Eastern Europe - Day Eight

Last night we finally boarded our boat, the River Princess in Bratislava, Slovakia. It was nice to get ourselves totally unpacked. According to our cruise specialists Al and Sandy, our rooms are very nice and spacious compared to an equivalent ocean cruise especially the bathroom and the shower. After dinner, we went for an hour and half walk around the old part of the city which is almost completely an auto free zone. Our walk was actually supposed to be shorter but we got lost.

This morning we had a bus and walking tour of the city. Our guide was quite good. We are quite surprised by Bratislava. The guidebooks do not give it much play and there is much written about Slovakia being the poorer step cousin to the Czech Republic. However, we found the city quite attractive, clean, and buoyant; clearly a place we would come again to spend more time.

As part of the revised schedule we are boarding the ship just after Noon and we setting sail for Vienna. Some more general impressions of this experience:

The Dark Side of Friendliness – The bouncy Cruise Director’s exhortations of the day’s activity while I’m just drinking my second cup of coffee at 8 in the morning just don’t fall well on my ears.

Convenience is Awfully Nice – Not having to figure out where to eat, where to stay or where to get to is actually rather convenient and pleasant.

Getting to Know Your Staff – We have befriended one of the waiters (name – Tomas (pronounced To-mahsh – he’s Slovakian) so we have a regular conversation going on as to what it is being served, how it is prepared, whether it is authentic or not, etc.

Attractiveness of Central Europe – This trip has really changed my impressions of this part of the world. I could see us coming back her and spending some more substantial time in a place like Bratislava or driving through Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland.

Our Cruise One Staff filming our entry onto the River Princess
("I need to get documentation that this de-I guy actually got on board or I know he'll try to nick me for something")

Wife Boarding Ship

Bratislava at Night