Danube Cruise Day 6: Bratislava, Slovakia

 We spent the morning sailing the Danube, including a lock between Hungary and Slovakia. It made me feel really small.

Above the lock in Slovakia, the sides of the river are banked for many miles like a dam on either side with the countryside well below the water level. I gather it is part of a controversial hydroelectric scheme.

We docked at Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, during lunch, and afterward took off for a walking tour. We each have a QuietVox apparatus on a lanyard that can be charged in the room.  On walking tours we take them with earphones and match them to the channel our guide is using. Not only does the guide not have to shout, but I can wander off to take a picture from a different angle and not get lost.

A few minutes from our berth was the opera house. (Currently under renovation, which our guide tells us means it's closed but nothing is happening.)

And this old church. (I don't remember the century.) It's not as elaborate as many because Bratislava (pop. 400,000) was not as important (or wealthy) a town until recently.

We enjoyed wandering around the pedestrian streets of the city

This shortcut runs beside the old town hall.

According to our guide, there are 700 statues in the city. This is the most photographed. The top of his hat is shiny because people touch it for luck. Touch his nose if you want more children. It doesn't work for grandchildren so I didn't bother.

Another wonderful recital before dinner, featuring music of the Viennese violinist and composer Fritz Kreisler and a piece by Johan Nepomuk Hummnel (famous for his trumpet concerto) who was born in Bratislava. I love how the cruise is focusing on music of the places we are visiting. Tomorrow? Vienna.

Concert Content:

October 20/Bratislava - Amadeus Queen

• Johann Nepomuk Hummel: Violin Sonata in B-Flat Major, 1st movement 
• Fritz Kreisler: Preludium and Allegro 
• Fritz Kreisler: Viennese Rhapsodic Fantasietta 
• Adolf Schulz-Evler: Concert Arabesque on themes from the Blue Danube by Johann Strauss, Jr.