Almost every aspect of being on the river cruise boat has been wonderful with the exception of the temperature onboard – which has been boiling. The cruise director, in one of her regular talks, explained that the “ship had thought that it was winter” as if it was some sort of sentient being rather than something that the crew have some control over. Maybe that is the case as the temperature has remained a tad on the warm side.
Today we landed in our latest capital city – Bratislava, Slovakia where we came for the first time last year. It is a tiny but attractive place.
One of the regular problems with coming away is that there is always one famous building that you want to see that is covered in scaffolding. Last year it was Michael’s Gate here in Bratislava which was a great shame but I was glad to hear that the pipes came down just last month allowing us to go this time. The gate leads into the old town of Bratislava which is well preserved. The gate itself is attractive and has been nicely restored so was worth a quick visit although you can’t spend long looking at an entrance gate no matter how well preserved it is.
Next up was the obligatory coffee stop. I always struggle abroad as tea is my poison and, well, nobody seems to have cracked a decent English Breakfast tea. However, today there was something on the menu that I could have as an alternative – chocolate with strawberries, banana slices, and a side order of type two diabetes. This was less drink and more dessert but was a good alternative to the other things on offer.
In the afternoon we paid a return visit to the Blue Church (Church of St Elizabeth of Hungary) which is a pretty little distraction in a suburb of the town before returning to the boat.