Cruise Brochure
Welcome to Slovakia! Bratislava is the Capital city and embodies various cultures – a melting pot of cultures including Celtic, Roman and Slavic. Formerly part of Czechoslovakia, and under communist rule the country has a fascinating history. It is set on the crossroads of ancient trade routes in the heart of Europe.
Enjoy a sightseeing tour including the enchanting Old City with its Town Hall, Mirbach Palace and the Gothic Cathedral of St Martin. This evening the Captain will be delighted to welcome you to the Captain’s Gala Dinner.
Today’s “extras” – The highlight will be a home hosted afternoon tea with a local Slovakian family.
Well, we have reached our second last stop on our cruise, Bratislava. It takes us briefly into Slovakia, which we will see a little further on our final driving section after the cruise.
First up this morning was a “dis-embarkation” talk from our cruise director, Csaba. It is quite a logistical exercise “removing” 150 odd passengers from the boat to various locations – hotels, the airport, etc etc – and from the plan outlined it should hopefully be a pretty smooth process.
The tree-lined square in Bratislava
Some quirky sculptures around the town
Shortly after the talk, we headed off on a walking tour of the old city. Bratislava is quite a small city and our berth is right on the edge of the city square so it was easy to access. Again, our knowledgeable guide took us around the main parts of the city over a period of about 1 1/2 hours. At the end of the tour, we then went of on our own to take in some of the sights ourselves in more detail – including the castle above the city. The hill sight of this impressive castle has seen habitation of some form going back almost to the Stone Age. The current castle only dates back to the 1950’s when it was built after the previous castle lay in ruins for over 100 years, having been destroyed by a fire in the early 1800’s.
Walking up to the castle
Following our walk up and down from the castle, we headed back to the boat for some lunch. We decided to have a quiet afternoon on the boat, getting our blogs up to date and starting to get a bit organised for the end of the cruise as our last two evenings will be quite busy, starting with tonight’s Captain’s Gala Cocktail Reception and Dinner.
Bratislava – panorama from the castle
One of the highlights of the cruise has been the service from some of the staff throughout the boat. The staff generally have been very good – helpful when needed and nothing too much trouble. However some of them have stood out – particularly some of the waiters and bar staff who we have enjoyed many a laugh and joke with along our way. They have really added to the enjoyment of our tour.
Baz & Arnes playing up !
After dinner we sat on the sundeck – in the dark – as we sailed off to our final destination, Budapest. When it got too cold upstairs, we headed for the lounge to be entertained by another of the stars of the crew – DJ Reno. He has put together a great selection of music to listen to and dance to throughout the cruise. He even took up our challenge to do versions of “Stairway to Heaven” and “Nessun Dorma” – which he accomplished very well !
So one more night to party with the gang and then we are on to the next part of our tour …
Today’s “Tour Trivia” – The capital of Slovakia, Bratislava, lies on the borders with Austria and Hungary. That makes the city the only capital city in the world that borders two independent countries. Moreover, the Austrian capital Vienna is only 60 km away!