Slovakia (A) - general

[HarpoJoyce]

Hi Lads, trying to book tickets from Prague to Bratislava by train, cant find any site that takes bookings. Cant anyone offer any advice on this?

There may be a restriction on how far in advance tickets can purchased. Within 30 days is a common restriction.

Slovan Bratislava are playing Red Star Belgrade at the Pasienky Stadion (sp.) on Thurs. 5th August in the 2nd leg of the Europa League if anyone wanted to take a peek online (MSK Zilina are playing at Pod Dubnom in 2nd leg of the Champions League on Wed. 4th August if anyone wanted to hedge their bets).

[Hibs4Ever]

Hi Lads, trying to book tickets from Prague to Bratislava by train, cant find any site that takes bookings. Cant anyone offer any advice on this?

You can book train tickets through here within 2 months of travel: https://eshop.cd.cz/default.aspx


Or you can nalso booked through www.bahn.de as Prague to Bratislava is on the Berlin - Budapest route. The Czech site is always much cheaper than Bahn though.





Or you can go by bus. Eurolines CZ are taking bookings now on https://www.elines.cz/en/ for as little as 450kc return

Another bus company is Student Agency at http://jizdenky.studentagency.cz/Booking but they are also only taking bookings within 2 months of travel

[pineapple stu]

I'd say you should be able to buy tickets for the train on the day as well.

[Hibs4Ever]

I'd say you should be able to buy tickets for the train on the day as well.



Yeah. From the Airport you get bus number AE (Airport Express) direct to the main train station, Hlavní nádraží. Bus costs around 30kc (Just over a euro) and takes 40-60 minutes


Buses to Bratislava go from Florenc Bus Station, across road from metro

[Hibs4Ever]

A gunman went a bit crazy in Bratislava this morning, killing 7 people then himself

http://zpravy.idnes.cz/masakr-v-bratislave-utocnik-postrilel-na-ulici-nejmene-sedm-lidi-pxo-/zahranicni.asp?c=A100830_111654_zahranicni_btw


If rumours are true that the gunman was a gypsy, then expect a serious backlash from the skinheads over there and be very careful Bratislava if you're going there in next few weeks

[mypost]

"In other recent news, gunman runs riot in Cumbrian countryside, and other man runs amok in Northumberland. Citizens are still expected to exercise caution when visiting these areas."

This has nothing to do with football or Irish football fans. Forget about it.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Except my Slovak pal says it's another reason not to go to Bratislava. Never known people so down on their capital.

Still every Irish person feels so much love for The Pale.

[danthesaint]

"In other recent news, gunman runs riot in Cumbrian countryside, and other man runs amok in Northumberland. Citizens are still expected to exercise caution when visiting these areas."

This has nothing to do with football or Irish football fans. Forget about it.

in fairness neither does your post, if you didnt care about what he posted, why didnt you just ignore it??

[Closed Account 2]

Just to confirm, is this game Bratislava ? Other sites seem to have it down as Zilina, but I can make anything of this translation:

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=sk&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fsport.aktuality.sk%2Fclanok%2F98845 %2Feuro-2012-kvalifikacny-duel-slovensko-irsko-v-ziline%2F

[ParkLife]

It's Zilina...150%
3 hour train journey from Brat.

[Closed Account 2]

Ah crap, well if anyone else is getting the flight from Luton that gets into Bratislava at 16:50 wants to share a taxi or airport transfer to Zilina let me know (it's 134miles from the Airport to Zilina and takes about 2hr 10m according to the via michelen website)....

http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/web/Itineraires?strStartLocid=31NDN2NTkxMGNORGd1TVRZMU 5ERT1jTVRjdU1qRTRPVFk9&strDestLocid=31NDNhNzUxMGNORGt1TWpFNU16Yz1jTVRndU5 6UXdPQT09&intItineraryType=1&caravaneHidden=false&vh=CAR&strVehicle=0&itineraryCarType=0&itineraryFuelType=0&isFavoriseAutoroute=false&isAvoidPeage=false&isAvoidVignette=false&isAvoidLNR=false&isAvoidFrontiers=true&dtmDeparture=03%2F09%2F2010&distance=mi&devise=0.83654004|GBP&indemnite=&carbCost=1.3&autoConso=6.8&villeConso=6&routeConso=5.6

[ParkLife]

What day is that???
Hope not the evening of the game!!

