Viking's Grand European River Cruise: Bratislava, Slovakia

Viking River Cruise, Day 13:  Bratislava, Slovakia (Facebook collage)

(click any collage to enlarge)

Are we really coming to the end of this cruise?!  Yes, we are.  And after just one day/stop in Austria (Vienna, last post), we now have one day/stop in Slovakia.  Formerly part of Czechoslovakia, it has been independent since 1993. Bratislava is its capital...and did we ever fall in love with it, in spite of being there for only 3 hours!

 You know the drill by now.  

Snap pictures from the boat, get on the bus and snap some more.

In the distance we could see the Bratislava Castle to which we were heading.

It has stood on one of the Little Carpathian hills since the 9th century.

And on a good day you can see Austria and Hungary from it.

See the snow?  It was still very cold.

John (top right) from Australia really got his education about "cold."

And maybe the young lad and lady in shorts also?

From the castle we went down the hill to the main square of the city for a walking tour,

starting with the St. Michael Gate, built ca. 1300.

It's the city's only gate that's been preserved from its medieval past.

The old town hall, from the 13th century, is nearby on the square.

It's one of the oldest stone buildings still standing in the city.

And while we saw other architecture to whet our appetite...

...it was all this crazy stuff that captivated us!

There are 4 "quirky statues" for which the city is known.

This one is Cumil (the Watcher)...and the most popular.

The French army soldier is also there (bottom right),

as is Schoener Naci (Beautiful Ignaz), an elegant symbol of the city life of the early 20th century.

The one we didn't see, except in the shop window, was Paparazzi with his camera.

Gotta love the competition, right?

After all, we tourists are the ones who keep such towns afloat financially, sad to say.

In spite of much delapidation, there was beauty.

 Gable stones.

Niches.

Statues.  Etc.

And more etcetera.  Impressions.

And because we had seen the steeple, we walked to find St. Martin's Cathedral from 1452.

We weren't able to enter because it was jam-packed with standing-room only at a late-morning service.

This was the Thursday before Easter, so we're assuming it was a Maundy Thursday service?

How can you not just eat them all up!

Don't you wonder what they'll grow up to be?

Every city has them...signs, bikes, trash.  We're all the same!

And transportation for your own tastes.

It was time to go back to our ship on the Danube, near the New Bridge from 1967.

"It is the world's longest cable-stayed bridge to have one pylon and one cable-stayed plane."  (Wiki)

All of that in the course of 3 hours.  No wonder we were hungry for lunch!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Next and last stop?  Budapest!  

But first...I'll be taking a 4-day break from image processing to help entertain dear friends from England who'll be visiting us tomorrow, Friday, till Monday afternoon:  Bill and wife Ange.  Bill is one of our photographer friends from our Shutterchance blog, where Astrid and I met virtually back in 2007.  It still amazes me that we've gained so many friends...through photography and our blogs...and have met so many of them!

Who knows.  Maybe one day we'll meet YOU!?!  :) 

Viking's Grand European River Cruise: Abridged

WE DID IT!  And for those of you who didn't see this on my Facebook page, here's the short version of our incredible 15-day river cruise in one swell foop:

Day 1: Amsterdam, Netherlands. 

The only thing we wanted to do today (besides find our longship, which is the middle one of the 3 above) was to walk to the Python Bridge from 2001, which we hadn't yet seen. It was a two-hour walk total and was a good way to start our cruise. So far so good. :)

[Amsterdam is in our backyard, which is why we didn't do anything else our first day.]

Day 2: Kinderdijk, Netherlands. 

We sailed through the night from Amsterdam to Kinderdijk where we just spent the morning. Before we lose our internet connection [which never happened!], while sailing the rest of the day and night to Cologne, here's a taste of Holland. Kinderdijk is just half an hour's drive from where we live in the Netherlands and is a UNESCO site...even on a grey winter's day.

[My blog header is from Kinderdijk and is another of our favorite backyard sites.]

