Bratislava

Bratisalva is a town of contradictions, at least as far as the architecture. There are beautiful, ornate buildings right next to what look like communist-era ones.

We started in the Hviezdoslavovo námestie, the Old Town square with a large statue of the park's namesake, Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav,

The Old Town is typical of older European city centers. 

As in every city, we saw plaques that honored those involved in the Shoah. This was the first day of Hanukah as well as the day that several people were murdered on the beach in Australia during a celebration. 

I don't understand the targeting of Jews. I just don't.

Here is a shot of the closest that we got to the Castle. It was a foggy day and the castle doesn't have anything inside, so we lumped it. We did walk to the Blue Church, which Dan can tell you about. 

Some other sights:

We thought that this was funny... Are crawfish a thing in Bratislava?

One of the boring buildings

An ornate building just next to a boring one

This must be a leftover from the communist years. In Slovak and then in Russian, it says "Bulgarian Cultural Institute."

Another ornate building

Dan's additions

 

A little about this cruise. We wound up with Uniworld through Costco. I'd say we have been pleased. 

 

The S.S. Maria Theresa has 141 passengers. 112 of those are from the U.S. The others are from Britain, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, and two are "unknown." A large group has sailed with Uniworld before, and they get a little special attention and acknowledgment during the trip. 

 

We have not been ones to seek out and meet new folks at every meal, but we did connect early on with Lynn and Peter, two wonderful Australians. We have dined with them several times, and we enjoy their company.

 

(Vicki: The staff have been spectacular. There is not one American among them. They sail 8 weeks before they get any time off. Several are married and have children.)

 

Now here are a few more photos.

 

This is the Church of St. Elizabeth, also known as the Blue Church. It is a Hungarian-Secessionist Catholic Church. It was beautiful on the outside. There was a mass taking place on the inside, so I can't comment on how it looked.

 

 

 

This was a one of several desserts. No one wanted to be the one to cut it. When someone did, I got the second piece. It is a map of our route down the Danube.

 

This guy was part of the entertainment provided last night. He is the First Chair violin for the Bratislava Symphony, and he was accompanied on piano by the Conductor of the symphony. They are wonderfully talented playing for a cruise audience as well, and this guy played multiple instruments other than the violin, including the pan flute and the fujara, a very long flute (looks a bit like an oboe) with three finger holes. 

 

 

This is Michael's Gate, dating back to Medieval times. Built around 1300, it was reconstructed in a more baroque style in the mid 1700s.

After dinner, we skipped the final party and crashed. But we saw some interesting outfits at the cocktail hour. Some of these folks came prepared to party, and they were dressed up. They were quite obviously not planning to spend the next two weeks bopping around more of Europe, at least in the manner we are. There were two sisters from Texas, who looked to be our age, wearing the dress pictured below, along with maroon tights and black ankle boots. Scary.

 

 

  (Vicki: If anyone wants the link to purchase this on Amazon, please let me know. It also comes in red, green, and black.)