From Vienna to Bratislava

My husband and I have been to Vienna numerous times. It’s a home from home. We know our way around, where we like to eat and drink, and the places we love to visit. We had been on a boat trip around the city but not on the main stretch of the Danube – which is why, on one of the most recent visits, we decided to take a boat trip to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia.

It was a sunny day, the boat wasn’t crowded, and we waved to the Viennese who took advantage of the weather to fish or relax in their weekend cottages and shacks along the banks of the river. We watched the waves crest, water fowl follow in our wake, and listened to a nocturne being played as it caught the breeze.

And suddenly, on a bend in the river, we were there. Bratislava old town dates back to the 18th century, is pedestrianised, and full of quaint and colourful bars and cafés. The architecture took our breath away, with Art Nouveau side by side with Brutalism. We went to the castle, did a bit of shopping, explored the quirky sculptures that popped up all over the place, and even watched a wedding party have their photos taken in front of a church. Being a small city, it didn’t take us long to get around and we were at the boat in time for the trip back to Vienna.

piano notes tumble
peace of river’s ebb and flow
bright gem round the bend

Kim M. Russell, 31st March 2025

It’s Haibun Monday and, over at the dVerse Poets Pub, Merril has recapped briefly the history of the haibun and pointed us in the direction of an interesting essay about writing them. I like the questions asked, for example, how can a poem situate itself without being fully entrenched, and how can one make the reader travel without getting lost?

The answers are enlightening. For example, the idea that the haiku “usually ends the poem as a sort of whispery and insightful postscript to the prose of the beginning of the poem”, and “thinking of haibun as highly focused testimony or recollection of a journey”. I can understand why this essay led to a haibun called ‘Time Traveler’s Haibun: 1989’ by Maureen Thorson.

Merril says that our haibun do not have to resemble Thorson’s, but she asks us to do some time travelling of our own by writing about our own pasts, imagining our futures, inventing an entirely fictional time-travel tale, or doing something in-between. She has added an optional challenge of paint chip names to use like random words and use them for inspiration; we can include the words in our poems, or just ignore them!

36 thoughts on “From Vienna to Bratislava”

  2. You have made this trip to Bratislava so vivid that I felt–almost–like I was there with you, but felt a little envious that I wasn’t. 😊

    I love the piano notes tumble in your haiku–I know exactly what you mean. Beautiful!

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  9. Thank you, thank you for plucking me from the dredges of gray skies and a bit of snow today .. allowing me to travel with the two of you. Enchanting.

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