Bratislava

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and the country's largest city, with a population of some 450,000. Bratislava is the political, cultural and economic centre of Slovakia. It is the seat of the Slovak presidency, parliament and government as well as home to several universities, museums, theatres, galleries and other national economic, cultural and educational institutions. Most of Slovakia's large businesses and financial institutions have their headquarters in Bratislava. The city's past has been characterized by the strong influence of various peoples, including Slovaks, Germans, Hungarians, Czechs, Austrians and Jews. Bratislava still retains its cosmopolitan spirit, and seemed to have a fun, playful outlook on its future and its past.

Bratislava is picturesquely situated on both banks of the Danube, at the base of the outlying spurs of the Lesser Carpathians, in a position of strategic importance near the Devín Gate. The area includes a picturesque old town centre which we spent the morning exploring with our local guide. We saw many interesting buildings including the Town Hall with its museum, Michael's Gate (from the 17th century fortifications), the Slovak National Theatre and lots of fun sculpture and winding back streets.

We had lunch back on the boat, and because the river was too low for us to float to Budapest, we got to enjoy the rest of the day in Bratislava.

We went exploring and shopping on our own. One of the most conspicuous buildings of the town is the Bratislava Castle situated on a plateau 82 m above the Danube. A castle has existed on the site since forever, and we had a lovely walk up to and around the castle. After that we wandered back into the old city and did some shopping and had a lovely hot chocolate. Actually, it was more like chocolate soup (you had to use a spoon) but it was very yummy.

When our explorations were done we retired to the boat for cocktails, golf lessons and a great concert by a local group of young ladies called Aphrodite Five - they are all classically trained musicians, and had done some very neat arrangements of American movie music for us. After the concert it was more cocktails and then our final dinner on board. (sniff). In the morning it is off to Budapest!