Thanks to my earlier train the day before, I arrived with plenty of time. We won’t dwell over long on the fact that I got myself stuck in the bathroom and spent two hours using a tiny metal key-like object I found to make a hole in the door so I could stick my hand through and turn the outside knob. After laughing at myself, I slept well that night.
The next two days I had tours booked through a company which met at the Vienna State Opera House. Upon my arrival there, early but not too early, I saw no one else that appeared to potentially have booked the same tour, or any tour for that matter. Most such meeting locations, the ones away from the tour office, hold a bit of anticipation for the tour taker, me in this instance, which could easily turn to worry that somehow you misidentified the pick up point. With great relief, I spotted a few more people that soon appeared. After exchanging nervous questions about the tour group, we settled into comfortable silence, assured that we would not get left behind or that if we did, we would not have to figure that out on our own.
A bit later than I expected, a couple busses pulled up and we all started to get on the appropriate one. About twenty people boarded the bus leaving plenty of room to spread out for the journey. A member of the tour company staff took a count, informed us that we would meet our guide in Bratislava, and then got off the bus. Alright then.
Once we arrived in Bratislava, we met our guide at the drop off location before starting off on our tour of Europe’s newest capital. The city has a centuries long history under its former name of Pressburg but only became a capital in 1993 upon the dissolution of Czechoslovakia and the creation of the Slovak Republic.
Prior to this trip I knew nothing about the city much less its history. I added the city to my list simply to squeeze in one more country to visit. I got in a lot more than I thought, far surpassing my expectations.
We set out on a tour of the city with our competent guide whose name, unfortunately, I have forgotten. As a native of the city, he knew much of its history. On top of that, he told it with a sweet, engaging style making sure that everyone understood and enjoyed the tour.
Towards the end of the tour, rain joined us. Thankfully, the tour company provided any of us who wanted with a branded plastic poncho. I pulled it out and protected myself and my belongings so I could enjoy the last little bit of the tour which ended approximately an hour and a half later at 11:30am, six and a half hours before our Danube River cruise back to Vienna. We had all that time on our own.
Before grabbing lunch, I headed up the hill to a few historic sites our tour guide had mentioned. First I came to the castle on the hill. Although once home of mighty Hapsburg monarchs such as Maria Teresa, over a century of neglect after a fire left it in ruins.
Only recently has the building undergone extensive and well-executed restoration and renovation. When I entered I expected a museum that told about the castle itself. While a few rooms at the entrance told about the restoration, the remainder of the building housed several different exhibitions on everything from Celtic history in the area to antique furniture to a late Impressionism artist. I did not expect that and ended up enjoying the brief tour.
Upon exiting, I made my way down the hill, back towards town. I had started to get hungry and food awaited back towards the river. Before I arrived, I stopped and toured St Martin’s Cathedral, the coronation site of the sovereigns of the Kingdom of Hungary, including the most famous of them all, Maria Teresa. The church itself did not stand out amongst all the churches I toured. What I loved most was the context. I stood in the spot where symbolically, people became invested with tremendous, world-changing power.
By the point I finished touring the church, I knew I had to get something to eat and soon. I had nothing left on my limited list to see, a consequence of failing to adequately research the city ahead of time. I used the first public wi-fi I found to locate a Starbucks so that in the three hours I now had to wait until the river cruise departed back to Vienna. The only negative review I read about the tour dealt with the long wait from the end of the tour to the departure of the cruise. Someone in my group asked about exchanging the river cruise ticket for an earlier time. No dice. We would have to pay for a completely new ticket.
I ended up finding a Starbucks housed in a mall on the riverfront. I stopped at the Starbucks for a demintasse mug, coffee, and something to eat. A little while later, I ende dup in the food court for supper, a food court that I imagined when months later I read Sythe by Neal Shusterman. (Read the book. It’s worth it!)
Finally, it came time to cruise down the Blue Danube. I boarded amongst the first and picked a seat right by the window, sitting there until I discovered that we had assigned seats. My seat ended up smack dab in the middle of the boat right next to the stairs to an “exclusive” deck. While later, after the boat started moving and reached a safe cruising point in the river, we could move around freely, I still did not appreciate my seat location.
Putting aside my minor irritation, I loved the cruise. The pace of the ride provides perfect opportunity to journal more. On top of that, as we periodically passed points of interest, a pre-recorded tour guide told us all about what we saw. I also had the opportunity to get up and take some open air pictures.
All too soon, we finished the cruise. I headed back to my flat with a quick stop for some food before getting sleep and read for the next day’s adventure.