Don't Beat on the Brat

You know what sucks? Being an emerging European republic and having your budding homeland made to look like a Camp Crystal Lake chop shop for backpacking tourists. That's how Slovakia felt when The Hostel series chose it as the location for its two slasher flicks.

The filmmakers' bloody third-world depiction, however, bares no resemblance to the former Czech territory today. The 5-million-person republic boasts one of the fastest growing economies and some of the best architecture that Europe has to offer. In fact, Slovakia arguably has the most castles and chateaus per capita in the entire world, and for the record, the film was actually shot in Prague and Iceland. Interested in learning more about this landlocked republic filled with Gothic and Baroque towns? The place to start is Bratislava, the lively cosmopolitan capital city on the banks of the Danube River. Bratislava, once the epicenter of the Kingdom of Hungary, features such gems as St. Martin's Cathedral, Bratislava Castle, the gothic St. Clare's Church, the Church of the Annunciation, the 500-year-old Roland Fountain, the 700-year-old Academia Istropolitana university, Laurin's Gate, the Slovak National Museum and the Presidential Palace.

If that's too much culture for you, try these Bratty experiences. Check out the Nový Most (New Bridge) over the Danube river with its saucer-shaped UFO restaurant, the Kamzik TV Tower's rotating restaurant and Slavin hill overlooking the entire city. Plus, in the summer, the city turns the Danube's south bank into Magio City Beach with sand aplenty for volleyball, water sprinklers, chowing down and even 4G wireless internet. Writer-director Eli Roth justified his Slovakia portrayal by saying people still go to Texas despite The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and that it doesn't matter because "[Most] Americans do not even know that this country exists." Roth also said he picked Slovakia to show the average American's lack of knowledge, which he ironically succeeded in doing.

In reality, Slovakia and its capital city are maybe a decade away from becoming as popular as Prague, Budapest, Vienna and the other top Eastern European hot spots. Now that you know, you can be first to beat the coming crowds.

Old Town by Ramon Garcia, UFO restaurant by Alberto Fernandez and Kamzik TV Tower by Aktron. All images courtesy of Wikipedia.