20240816 Viking European Sojourn River Cruise Day 15/27 - Wait - this isn't Vienna!

Viking European Sojourn River Cruise Day 15/27 - Bratislava, Slovakia

Apparently, around 7:00 AM, we went through another set of locks. We were still in bed. Oh well.

Today's planned journey was to continue up the Danube into Slovakia, passing through Bratislava, the Slovakian capital, and wind up in Vienna, Austria around 7:00 PM. This was the plan...

Approaching Bratislava

There is a thoroughly modern look to the city, mixed with traditional architecture

Apollo Bridge with Bratislava Castle in the distance

Bratislava Castle

Comenius University

This sure looked like a spacecraft - it turns out there is a good reason

Bridge of the Slovak National Uprising, also known as the UFO Bridge or New Bridge

The bridge is an asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge. The structure at the top is a combination of a gourmet restaurant and an observation tower. The resemblance to a UFO gave the bridge its common name.

Statue of General Milan Rastislav Stefanik

Engineering School

We're in Slovakia - but we're just sailing through so we can't count it...or could we?

Slovak National Gallery

Reduta Building - Home of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra

We started to slow as we approached the center of town. We assumed that it must be for some sort of traffic control, or perhaps we needed to coordinate timing for locks ahead on the journey. Boy, were we wrong. To make a long story short, we had some sort of failure with an engine and we were making an unplanned stop here in Bratislava for at least twelve hours. No Vienna tonight. So, now what?

At noon, Program Director Ivan and the Captain called everyone to the lounge for an update. The game plan was that we would be here until around 11:00 PM. Crews were en route to make repairs to the ailing engine. The folks who had booked the concert excursion in Vienna tonight would leave from here an hour earlier than scheduled to allow for the additional bus travel time to the venue. Meal times were adjusted to accommodate the change. We were not going so that didn't impact us. They also arranged with local guides and everyone was scheduled for a 90-minute walking tour of Bratislava at 2:00 PM. Wow - nice!

Mechanical problems happen. We get that. Viking responded, got us safely docked, and provided us with an unplanned afternoon excursion in a port that was not on our itinerary.  Again, wow!

We ate lunch and walked off the ship to meet our guide, Eva, for our tour. She was contacted at 1:00 and asked if she could be available at 1:30. Again, wow. She took us on a terrific tour, describing the city and its history.

Reduta Building - Home of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra

If you look closely, the windows are perfectly aligned - the casings are all askew - it is visually amazing

St. Martin's Cathedral

Plague column - commemorates the end of the great plague

St. Martin's Cathedral

Pictures showing the Jewish synagogue that had to be torn down for the new bridge

Reflective Image of Synagogue on the Black Wall Sculpture

Pamataj Jewish Holocaust Memorial

Original city fortification walls that still connect to the church

Old Town

The thinnest building in the city - it is now a timepiece museum

More original fortification walls

Above the entry to St. Martin's

We went into St. Martin's Cathedral for a look around.

According to legend, when St. Martin was a soldier, he cut his military cloak in half to help shelter a poor beggar - this statute commemorates that

Church of the Elevation of the Holy Cross (the spire in the distance)

Grave of the Pálfy family, a wealthy family who donated significantly to the construction of St. Martin's - the statue is of an unrelated Croatian soldier

The fence in front of the statue of Liszt shows notes from his music

Pharmacy Salvator - a historical pharmacy building

The name is shown in Hungarian, Slovak, and German

Do you see that little niche to the left of the doorway?

Posmievačik, meaning “Mockingjay” or “sneerer” - is very well-endowed - little is known about its history or why it is here

Mozart performed his first concert in this building at age six

Michael's Gate - the only preserved city gate from the medieval fortifications - that yellow building to the left of the gate was the executioner's house

The building where Liszt gave his first performance at age nine

These markers show the route royals take for coronations

Original painting from the 1600s showing grape harvests on the wall of the Arthur Fleischmann Museum

Old Town Hall

Did someone lose a cannonball?

Nothing like a good, decorative manhole cover

And you thought British guards were stiff...

Hanging with Napoleon

A fun bike rack - male models not included

Primate's Palace - now the mayor's office

New Town Hall

Flags L-R: European Union, Slovakia, Bratislava

Not sure what these were, but they're fun

Fountain of St. George

Čumil, Man at Work statue - Čumil means "watcher"

Touching his head is said to bring good luck, so we're golden

Slovak National Theatre

Ganymede's Fountain

Another look at the Reduta Building - Home of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra

Monument to the 19th century Slovak leader, Ľudovít Štúr

We walked back to the ship and took another well-deserved shower. We enjoyed a cocktail or two in the lounge before dinner. Program Director, Ivan, gave a port briefing about Vienna before leaving to escort the folks heading to tonight's concert. After the port talk, we enjoyed dinner on the Aquavit Terrace as there was an open table available. 

After dinner, we took a short walk along the Danube as the lights were coming on in Bratislava.

The inscription says: "Who falls in the fight for freedom does not die" - the lower plaque says: "To the heroic Bulgarian peasants who gave their lives for our freedom."

A cool lighted sculpture along the Danube

A spooky moon

The reports are that the repairs went well and once the guests at the concert return to the ship, we will be underway on schedule for tomorrow morning's arrival in Vienna.

Today did not happen per the itinerary, but today was a great day. Kudos to Viking for their quick response to a hiccup and a terrific response it was. Slovakia is the 70th country that we have visited. For the record, since we retired in January 2018, we have visited 66 countries (and all seven continents). Some of those were revisits of countries we visited before retiring but out of our 70, we've set foot in 66 since January 2018. Only 30 more to go to meet our 100-country goal, and one will come tomorrow - Austria.