We had opted for the afternoon trip to Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, so our group had an early departure from the boat for our guided city tour of Vienna. It was a fine though chilly morning and we set off in our bus for a tour around Vienna’s prestigious Ring Road and then for a walking tour in the city centre itself.

The city is very grand with lots of amazing buildings and boulevards but it lacks the vitality that I sensed in Amsterdam, Cologne and Nuremberg. It’s all pretty ‘buttoned up’ and most of the people out and about seemed to be tourists.

We went past the entrance to a large park, formerly the hunting grounds for the Habsburg but gifted to the people by one of the princes to keep the peace. It is evidently over 3 times the size of Central Park in New York and has this large antique Ferris wheel that still works and is lit up beautifully at night. It was nice to see the same route that we’d gone the previous evening but in daylight and also to have the commentary a second time so that we could identify the buildings Bram had pointed out.

One thing that seemed entirely incongruous was the ‘grow shop’ that occupies half a block on one of the arterial roads from the river to the city. Evidently it’s been there for about 2 years on the pretext it is selling pot plants. The sale and supply of cannabis in Austria is illegal but the full growing facility with lights and watering system was clearly visible from the bus.

There are clearly more pressing law enforcement issues for the Viennese police.

I also find it odd that so many of the very grand and historic buildings are adorned with huge advertising signs, many of them for events happening in the city itself. I can understand that when the building is wrapped up either for renovations or cleaning (and there is a lot of that going on in all the big cities) but this is for other building also. Mostly I’ve tried to take photos avoiding the signage but in places that wasn’t possible. I guess it’s one way of getting the information seen! The bus dropped us near the opera house and we walked the central blocks from there.

We walked past the Spanish Riding School and got glimpses of the Lipizzaner horses in their stables, then past the street where Beethoven did a lot of work and on to St Stephens Cathedral. Our guide was very good and the walking tour was very interesting, still leaving us time to wander the streets on our own and have a coffee. We tried to stay in the sun as much as possible as the temperatures varied considerably between sun and shade.

The inside of St Stephen’s was a bit odd. There were all these brown things suspended over the main aisle. We weren’t sure what they were meant to be. Maybe rocks, or clouds? Most of the church is gated off and you have to pay to see more. We have seen enough churches on this trip so passed on the opportunity to have a paid visit.

Mike and I walked another block and then found a cafe in the sun and had a quick coffee. Fortunately the waitress was on the ball and chased us down the street when he left his backpack on the chair! We were meeting our guide across the road so hadn’t got too far. Then it was back to the boat for a quick lunch before our bus trip to Bratislava, capital of Slovakia.

It was fine but cold and I was fascinated with the countryside. No fences, just crops and wind farms as far as you can see. Otherwise the countryside was not unlike the Waikato. Rolling, green and rural.

There is a fast boat to Bratislava and some people commute. It was just over an hour in the bus. We liked Bratislava. It has a castle on the hill (too hard to photograph well from the bus) and a city wall around the centre with lots of pedestrian areas. The city was closed except for the centre as it was Liberation Day – we seemed to follow Liberation Day across Europe, but the centre was open for tourists and locals alike and there were lots of locals out in the cafes and parks, just like anywhere on a public holiday.

We enjoyed hearing about the history (lots of invasions) and could see the evidence of the more recent communist occupation in the standard coloured apartment blocks that are evident in Slovakia and Hungary. As a whole though, the city felt nice and alive. Can’t put my finger on it but it seemed more vibrant than Vienna.

On the bus on the way back we had the Slovakian classical group that entertained us on the boat before dinner. We were actually caught in a traffic jam going back so it was all a bit of a rush to get to the boat on time.

Called the Aphrodites they looked the part and played a modern selection of music on a mixture of string instruments, flute and piano. They were excellent.

We transformed ourselves for the gala dinner before the entertainment. (We didn’t really have to but most people made an effort and put on their best clothes.)

There was another lovely dinner and then dancing and we enjoyed the company of Carol and Rita again. Then it was off to Budapest.