passed me the bill and said: "Here you go, buddy." O.o

. . .

What can I say more? Of course he didn't say thanks or anything. That would be too much for mr. Hereyougobuddy. It would probably trigger a gag reflex in his throat and I surely would not wanna see that. I couldn't be happier to leave that place. But there was some comfort: The food only cost us only around 15€ and I mean all together, drinks, main dish and the dessert. I'd probably pay 3 times more in Vienna. And the food was yummy and abundant. So I guess we were lucky after all. Here are some reviews of the Verne restaurant and I guess I wasn't the only one, who experienced poor service there.

After the food, we left Hviezdoslav Square and moved on to the New Bridge and the Bratislava castle. More about that the next time.

Hviezdoslav Square.

Did you ever experience poor service or a rude waiter? Share your experience.

Hviezdoslav Square <- BEFORE ✰ NEXT -> New Bridge

[Keep in mind, that I'm only sharing my personal experience here]
[Bratislava map][Slovakia is not Slovenia][All photos by MKL, 2010]