It was a kinda bumpy night for being on the water. In one of the locks we passed through it felt like we were in a giant tin can being shook around. We kept banging the sides. I guess the pilot wasn’t doing so well in the dark! We got up to look but could only see the sides of the lock right up at our window.
We were late getting to the dining room so didn’t get to eat with Terry, Angela, Alan and Etsuko today. That was OK, it’s always good to meet more new people. Same stuff as yesterday but instead of oatmeal there were beans over on the European side.
The tour you had to pay for was leaving at 9 and we left on foot at the same time. We found the information center and got directions to walk to the center of Bratislava or take the 207 bus from a particular place. Well we got on the bus but should have walked. Our Slovakian does not exist. We got on the right bus but thought the castle was further and didn’t know the name of the stop so we overshot it. We heard 2 American young men talking on the bus and asked them and they said we missed the stop. So, we got off and started walking back and it was now ALL UP HILL. Thought I was going to die! We found a bus stop finally and just waited. The first bus passed us by and we figured it was because we stood at the actually bus stop sign and should have stood along the sidewalk where it was painted on the road for the bus to stop. Now how stupid is that? So we moved and will wonders never cease, but the bus stopped for us. We just about missed the stop again when I looked out the window and saw tour busses along the street and figured they were stopped for the castle so we jumped off at the next stop. The Primatial Castle was actually closed for renovation but we could go into the courtyard and there was a special exhibit of Goldsmithing Museum of the Liturgies. The displays were beautiful and they first said no photography but since we didn’t speak their language and currently we were the only ones there so they said Ok, but no flash. The chalices, flasks, alter crosses, etc dated from 1400 to 1925. They were all so elaborate that you could not distinguish the old from the new. The museum was multi-levels and from the top was a skinny window with a great view of the Danube and old Bratislava so Kerry climbed up in the window and got some shots.
We decided it was not far to walk down and today was a cold day so we ducked into a café and enjoyed a hot chocolate for Kerry and a cappuccino for me. They had wifi so we could check email on our phones too. It was less than 5 minutes back to the old city center so we used my map and list of places to see and did a quick walk through and got photos of all but one place I believe that were one the list. There were some interesting bronze statues of men doing normal things. One was a man sticking up out of a manhole. So we saw St. Michaels Gate, St Martins Cathedral, the Grassal Kovich Palace and the bronze statues called Taube and Rubberneck. We made quick stops in 2 souvenir shops on the way back to the ship. We had to be back at 12:15 for the 12:30 sailing, and guess who were the last ones to board? Of course everyone was already at lunch and could see us boarding.
Lunch was good. Do it yourself salad, soup which I passed on and I had the butter fish, mashed potatoes and the broccoliflower and for dessert I had the cheesecake minus the meringue. After lunch we migrated to the lounge with Terry, Angela, Alan and Etsuko. We enjoyed sharing our events of the stop, watching the shorelines and the entire “lock” process in the daylight. At 4 we had our tea and cakes, followed by a presentation by Mick about Mozart and Strauss since our next stop would be Vienna.
Now on to dinner. Does it seem like we do a lot of eating? We did. We actually ate early, at 6 because there was an evening tour leaving at 7:30 for Vienna by Night. We passed on that, as did our friends. Terry, Angela and Kerry played cards in the lounge and we painstakingly listened to the duo murder the songs in the lounge. Yes, they were that bad. It was the singing, oh, it sounded like the poor guy was in pain, terrible pain. After a while Kerry and I couldn’t take it any more and worked on the ship puzzle for a while. It was a picture of our ship. Tomorrow is expected to be cold and rainy, so I’m not looking forward to the weather
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