Brisbane, QLD


Saturday, October 11, 2008

Adventure in Europe 2008 PART 12 (Bratislavia, Slovakia and Budapest, Hungary)

Saturday 6 September.

We arrived in Bratislavia on a bright hot summer morning. The ship was very close to the town so we could easily walk. We went on a walking tour with Eric our young guide, who was very passionate about his city and its heritage. It had been oppressed for years by either the Austrians or the Hungarians.


The old town was a huge area of many streets but there were no cars allowed in except for delivery before 8 o'clock. It was wonderful exploring the historic place without cars.
It is early and not many people about but in the afternoon it was crowded. There was a religious festival and a world cup football match against Ireland and there were hundreds of Irish supporters in town.
There was a market in the town square.
We visited the town hall which used to be the palace where an actor was dressed as Maria Theresa the Queen of the Austrian/Hungarian Empire.

Eric our tour guide with an interesting statue
There were quite a few of these statues around town.
Verena and me having fun with a statue.
The Aussies are here.
Now doesn't he look like he's having fun. The reason is this. When we booked to have dinner in the nicer restaurant on board last night they couldn't serve us the fish we ordered because they had run out. So today they invited us back to the restaurant for a special lunch because they had replenished their supply of Turbot fish. So here we are having a slap up lunch. Appetiser, entree and.......
......... a big fish being ............
...... served by the Hotel manager and the Maitre de. Then we had a dessert.
That night we had a special invitation by the captain to have dinner at his table. This is because he and Roland had become good friends during the trip.
We felt very special being at the captain's table.


We also had entertainment.
That night we were so full we couldn't eat the handmade chocolates left in our cabin.


Sunday 7 September.

Next morning we arrived at our final destination, Budapest. It was a beautiful sight. We had mixed feelings. We were sad our cruise had come to an end but we were ready to start our new adventure in Switzerland.




House of Parliament.

The chain bridge linking Buda and Pest.



Budapest by night.
Monday 8 September.
We were transferred by Scenic Tours to the airport for our flight to Zürich. Good bye Scenic Sapphire. It was a great trip.

3 comments:

  1. thats amazing story.

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  2. Those houses of parliment are beautiful, every time I read a new post I keep thinking how I really have to go there too.

    Do you not just feel so incerdibly blessed to have been able to go on these trips and see all the tings you have?

    I'll just have to start doing more traveling.

    Oh and to answer your question, 3rd December.

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  3. I am late getting here as usual, so I have a lot to catch up on. What beautiful pictures again!

    Those nighttime pictures are incredible! Such a gorgeous perspective!

    I'm off now for my next adventure post with you.;)

    God Bless,
    Amy:)

    P.S. I read all of Erma Bombeck's books in the 80s too. I should have known then I was destined to be a stay at home mom and housewife, seeing as how Erma Bombeck books weren't really written with teenagers in mind, but I loved them!;)

    ReplyDelete