Country Archive
New Rentals in Old Europe
Date: 05/08/2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Bratislava, Slovakia
Learn more about Europe in International Living Postcards—your daily escape
My Bratislava home is a short-term rental: a third-floor studio on Rajska Street. This is city center, District 1—but not the historic center. The studio is adequate for minimalists, but not luxurious. The building’s ground-floor glass-panel frontage is cracked and grimy. Its elevator (installed in 1945) has already broken down twice. And this costs me an overpriced $85 per night.
The opera and ballet season is underway, golden forsythia blooms in parks, but March snow flurries don’t make for idyllic Danube pleasure cruises. Even so, finding reasonably priced accommodation in Slovakia’s capital wasn’t easy. Other agency apartments were fully booked. There’s no oversupply of tourist rentals—so the right property could be a gold mine.
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Hedonism in Central Europe
Date: 05/07/2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Piestany, Slovakia
Read more about Europe in International Living Postcards—your daily escape
I went to check out Slovakia’s premier spa town, Piestany, which is just 90 minutes by bus from Bratislava. You can come here for hedonism, but most guests come for health reasons.
In central Europe, spa culture is really popular, and is still more about therapeutic cures than pampering. Spa treatments in Slovakia used to be funded by the communist state; now it’s generally health insurers that foot the bill. Even so, spas realize they have to be commercially viable, so now they are attracting paying guests with cosmetic treatments and wellness packages.
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Luxurious Riverside Living on Europe’s Famous Waterway
Date: 04/22/2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Bratislava, Slovakia
Read more about European real estate in International Living Postcards—your daily escape
It’s not every day you find yourself sharing a bedroom with the wife of the Slovak foreign minister...
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Short-term Rental Opportunities in Eastern Europe
Date: 04/21/2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Bratislava, Slovakia
Learn more about Eastern Europe in International Living Postcards—your daily escape
“Dobry den.” (Good morning.) “Hovorite po anglicky?” (Do you speak English?)
As I mentioned last week, I’m in Bratislava, Slovakia’s capital, and searching for real estate bargains. There are many real estate agencies here, but the trick is finding somebody who speaks English. It’s surprising how many don’t.
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Discover a New Europe: Opera $17, Two-course Lunch $5…
Date: 04/17/2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Bratislava, Slovakia
Read more about Europe in International Living Postcards—your daily escape
Bratislava is an eye-opener. On the banks of the Danube, it’s the capital of Slovakia, a small central European country established in 1993.
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Your new life in 2005-Making Slovakia home-renovating a 300-year-old château into a luxury hotel in the heart of Europe
Date: 11/01/2005
Less than two years ago, British couple Ann and David Darrell worked and lived in England. David, 38, was a chartered accountant specializing in insolvency. Ann, 54, owned several small businesses, including a design and communications company and a beauty shop.
Read OnVienna's Best Day Trip
Date: 01/08/2004At first glance, the contrast between these two capital cities (Vienna, Austria and Bratislava, Slovakia) couldn't be greater.
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