On Tuesday, we woke up just outside of a new capital city in a new country. We had never really heard of Bratislava before this trip, but the city and countryside had a lot of history. With a population of about 430,000, it is one of the smaller capitals of Europe but still the country's largest city. We did a walking tour of the city, which also included a little scavenger hunt of sorts. We then went to an old castle and took part in events that might have occurred during the castle’s prime. From there, we went to a palace and then finished our evening eating at the Chef’s Table right outside of our cabin. It was a long, but very rewarding day.

Bratislava, Slovakia

07/28/18—08/08/18

When we docked, we immediately saw some old buildings (clockwise from left) and knew that the city would be fascinating. What we didn’t know, though, was that Old Town was like an outdoor museum. We saw the man crawling out of the sewer, the elegant top-hat man, and Napoleon’s soldier by a bench. We saw fountains, a representation of Minnie & Mickey Mouse, and visited Old Town Hall. We posed on the stone streets near St. Michael’s Gate and enjoyed spending time with Paola. Our guide was very informative, and we filled out a little scavenger book where we matched up some of these artistic details with the names of the famous buildings or monuments.

Just outside of the city, we arrived at Devin Castle. It is one of the oldest castles in Slovakia, first mentioned in written sources in 864, and sits on a cliff about 600 feet above the Morava River where it meets the Danube. The castle was clearly visible as we neared the gate to the area. There were sheep grazing in the pasture. We went to an area near another gate and watched some locals reenact war games. Darlene nearly had her head cut off by one of the spears. Madeline volunteered to learn how to spear along with one of the college girls and a boy in the group. It didn’t take Madeline long to learn how to defend herself. I, on the other hand, decided to brush up on my archery skills. We also learned how to make coins by placing a copper disk on a stamp and pounding it with a sledgehammer. We were both very good at making money.

 

It was then time to the top of the castle ruins and take our obligatory photo. The view of the two rivers was magnificent.

We backtracked a little into the city, crossed the Danube and then crossed into Austria. We drove a little more, crossed the Danube again, and ended up at Schloss Hof, a palace once owned by Prince Eugene of Savoy, who enlarged it in 1729. The palace had beautiful gardens and we entered the palace through a tunnel once used  by the cooking staff. Dean was guiding our group and we took a photo in front of one of the many statues once we popped up into the house. We got a good look at the rear gardens before learning how to waltz. The group was large on the steps outside, but then we walked through a gate and went deeper into the gardens.

We ended in the farm area, where we saw the rare blue-eyed donkeys, a white peacock, and a 4-horned goat. We then got to down a little Schnapps, where Michelle and I toasted the new friendships we had already formed.

Returning to the ship, we quickly showered and head over to the Chef’s Table. We thought there was going to be a big group, but some canceled at the last minute, so we moved to a smaller table with Steve and Pam. We tried: 1) a nice feta cheese pana cotta in a dill sauce; 2) ate some prawns and scallops; 3) had a sample of hickory salmon, sea bream with a Chardonnay foam, and a little cup of Asian coconut soup; 4) loved the braised beef, pumpkin mash, asparagus, and short ribs; 5) and found the dessert delicious, including the green apple sorbet and almond chocolate pearls

 

The evening ended with some entertaining ladies playing familiar songs in an unfamiliar fashion. It was another glorious day.