[Closed Account 2]

Yeah, annoyingly it is... the game should kick off at 19:45 our time, which is 20:45 their time.

The flight gets in at 16:50, get out of the airport at 17:15, pick up car / transfer at 17:30, arrive at Zilina at 19:30, 1 hr 15m before kick off...

[mypost]

20.30 ko local time.

[finbarrk]

Whats Zilina like after dark I wonder?

[mypost]

What's Sligo like after dark? There's your answer.

[ParkLife]

Yeah, annoyingly it is... the game should kick off at 19:45 our time, which is 20:45 their time.

The flight gets in at 16:50, get out of the airport at 17:15, pick up car / transfer at 17:30, arrive at Zilina at 19:30, 1 hr 15m before kick off...

I think your being optimistic if think you'll make it with that much time to spare. Realistically I think your looking at leaving the airport after 6. By the time your get through security and go through the details of picking up a car. Bus transfer might be a better option. At least there'll be no hold up and the guy will know exactly where he's going.
Unless he takes a detour...have you seen Hostel :-))

[finbarrk]

What's Sligo like after dark? There's your answer.
Don't know then. I was never in Sligo after dark!

[rfkimble]

6 of us need to be back in krakow at bout 7am on the wed morn, any ideas, taxi maybe?

[Stuttgart88]

FAI arrange free train service from Bratislava to Zilina. Fair play.

http://foot.ie/content/1367-RTE-FAI-arrange-free-rail-transport-in-Slovakia

[mypost]

Does it apply to game ticket holders only, or what?

[brendy_éire]

Does it apply to game ticket holders only, or what?

Email the FAI with your name or check on the YBIG forum.

[mrtndvn]

Lads,
Whats the update on tickets for this game?
Assuming the ticket thread won't bare fruit, and the FAI arent getting any more, has anyone got any ideas on how to get one for the game?

Cheers

[mypost]

While the booze cruise was en route from Bratislava to Zilina, VIP game tickets were raffled by Delaney in the team's hotel.

The reaction on YBIG was quite positive regarding the trip, but I can't agree with them. I thought the Slovaks gave us the runaround from the very start, with the venue change, the ticketing arrangements, and the decision to fence our fans, (the only fans in the stadium who had to watch the game from behind a fence). I felt Zilina was hosting the national auditions for Army Idol on the night, such was the hostility of the police, who were looking for any excuse to lash out, and looked disappointed they couldn't. And of course, the level of English in the city was negligible, if at all.

All in all, the land of Nyet, and not a place you'd want to go back to in a hurry.

[pineapple stu]

I felt Zilina was hosting the national auditions for Army Idol on the night, such was the hostility of the police, who were looking for any excuse to lash out, and looked disappointed they couldn't.
So they were looking so hard for an excuse to lash out that they couldn't find one? Not a single drunken Irish person behaving a bit badly?


And of course, the level of English in the city was negligible, if at all.
That's bordering on racist, you know that?

[gspain]

While the booze cruise was en route from Bratislava to Zilina, VIP game tickets were raffled by Delaney in the team's hotel.

The reaction on YBIG was quite positive regarding the trip, but I can't agree with them. I thought the Slovaks gave us the runaround from the very start, with the venue change, the ticketing arrangements, and the decision to fence our fans, (the only fans in the stadium who had to watch the game from behind a fence). I felt Zilina was hosting the national auditions for Army Idol on the night, such was the hostility of the police, who were looking for any excuse to lash out, and looked disappointed they couldn't. And of course, the level of English in the city was negligible, if at all.

All in all, the land of Nyet, and not a place you'd want to go back to in a hurry.

Venue change was a pain. Ticketing is their choice and we got twice the minimum allocation. They did sellout the game and there were very few touts (I didn't see any) so we
can't complain. If we drew England and gave them twice the away allocation we had to there would be lots of complaints on here.

I found the locals in Zilina to be very welcoming and friendly. Thewir English was a hell of a lot better than my Slovakian.

The away end in many continental stadiums is like that. Some grounds France and Germany spring to mind. It wasn't done for us.

Delaney went and got a number of home end tickets from MSK Zilina and sold and raffled them to Irish fans. I imagine the fans who got to see the game because of this were very grateful and thankful. I thought it was a risky thing to do personally as certain members of the media could have twisted it and his father got into a lot of hot water when he did
the same in Italia 90 & USA 94.

