The Danube starts in Germany, flows through Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria, and finally pours into the Black Sea. By the time it passes Slovakia it is already a huge, slow, wide river, the colour of milky tea. Big boats and barges use it as a watery motorway across Europe.
Devín Castle sits where another river, the Morava, joins the Danube. That meeting place has been important for thousands of years - long before Slovakia existed, people used to gather here to trade, fish and travel by boat. The castle on the cliff above was built to look over the rivers and keep them safe.
Today Devín Castle is a ruin, but a beautiful one. You can climb up through the broken walls to the very top and look out over both rivers. Austria is on the other side - so close that you can see houses on the far bank. A pretty footbridge crosses the Morava and lets you walk straight from Slovakia into Austria.
Children in Bratislava often come here on school trips and family weekends. They picnic on the grass by the rivers, run around the ruins, and watch the river boats slide past. On warm days, white herons stand fishing in the shallows where the Morava meets the Danube.