Monday, December 5, 2016

The Country at the Heart of Europe! Day 9 con't, June 3, 2016

After lunch, we made it to our first port, Bratislava, around 2 pm! Who would have ever thought I'd be heading out on a tour in Slovakia? This has been such an amazing adventure! Slovakia is located at the precise geographic center of Europe, which is why it's know as the "Country at the Heart of Europe"! For a relatively small country, it borders Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Ukraine! 

We chose the included City Tour as our excursion here, and we were excited to venture out!


Our tour began with a bus ride to Bratislava Castle. We had beautiful views on the way there, and then once at the Castle, the view of the city and surrounding area was great!


Driving up to the castle!






 Some rather large houses on the way!



Government building outside the castle



























Great view of the Danube and the UFO restaurant!
























After enjoying the view and hearing a bit of history from our guide, we got back on the bus and went down to the Old Town for a walking tour.










Old Town tour anyone? Love these little buggy trains! 














Our walking tour began and we made our way into the Old Town, learning the history of this city.























































Bratislava is a town filled with statues!  They pop up everywhere!














When our tour ended we had plenty of time on our own to explore.  The ship didn't sail until 11 pm, so we really didn't have to be back on board until late!  But we wanted to be back for our 6:45 daily briefing.  This is when we'd hear about tomorrow's upcoming events, and we wanted to have dinner on board.  So we had a little more than 2 hours on our own before heading back!  


We browsed a vendor market...




And couldn't pass up some delicious ice cream!


and pastries!






An then we walked back to the main square of town














And Alex of course had to try some Slovakian pizza!


And we stopped in the candy store.  They make all of this candy by hand, right in the store!







We made it back to the square, and so did the buggy train..












There was another vendor market here, and Alex and I got some souvenirs at this one.















Then it was time to head back to the ship...
















After dinner tonight was a "Slovakian Evening"! The entertainment included folk dances, singers, musicians from Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest.












We thoroughly enjoyed our first day sailing on the Danube and then in Bratislava!  Next up, Vienna!

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