[mypost]

Ticketing is their choice and we got twice the minimum allocation.

I found the locals in Zilina to be very welcoming and friendly. Thewir English was a hell of a lot better than my Slovakian.

The away end in many continental stadiums is like that. Some grounds France and Germany spring to mind. It wasn't done for us.

Delaney went and got a number of home end tickets from MSK Zilina and sold and raffled them to Irish fans. I imagine the fans who got to see the game because of this were very grateful and thankful.

We got the 10% we were entitled to, no more no less (barring Delaney's tickets). Regarding the fencing, we know it wasn't done for us, but in Bratislava, there's no fences obstructing the action. As I said before, next year we should play them in Thomond Park and see how they like it. Instead they'll be in the best stadium available with good views of the game.

I didn't find them friendly. Whether it was the rail staff, the police, or even the bar staff at the hotel, I found them to be not welcoming. On arrival at the station, the fans were treated to a display of the armoury available in Slovakia, and they followed the fans everywhere from the station to the square, to the ground, and the station again looking hostile and ready for combat at a moment's notice.

For the midnight express back, there were announcements in the station about it, unfortunately they were all in a language that nobody travelling on it spoke, so was kind of useless. The seats that were there in 2007 were removed, so anyone waiting for a train in the main hall had to either stand or sit in dirty corners of the station. Obviously their English, for those who did speak it, was better than our attempts at speaking their language, but that's a given on every trip. Even asking Hovorite anglicky? didn't work with them.

That's how I found them. Others had a different experience, and the FAI treated the fans very well, considering all the obstacles put in their path, but I was happy to be out of there with a point.

[bennocelt]

What were the hostels like?

[gspain]

Min away allocation for euros is 5% - they gave us 10%.

The stadium in Bratislava we played in last time is closed. We would have been in a more rundown stadium. This is by far the best stadium in the country.

I appreciate different people get different views of a place but I liked it and thought the people were fine.

[pineapple stu]

I didn't find them friendly. Whether it was the rail staff, the police, or even the bar staff at the hotel, I found them to be not welcoming.
If someone went up to me and automatically and ignorantly expected me to speak their language, I mightn't be best fond of them either.

[AidoP]

I agree with Pineapple Stu. I know it is ignorant of us to expect EVERYBODY to speak english but for future away matches it would help to have some of the useful phrases (ie 10 beers please :-)) handy just in case God forbid, the people in THEIR country don't speak OUR language. You don't have to do a language course just for a few days trip. Basics. When in Rome........ Sorry for the rant but I live in Germany and do speak German so I know the story (although alot of Germans have better english than me :-)).

[mypost]

Min away allocation for euros is 5% - they gave us 10%.

The stadium in Bratislava we played in last time is closed. We would have been in a more rundown stadium. This is by far the best stadium in the country.


The standard allocation a visiting FA is given is 10%. We got that. We would have got more than that if the game was in Bratislava, the stadium is still open, and hosted two internationals only weeks before. We played in Zilina because the SFA wanted to have the game in front of a full house, and could only get it there.


I know it is ignorant of us to expect EVERYBODY to speak english but for future away matches it would help to have some of the useful phrases (ie 10 beers please :-)) handy just in case God forbid, the people in THEIR country don't speak OUR language.

It's nothing to do with ignorance, or even racism, it's just the way of the world.

English is the most widely spoken language in the world, and while it's courteous to have a local phrase or two handy, the onus is ultimately on them to learn the language. Hotels will always have foreign guests, restaurants will have them regularly, there will always be backpackers interrailing around. If you're working in aviation, in tourism, in multinational organisations etc or related industries, you communicate with foreign colleagues in English, so it has to be learnt, and rightly or wrongly that's just the way it is.

[gspain]

The standard allocation a visiting FA is given is 10%. We got that. We would have got more than that if the game was in Bratislava, the stadium is still open, and hosted two internationals only weeks before. We played in Zilina because the SFA wanted to have the game in front of a full house, and could only get it there.




We played last time in the Tehelne Pole stadium. It holds approx 30,000. It is closed for redevelopment. They played in September in the run down Pasienky Stadium which has approx the same capacity of Zilina but nothing like as modern.

UEFA's min away alocation is 5%. FIFA's is 10%. This was a European qualifier so they gave us twice what they had to.

