Friday in Bratislava

Bratislava is the Capital of Slovakia, the other half of Czechoslovakia, which separated after the Soviets turned tail in the early 90s.

We hiked to the top of a huge hill to see their famous castle, to learn it was closed for the next 2 years for renovation. Ah,,Soviet style efficiency still reigned.

We walked through the streets, making fun of these folks. Ds told me about a scene from "Euro Trip," where an American gives a Bratislavan a quarter, which is enough for the fellow to start his own business.

We stumbled into a cafe, as D1 was having a near fatal low blood sugar episode, and were treated to the most delicious hot chocolate any of us had ever had. Strange music played in this dark and mysterious cafe, and the proprietress looked like a Gypsy. It was pretty neat.

We left, and saw a Jewish Museum right next door. We learned the Jewish population of Bratislava was 18,000 pre war, and now less than 1000. The Museum had neat artifacts from early Slovakian Jewish life, including a display of the scientists who fled to America and developed nuclear weapons. Hmmm...had Hitler just been a tyrant without the anti semitism thing, it would be the Germans touring OUR quaint villages today...

We found our way to a gorgeous City square, where D2 bought a "HapsBurger King" T shirt for her AP Euro teacher. We then bought a delicious pizza to go, and ate it in a park near the ship. We were getting a tad tired of the rich ship cuisine, with all of the sauces, and veal, etc... The pizza was delicious.

Friday evening, the Mozart had a formal farewell dinner, with the waiters doing the baked Alaska thing, beautifully choreographed. Eva regaled us with tales of being a Pan Am stewardess in the late 60s "I met the Beatles on a Vancouver flight. I said --you are pretty nice guys --I had thought you vas queers."

She and Hans had lived in New York, where Hans was a chef at the Waldorf Astoria, and then they managed a motel in Sunny Isles before making their way to Hawaii. They talked about their 2 daughters, one of whom married a Tahitian and became a Mormon. What a colorful life they've led...

Saturday we docked in Melk, where we hiked up to the Abbey and Church. It turned out to be the most impressive Carholic installation I'd ever seen --rivalling the Vatican buildings. We walked through amazing libraries with huge collections of books from the Dark Ages, and it seemed everything in the church was gilded with gold.

We stopped at a cafe, and a wedding was going on. Typical unhappy austrian expressions abounded. We chuckled some more.

There was another stop, at Grein. The girls napped through the 2 hour visit; I got off and walked through the streets.

Tomorrow we would dock in Passau, where Joerg would meet us , and drive us back to the Munich airport.

Joerg gave me a beer stein from his local brewery. I thanked him. It was my only souveneir!

We had a long layover at the Munich airport. A nice Moroccan fellow allowed us into the Air France lounge, even though we weren't members. We chatted, and he share my disdain for the coldness of his adopted countrymen.

We caught a 4 pm flight to PAris, for the final portion of our trip.