Bratislava

Sat., Nov. 14 (Day 13) - We boarded a bus this morning and traveled across the Austrian border into the country of Slovakia to visit Bratislava. The border crossing was not even noticeable. If you weren't aware that it was the border, you wouldn't have known you were going into another country. Our guide told us that this is now a "passport free zone", much different than when Slovakia was under communist rule. What used to be the country of Czechoslovakia is now two countries: The Czech Republic and Slovakia. The backdrop of Slovakia is the Little Carpathian mountains. There is a huge Kia plant here. We were told that they wanted to have a large plant here because the word Kia is contained within the country name of Slovakia. We began our tour of Bratislava with a walking tour of Old Town. We saw portions of what used to be the city wall back when these were all walled cities. The city had four gates, one of which is still standing - the St. Michael gate. We went into St. Martin Cathedral, yet another beautiful European Cathedral. We walked down narrow streets, passed by shops and cafes, and heard about all the local history and culture. After the guided tour, we had some free time. We went into a local coffee shop and had some hot chocolate. It was the best hot chocolate we've ever had - very rich. It tasted like you were drinking a Hershey bar. After this, we took the bus back to Vienna, and were back on the ship in time for lunch. A very enjoyable morning.