Trip to Bratislava: Cumil and Hviezdoslav Square
From Main Square to Hviezdoslav square
When you leave the Main Square, you encounter another quirky street statue named Schöne Náci. This was actually a real person (schöne German for beautiful, Náci short for Ignac Lamar) from the early 20th century, a mentally ill man, who walked around Bratislava and greeted people in his velvet frock and by courteously bowing to them and using the phrase Küss die Hand (I kiss your hand) in Slovakian, German and Hungarian (source). Another famous street statue is Cumil (The Watcher), a statue of a man looking out of the gutter and with his own street sign nearby that says "Man at work" (in English mind you!). I wonder what is his work, since all he does is observing the passers-by :-) Cumil is probably the most famous street statue in Bratislava and there are usually tons of tourists taking photos near the statue. I had only few seconds to snap a photo of him without someone squatting nearby.
Asian family trying to take photos near the real Cumil. There is also a fake Cumil, who wants money, if you want to take a photo with him. Now tell me, why in the world would I want to pay to take a photo of a real person dressing up as Cumil, if I have the real Cumil 2m away for free? Somehow I felt his business idea is flawed. And I only saw crowds of people taking pics around the real Cumil, not the fake one... sheesh... funny Slovakian.
But before we went to the castle, we went to a Slovakian restaurant to try the famous Bryndzové halušky. And that was an experience to remember. Wait for my next post, which will be about the food.
![[Bratislava map]](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4123/4941531498_4d9e35ca17_o.jpg){kind=link}
6 KAFKAESQUE COMMENTS:
beautiful place. What did the miss think??
August 31, 2010 7:26 PM
@Carina: The miss liked the center and the castle, but she said Slovenia looks cleaner and more developed :)
August 31, 2010 7:57 PM
thank you for clarifying which was the fake cumil and which was the legit one :)
August 31, 2010 9:51 PM
LOL @ the fake cumil statue. Yes I agree that's a bit of a silly and wasteful business venture to pose as the fake statue when the real one is only 2metres away :)
The pictures are so beautiful here.....I especially love the architecture, how the streets didn't appear overly crowded and the brick (?) sidewalks....although some of the bricks on the street appear to be have many gaps so would be difficult to wear high heels!!
September 1, 2010 2:22 PM
PS: Asians will take pictures of EVERYTHING! I'm so happy August has come to and end and their vacation is over because I pose for so many photos this month every single year when they come here. They are very nice, but it can be tiresome, big group an you and you have to pose with every single one. haha So, my guess is that they probably had to document BOTH Cumils, separably, one time with each group member and the two together ALSO once with all group members! lol
September 1, 2010 4:31 PM
@Linda: Haha.. that was just for fun :P
@Karen: Yeah, there are some parts where you would struggle, if you had heels. But hey, your strong boyfie could carry you ;)
@Carina: Well, m girl so far has not bothered anyone to take a picture with, but you're right. She asked me several times she'd like to take a photo with someone here, haha.. And I said no, don't do that, Europeans don't like that =.= Hope she reads your comment, it will confirm my theory ;)
September 1, 2010 6:11 PM
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