  After Kinderdijk this morning we've been on the Waal river all day, sailing towards Cologne, Germany. We even sailed past our city, Gorinchem. Besides an obligatory fire drill, we played sjoelen (table shuffleboard). Astrid grew up on it and came in second, losing by one point. As she says, "More Dutch you cannot get!"

[click any collage to enlarge]

Day 3: Cologne, Germany. 

We've been in this one spot all day in gloriously SUNNY weather. The Dom/Cathedral is the main draw, but so is the St. Martin Church and the white Alte Abbey across the Rhine river. The Hohenzollern Bridge that crosses the Rhine has love padlocks the entire length (we're guessing over a million). Yes, we're in heaven!

 [We were at their Christmas markets this past December, for those who remember.]

Day 4: Koblenz and Middle Rhine, Germany. 

Today was a day of castles. First, this morning we took a tour through the Marksburg Castle, which is Germany's oldest castle that was never conquered or destroyed or damaged in its 800 years (top left image). In the afternoon we sat on the top deck in the sun, looking at some of the 29 castles on a 16-mile stretch of the Middle Rhine. Heaven!

 Day 5: Miltenberg, Germany. 

We're passing through 60+ locks on this cruise and today was the first day of watching several of them. We could reach out and touch the lock walls, that's how close we were.  Our excursion today was in a little medieval town, Miltenberg, with half-timbered, gabled houses. It was like a fairytale.

 Day 6: Rothenburg and Würzburg, Germany. 

We're on the Main River now, still sailing through lock after lock. Today we visited the best-preserved medieval town in Germany (Rothenburg), followed by Würzburg where we visited the Bishops' Residenz/Palace. As Astrid says, we're short of eyes!

 Day 7: Bamberg, Germany. 

We're on the canal between the Main and Danube rivers right now. It was a gloriously sunny day today but freezing cold! Bamberg is known for its rauchbier/smoked beer. :)

 Day 8: Nuremberg, Germany. 

This is Bavaria's 2nd largest city and is sister to Atlanta [where I lived 25 years]! No wonder I love this place, with its medieval old town and castle. We're still sailing the canal between the Main and Danube rivers.

 Day 9: Regensburg, Germany. 

We're on the Danube River now and this is its oldest city, among the best-preserved medieval towns in Europe. And because it's Sunday, we spent much of the afternoon inside many of its churches. South Germany is very Roman Catholic!

 Day 10: Passau, Germany. 

Before sailing into Austria tonight, we stopped this morning in this border town at the confluence of the 3 rivers, Inn, Ilz and the Danube. St. Steven's Cathedral, built in 1688, boasts the largest pipe organ outside of the USA. It's still bitter cold with off and on sun, but no rain! We even saw some snowflakes this afternoon.

Day 11: Melk and Krems/Stein, Austria. 

We woke up to snow today and then watched it snow all day. This morning we stopped in Melk to see the 900-year-old abbey. After lunch we sailed along the Wachau Valley and then stopped in Stein, next door to Krems, where we spent time walking through the little town. Snow and more snow, all day. 

We were like little kids!

 Day 12: Vienna, Austria. 

 It's impossible to synthesize this day into one collage, but here it is regardless. What can I say! You'd need to spend days here to "get" it. Just glad we could taste it.

 Day 13: Bratislava, Slovakia. 

We were here only for the morning but fell totally in love with this capital city, with a chance to visit the castle as well as the main square of the old town. Don't you love how they can take a joke!

Day 14: Budapest, Hungary. 

Today is our last full day of our river cruise. Lots of rain. Tomorrow we disembark and then stay another 4 days on our own to explore this incredible city, rain or shine. It really has been the trip of a lifetime for us both! Thanks to all of you who have been following it with us.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

We did indeed stay another 4 days in Budapest on our own to see the sights!  We flew back home to the Netherlands yesterday afternoon and are now getting back into the saddle.  Astrid is back at work while I start weeding through all the photos to make more complete posts.  Stay tuned!

 In the meantime, talk about "short of eyes," my favorite Dutch expression!

That's what my short post at Vision and Verb was about this past Monday.