THC Tour 2013

Seventeen of us braved yet another early good morning call to take an optional tour to Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, this morning. It was a great opportunity to venture beyond the city into the Austrian countryside to see rolling farmlands (including windmill farms)

and just across the border to the ancient city where monarchs of the Kingdom of Hungary were crowned. Slovakia is one of the two countries (the other being the Czech Reupublic) that have evolved from what used to be Czechoslovakia. We first had to cross the border--no problem for us, but Erich had to pick up a box that would track the bus mileage so we could pay the appropriate toll when we returned. That took only a few minutes, but Erich told us he had also received a request for some beer....

Our city guide, Jenni, took us first to the castle on the hill overlooking the city,

On our way we passed their White House for the President:

and she pointed out the lookout tower on the modern bridge across the Danube that was used to detect those trying to escape over the border into Austria when Czechoslovakia was behind the Iron Curtain.

Now, Slovakia is part of the European Union, one of about 15 East European nations that have joined the EU in recent years. Next we were dropped off just outside the old town area where we walked streets from medieval times, with buildings dating from the 1300s, entering through a gate with two arches, one wide and tall and the other much smaller, the latter being the one used by the executioner alone because no one else wanted to follow where he walked.

We also passed through the only remaining gate of the original fortification, the St. Michael gate which was originally built in the 1300s, and was reconstructed in Baroque style in the 1700s.

and next to which was located the narrowest house in the city, only 1.3 meters wide.

Directly under the arch is the zero-point medallion for the city from which distances to other locations are calculated.

We strolled the city streets, where evidently tourists are big business since there were lots of cafes offering the local cuisine as well as many souvenir shops.

This former pharmacy shows the three predominant languages: Hungarian, Slovakian, and German.

We toured St. Martin's cathedral, where the coronations took place.

And then we continued down other streets,

past the former Jewish ghetto area and memorial

and several palaces and other significant buildings

including the national theater:

and even modern shops

until we reached the main plaza.

As luck would have it, there was a festival taking place to commemorate Napoleon's invasion of Bratislava, complete with a re-enactment of the event.

All too soon it was time to board the bus and head back to Vienna. Many had made purchases--prices for handicrafts, food and beer were quite inexpensive relative to Vienna. We made our stop at the border to return the box and pay the toll, and Erich had smartly picked up the requested order of beer. So, lo and behold, we were not charged any toll for use of the roadway!

We arrived back at the hotel just in time to drop off our day bags and meet up with others from our group who were making a pilgrimage to the Hotel Sacher, the home of the original Sacher Torte, a chocolate layer cake with apricot filling and thin chocolate icing. We piled into taxis and were met there by others who were already downtown, at least 16 of us in all. To be seated timely, we broke off into groups to fit whatever tables were available.

Paula, Judy. Me Joanne, Nancy, Susan

Our waitress was quick to bring us our cake with whipped cream,

but she had a bit of difficulty understanding our drink orders. An order for iced tea took a couple of tries and resulted in a pot of hot tea, a teacup, and a glass of ice cubes. Two of us thought that iced coffee would be good with our cake (I'd enjoyed mine at Demel the day before--it was on the menu there with its Italian name, caffe fredo). So I asked the waitress if they had iced coffee/caffe fredo, and so did Joanne. The waitress said she did, and we can't complain about what we got, but...it wasn't iced coffee. It was a sort of coffee affrogato--which in Italy is vanilla ice cream in a dish with espresso poured over it--but this was in a tall glass. So it was a bit like a milkshake, with coffee, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. With the cake that made two desserts! Good thing there hadn't been time for much lunch in Bratislava!

