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Published: April 4th 2012
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Bratislava Pedestrian Zone
The stores, cafes, and restaurants are all within easy walking distance of the ship There are so many things one could say about a cruise along the Danube: the cities & towns along the way, the wilderness and beauty of the natural landscape, the wonder of the dozens of locks that connect the Danube to the Main and Rhine rivers, and the rich history that goes with it. Set it all to a good Straus Waltz and you get one of those life moments that seems surreal.
On our Danube cruise in November, we were awed and amazed by all of it.
Our first stop was the surprising and interesting Bratislava. I should start off by saying that one of the great things about an Ama Waterways cruise is that they provide all of the tours as part of the cruise price. They also have 40+ bikes on board should you wish to go off on your own or join one of their organized bike tours. The ships generally dock in the heart of each city so coming and going is easy.
Today in Bratislava was our first experience with Ama's tours. From start to finish it was SUPERB! One thing that Ama does very successfully in their easy going, laid back
style, is to give you the choice among 3 speeds of each day/city's tours - even better, you can decide spontaneously based on how you feel that morning. You can take the normal tours which are very comprehensive and designed to give you an overall feel and impression of each city; showing you highlights and laying the ground work for exploration on your own later in the day. The normal tour goes at a normal pace and usually lasts a few hours. For those that are a bit more adventurous and want to get a quick lay of the land, hear the highlights without too much commentary, and then go off on their own for even more time in each city, the fast tours are perfect. Lastly, for those that like to move a bit slower, may have mobility issues, or just want to be plain laid back, there is the slow tour - usually a small bus or other vehicle - this tour makes sure that every Ama passenger, regardless of physical ability, gets to see everything. There is always plenty of room for those that wish to go on any of the tours and each morning you simply
Unexpected Art
Bratislava was full of unique and interesting sculptures... some were laugh out loud funny let the tour desk know, they hand you a ticket and off you go. This is also especially nice if you want to tour a certain city with certain friends on one day, another group the next, etc. The flexibility is wonderful, the implementation a dream.
The city of Bratislava itself was extremely charming and it was very interesting to see the mixture of its Baroque architecture and history mixed in with some of the post WWII communist attempts. There is a wide variety of shops, bars & restaurants, and because of the Austrian influences, some amazing cafes with delicious cakes and coffees. The idea of the "cafe soceity" will be alive and well this whole tour and stopping in one of these great places between 2 and 4 will bring you back to a lost era. After a lovely tour and a nice introduction to the town, we joined some of our new friends and decided to relax in a great bar that had a roaring fire, delicious local beer, and super music. It was one of those magical days where just being somewhere different with new friends created a special feeling that you long for when on
Sissi & Oma
We found a great Oma Cafe which was full of Sissi portraits. vacation. (Sorry, I had to pause writing to call Stephanie, my friend from this cruise, so we could reminisce). She loved this day as much as I did.
From the bar, we searched out a great little cafe for cake and coffee. This is one of those great German traditions that I have taken to quite well. Michael and I call these places "Oma Cafes" - translated - "Grandma Cafes" because they have an old fashioned tradition to them that makes us think of grandma's parlour. No one makes cakes like the Germans & Austrians!
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