Tue. June 16--Bratislava, Slovakia: HAPPY
ANNIVERSARY TO US!! We could sort of
take our time getting up because we didn't disembark until 9:30. We met the
Macks and the Sauls for breakfast and said sad farewells to the Sauls. The bus
to take us to Bratislava was the nicest I've ever seen, with 2 seats on one
side and one on the other, lots of legroom, leather seats, and a hardwood-look floor.
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| Looking up to the Fishermen's Bastion and St. Mathias Church |
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Brass Shoes Memorial marks the area where Nazis took Jews, bound them closely together
so one bullet would kill several, and pushed them into the Danube whether dead or alive |
It took us about 2 hours to get to Dunaalmas, Hungary, where
Vantage has contracted with the small village for our lunch. We were greeted by
costumed villagers with shots of their local brandy at a community building. I
helped make longus, the delicious bread served brushed with garlic oil, and
topped with sour cream and onions. It is usually fried in oil but this was
baked. Then Ross, Pat and Marv made cherry strudel while I took pictures.
Afterwards they served us a hearty lunch of Hungarian goulash in a crock topped
with a covering of bread. Local wine accompanied the meal and afterwards we got
to eat cherry, apple, and cheese strudel.
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Village Baker puts longus in the oven
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| Peggy rolls out longus bread |
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| Peggy puts the finishing touches on her longus |
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| It's dee-lish!! |
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The large personal crocks of Goulash topped with
bread dough were too much for us to finish |
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| The experts demonstrate how to make cherry strudel |
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| Marv, Pat and Ross try their hand at strudel making |
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| The soft dough is stretched to cover the table top |
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| Large helpings of poppy seeds, sugar and cherries go on top |
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| Ross and Marv roll the filled dough into a long bundle |
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| The bundle is curled into the pan, ready to bake |
Back on the bus we drove about two hours, out of Hungary and into
Slovakia, where Bratislava, the capital city, is very near the border. The
outskirts of town are very drab and Communist looking, with a huge complex of
gray apartment buildings. We crossed the Danube and soon arrived at the
Sheraton Bratislava, which would be our home for two nights. Our guide for the
extension, Slavka, did a short tour around the hotel, which is within the huge
Eurovia shopping center along the Danube. When she was finished we walked
around again on our own and bought a Czech beer to enjoy at one of the many
outdoor cafes beside the river. We had a welcome dinner at the hotel and then
Marv and I walked around the hotel yet again, expecting to find more nightlife
than we actually found, as the cafes were closing up around 10:00 so we retired
to our room.
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| Many acres of wind farms in Hungary just outside Bratislava in Slovakia |
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| Fountain in front of the new Performing Arts Center |
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| Little kids all over the world love to play in fountains |
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| Na zdravie! |
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Looking towards Austria with the UFO restaurant bridge we drove
across and the new bridge construction in the foreground |
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| Looking the other way down the Danube |
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