After lunch Judy and I decided it might be fun to take the tram all the way around the inner ring road. Although you have to transfer part way around, you can do the entire route for 2.20 Euros. Susan and Paula decided to tag along for the adventure, And an adventure it was. We boarded the tram near the Opera and I made my way up to the front to by the tickets. The ticket machine was being temperamental, though, and although it would take and register my 2 Euro coin, I couldn't get it to accept any second coin. Finally, a husband and wife standing nearby offered to sell me an unused ticket they had. That was great, but I still needed three more. I tried and tried, but couldn't get the machine to take the money and spit out a ticket. There is no conductor or regular ticket inspection on the trams and subways, but there are spot checkers, and if you don't have a ticket, not only do you have to buy one but you also have to pay a 100 Euro fine. But I decided that maybe showing that we bought one ticket in spite of the inoperable machine would show that we at least tried, and I made my way back through the tram cars, working on my story for the inspector, and told the others what had happened. Then I tried to find where we were on my map and had trouble reading the names of the stops as we passed them. Judy wasn't having much luck either. After 15 minutes or so, I finally realized we weren't traversing the ring at all, but had evidently made a turn to the southeast off the ring early on, and we were headed out of town. In fact, we were already way out of town. So we got off at the next stop, crossed the tracks, and waited for the next inbound tram. It was interesting, though, seeing a different side of Vienna where ordinary people worked and lived.

Fortunately a tram came along in just a few minutes, and we were soon moving in the right direction. The ticket machine on this one even worked, so now we were all legal. When we got back to the Opera, the tram turned left and started around the ring. Finally, we were on the right track (sorry--couldn't resist!). We passed the Parliament and other buildings we recognized from the city tour and were settling in to enjoy the ride when we pulled up alongside the Mint and the recorded voice announcing the stop told us Auf Wiedersehen. We verified with the driver that it was indeed the end of the line for this tram, but we could continue our ride after a short walk straight up the street. So we walked...all the way up to the end of the street and around the corner, and there were several sets of tracks. But with some inspection of the route signs and the map, we figured out which was the right one to take to continue around the ring. Unfortunately, though, after two more stops, that one was at the end of its line. This time we easily found the right tram line, but the digital sign told us there would be a 28 minute wait. Since this stop was also on the subway line, we opted for that because by now we were ready to get back to the hotel to rest a bit and get ready for dinner. I'd ridden the subway the day before, so there were no surprises there, but it was still an adventure for the ones of our group who hadn't yet been underground. And it was a feeling of accomplishment to have been able to figure out the tram system. Too bad we won't be able to apply that knowledge for a long time, if ever.

Back at the hotel, it was time to visit our guide Erich in his "office" in the hotel lobby to settle my account since I was not continuing on to Budapest, and he gave me the information for the transfer to the airport the next morning. And then there was just enough time to shower and change for the farewell dinner. We all met in the lobby to take the bus, but quickly rushed back upstairs for umbrellas because it was starting to rain. And because the hotel is along a walkway between two streets, we couldn't avoid being out in it since we had to walk to the bus. All it did was sprinkle a bit though, and the rain was gone by the time dinner was over.

The dinner was held at another concert venue, but the others dining in the same room left to go to the concert so we had the room to ourselves at that point. The food was excellent--a choice of beef consomme with semolina dumpling or carrot soup, salmon or veal for the entree, and two dessert selectios as well, along with red or white wine. Everyone was happy with the meal. And afterward, we talked and sang and said our goodbyes. There was good news for those going to Budapest. They were scheduled to go by train which meant dealing with their own luggage, and because of the flooding a portion of train track was closed so they would do part of the trip by bus. Somehow Erich managed to get the tour company to provide the same bus we had been using the rest of the trip, with our same driver Raphael, for the travel to Budapest. Raphael would actually be doing a round trip in the same day, since he had a Sunday evening flight out of Vienna to head home to Italy. But that is certainly more convenient for the rest of the group than all the transportation changes and dealing with luggage.

After we got back to the hotel, the first priority was to go up and pack, but then there was still time to head down to the bar to meet up with others and have one last apricot brandy (apricots are a local specialty), as a fitting end to the trip.

Heather. Tricia, Penny, Candy, Rheba. Jeanette