[obi-1 kenobi-0]

All in all I had no major problems with the place. I found the locals to be very helpfull even with the language barrier. They did their best to accomidate us. Only issue i had was not being allowed into the Stadium by the stewards. It took an FAI official to get a load of Irish fans in the side gate. I missed the first few minutes of the game as a result.

The allocation we got was 10%, this is twice the minimum allocation we are entitled to. The stadium in Bratislava is closed so this is why the game was held in Zilina.

I don't see the big issue with the locals not speaking English either. Those that couldn't did their best to accomidate us. As for the police, the ones on the FAI train were having the craic with us the whole way up and back and had no interest in dishing out batterings from what I seen.

[Hibs4Ever]

English is the most widely spoken language in the world, and while it's courteous to have a local phrase or two handy, the onus is ultimately on them to learn the language.


Probably the dumbest post ever on an internet forum

[mypost]

Well as I say, that's just how it is.


The allocation we got was 10%, this is twice the minimum allocation we are entitled to. The stadium in Bratislava is closed so this is why the game was held in Zilina.

As for the police, the ones on the FAI train were having the craic with us the whole way up and back and had no interest in dishing out batterings from what I seen.

The Slovaks just enforced the FIFA standard rules so. While the Tehelne Pole may be closed, they've played earlier games in Bratislava and could have accommodated us there. Instead they wrecked most fans travel plans by not telling us until the last possible minute where it was, and then sent us all the way to Zilina to rub it in. All the teams that play in Lansdowne for the rest of the campaign will get 10% also, although only the Slovaks will need it.

I was talking about the police while the fans were in Zilina, not the FAI booze-mobile.

[pineapple stu]

Well as I say, that's just how it is.
And I can absolutely understand any Slovaks being ignorant towards you. You do seem quite ignorant, after all.

[mypost]

Post 82 covers everything on the subject.

[pineapple stu]

And is perfectly answered in post 85.

[mypost]

Post 85 answers nothing tbh.

[pineapple stu]

It says all it needs to say.

Post 82 is borderline racist. I don't think racism can justify anything really.

[mypost]

Even the most multi-lingual can't learn 300 languages, so you learn the most common one and then you can communicate with billions of people from around the world, wherever they're from. The most common one is English. It's not racism, it's reality.

[gspain]

Even the most multi-lingual can't learn 300 languages, so you learn the most common one and then you can communicate with billions of people from around the world, wherever they're from. The most common one is English. It's not racism, it's reality.

English is 3rd in languages spoken around the world behind Mandarin and Spanish. No doubt you speak all 3 fluently and tried to converse with the locals first in Mandarin and then in Spanish.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers

[mypost]

In both of the above languages, most speakers are in countries where it is the official language, as Slovak is in Slovakia, or Irish is in Ireland. English is spoken around the world, as either an official language, or widely as a private language, for reasons explained in Post 82.

[Hibs4Ever]

English is spoken around the world,


As is Spanish! By more people than English.


Seriously, you expect people from non English speaking countrys to learn and speak English just so they can accomodate you when you visit their country? Get a fooking grip!

[pineapple stu]

And in a country where I'd say many of the tourists (from surrounding areas) would have German as their first/second language. Unfortunately, mypost thinks the world revolves around him, even though he and his English-only ilk would only account for what - 0.1% of conversations the average Zilinian would have? Less?

[mypost]

As is Spanish! By more people than English.

Seriously, you expect people from non English speaking countrys to learn and speak English just so they can accomodate you when you visit their country? Get a fooking grip!

No you get a grip, and read what I'm saying, that it's nothing to do with me. I've already said what the story is with Spanish. And German, and whatever other language you mention.


And in a country where I'd say many of the tourists (from surrounding areas) would have German as their first/second language. Unfortunately, mypost thinks the world revolves around him, even though he and his English-only ilk would only account for what - 0.1% of conversations the average Zilinian would have? Less?

I said nothing of the sort, but you still don't listen.

Foreigners visit Zilina everyday. Zilina people travel to Czech Republic, Poland, and other countries everyday. They both need English to communicate with each other in the vast majority of cases.

[pineapple stu]

I'd say they get by perfectly well with German. You're not listening now.

[Hibs4Ever]

Zilina people travel to Czech Republic. They both need English to communicate with each other in the vast majority of cases.



Proves how dumb you are

[mypost]

It proves nothing.

I deal with people based in those regions (and others) on a daily basis, and they all recognise how important it is to learn and speak English.