Kylin's European Grand Adventure: Day 18 Bratislava

Today was very different. We spent the morning in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia (part of old Czechoslovakia). The grayness of the communist years has not been erased but they are making progress. For example, there are side walk cafes every where and souvenir shops, and some repairs being made to buildings. It is nothing like the other cities in regards to construction, cleaning building exteriors, restoration, etc. They do have a few beautiful, older buildings and an attitude of bright hope for a better tomorrow.

Our local guide was wonderful. We got an insight to life under communist regime. One of the beautiful older buildings we saw was the palace. The exterior has been restored but the interior hasn't been because of lack of cash! This palace was built by Marie Therese for her favorite daughter, the only one allowed to marry for love. During the war and communist years, it housed soldiers and fell into disrepair. From the grounds of the palace, one can see three countries, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria. She pointed out the Iron Curtain beyond the forest and said that even though Austria was closer than Hungary (she laughingly called Vienna a suburb of Bratislava), they were never allowed to go there and talked about people being shot for try paying to escape to freedom! She talked about the ranks occupying their streets.

Sidewalk cafes were not allowed and they now have many. The food smelled wonderful as we walked by. The old town had one huge square with some embassy's in the older buildings, government, and one church and one fountain so one ruler. During his coronation, the fireworks caught some of the roofs/houses and he had a statue/fountain built to provide water for the next fire. It had some naughty boys providing water for the fountain and when Marie Therese came to visit, she was appalled and had it changed to the boys carrying fish which provided the water streams! She was the same queen with 16 children in 20 years we heard so much about in Vienna.

The US Embassy is the only one with a fence around it and it sets on a wonderful walking promenade with fountains, trees, and a few modern sculptures! The opera house is another beautiful building. John and I wandered off on a side street and found a really poor church that had locked doors. The area around the doors was the only section painted with repaired stucco. The buildings around were even in more disrepair. We'll try to post a picture so you can get a sense of the grayness under communist rule.

In the afternoon the boat sailed so our activities included a kitchen tour, making apple strudel in the lounge, a pilot house tour, watching the ship going through the last lock where we dropped 100 feet with 3 other ships. That was really fascinating! We were sitting on the bow of the ship so we had a front row seat. The Hungary side of the lock was very different from Austria. Did not see many towns, farms, etc from the river.

It was the captains dinner last night so we toasted the crew, etc. before dinner and the entire crew were presented after dinner in the dining room. We were also given disembarkation instructions during the briefing. After dinner we sat on the ships vow and watched the river until we got to Budapest. It was breathtaking at night --like a huge Christmas scene filled with magical buildings. I'm sure we will post any photos.

I lost my entire blog which was far more informative but I'm tired after staying up late to see Budapest so didn't have the energy to be newsy!.

Palace from lower part of city

Wall below palace

Same view

Closer view of palace

Between first gate and second gate of the old town. If the enemy made it through the first gate, they would throw stones and hot water down from buildings on them