Slovakia

Bratislava, Slovakia May 13, 2013

Sunday morning while Lynda celebrated Mother's Day by sleeping in, Tim went into Vienna on his own to explore. While doing research before the trip Tim discovered a bar/restaurant where Beethoven, Brahms, and Schubert had hung out in their day and a coffee house that was suppose to be very good. So Sunday morning Tim found these places to see if they were worth seeing with Lynda, Lyn and Don. Der Grieshbachdriesl was a good find. It was exactly what one would imagine a Viennese beer hall to be, plus it had a great story. In the late 1600's there was a local musician named Augustin who performed regularly at the Grieshbachdresl. He was very popular. Then the plague hit and no one went out to the pub. One evening Augustin, being very despondent over no one being in the pub to perform for got very drunk, staggered into the street and passed out. Later in the night the crews that disposed of all of the dead bodies from the plague found Augustin and thought him dead. They scooped him up into their cart and took him to a mass burial site for plague victims. Eventually he regained conscienceness where upon one of the grave workers recognized him and cried out, "Ach du lieber Augustin, ich is bin." This became the basis for the famous nursery song. Now we ask you dear reader, is there another blog that gives you gems of information like this one. Tim wandered through some delightful little back alleys and streets and found the Mozarthaus Museum, the only remaining apartment in Vienna in which Mozart resided. The next stop was a small coffee house a couple of blocks away. Kleines Cafe was located on a wonderful little platz (plaza) that was just far enough off the beaten path to be frequented by actual Viennes. From there Tim's meanderings took him to an area very near where we had been on Saturday that featured many interesting art galleries and shops. Sadly, all of the shops and galleries were closed because it was Sunday. After lunch Tim, Lyn and Don set off to revisit these places. Lynda was not feeling well and decided to stay in the room. The Mozarthaus Museum featured an audio self guided tour and was fascinating. We learned some new things about Mozart that we did not know and several myths that have over the years sprung up about Wolfgang and unfortunately been perpetuated by the movie, "Amadeus" were refuted. We had coffee at Kleines Cafe, feeling like native Viennes. By this time it had started raining again so the last stop was Demel's, the premier pastry shop in Vienna. Tim purchased two mini-sachertortes, a traditional Viennes dessert that he is sure will be devine. They have not been consumed yet. When we returned to the boat we were greeted with the good news that the Johnson's luggage had finally arrived. They were particularly pleased because Sunday night was the captain's champagne reception and welcoming dinner, a dressy evening.

This morning, Monday, we woke up in Bratislava, Slovakia. We talked at lunch how Bratislava is one of those wonderful and beautiful cities that you have only vaguely heard of and discover that it is a joy to visit. In the morning we took an hour and a half walking tour with a delightful guide with a wonderful sense of humor. After the tour we had free time before lunch that we used to experience one of the coffee houses on the main square. After the coffee we walked to a nearby american style shopping mall. Tim and Don still do not understand why we came all the way to Slovakia to go to a mall. After lunch Lynda and Lyn took a bus trip through the countryside to a farm. Lynda constantly talks about getting out of the city to see the countryside of any country we visit. The bus trip was worth the price of the tour. But the trip wasn't just to any farm - rather to the summer palace of Maria Tereza, the Empress of Austria with 16 children who she married off to all the royal families of Europe.

While the wives were galivanting around the countryside, Tim and Don walked up a hill to visit a former castle. The castle was not open and was not particularly imposing but the views looking over the city and the Danube were worth the climb. The very good slovak beer we enjoyed outside the castle didn't hurt either. After visiting the castle Don returned to the boat while Tim explored some more. While walking through the main square Tim notice this long string of balloons between two trees that were not there this morning, with a group of people milling about. After taking a picture, Tim walked over to find out what was going on. It turns out this was a demonstration against corruption in the government. And Tim discovered that he was talking to a women who was a member of the Slovakia parliment and was one of seven parliment members involved in the demostration. There were 500 balloons, each of which had a facsimile of a 1 million euro note attached to it. These balloons represented the 5 hundred million euros lost each year to government corruption. As we talked Tim explained that corruption was not as much of a problem in the states as basic incompetency among members of congress. It was a fascinating encounter with several of the Bratsilavian citzens. The other high point of the afternoon for Tim was taking a picture of a statue of Johan Nepomuk Hummel, one of the most famous Bratsilavians. Hummel is a composer of little note in the overall history of music but is of particular importance to Tim because he composed a concerto for trumpet that is considered part of the basic repetoire for trumpet that any serious player should study. In fact, Tim performed one movement of the concerto on a student recital while at Hope College.

Our usual procedure in posting on this blog is for Tim to do the initial writing and then Lynda to edit. Today is a sunny day in Bratislava and Tim is sitting in the lounge of our boat watching the Danube flow by. The Danube is a working river with more barge traffic than cruise boat traffic. It is also a very swift river with the boats going downstream gliding by seemingly effortlessly while those going up stream look to be struggling for every bit of progress they make. It is more interesting then cruising in a large ship on the ocean where you can spend all day on the ocean without seeing another ship.

Overall the riverboat experience is great - we're on Uniworld's River Duchess with just 114 passengers plus over 50 crew. The food has been excellent as well as the included shore excursions. We've seen a number of Viking and Avalon river boats that are much larger than ours but we like getting to know the other passengers and the crew. And again, we're going places that we probably wouldn't attempt on our own. Hearing about the many changes in this part of the world (e.g. from the Ottoman to the Austro-Hungarian to the Soviet rule and then the formation of Czechoslavakia and the velvet divorce from the Czech Republic really makes us realize how unique America is....not many areas of the world have had only one civil war and no invasions/battles on home soil since first becoming a nation. But it also makes us appreciate the resiliency and ability to look back with a sense of humor that we've encountered in people living in places that have been constantly contested. We're greatly enriched by such experiences.