Old Town Bratislava... we love it here

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August 18th- We started off the day fairly early.... I was up and got myself down to the lobby before 8 in order to get connected to the interet. I got myself setup and checked my email and then headed back to our room to shower before breakfast. Breakfast was a very nice spread... we especially like the croissants. Eileen loved the scrambled eggs. We ate a big breakfast and then gathered our things and headed to the Bratislava Castle. This castle was fairly close to our hotel but it was a steep climb to get there. The castle was pretty cool. It is white and it currently under re-construction. We didn't pay to go in because most of the castle was not open, but we did wander around the grounds and got a feel for the city. After the castle, we headed for a free walking tour of bratislava. Our guide Paula, was very nice and gave us a wonderful walking tour of the Old Town. She was somewhat new to her job and fidgeted a lot when she talked, which was a little distracting since her accent was quite thick. She gave us a history on Slovakia and its sad past. The tour was about 2 hours and gave us some hightlights of things we wanted to go back to. After our tour, we headed to #1 Slovakia Pub which was acclaimed for it's local Slovakian Dishes. My mom had been craving the national dish, which was potato dumplings with sheep's cheese and bacon. I went a little more conservative and ordered Chicken Schniztel with ham and cheese (Chicken Cordon Blu). When our meals were delivered, I wish I had a camera to capture the look on my mom's face. She was quite surprised by the looks of her dish.... and the taste was not much better (according to her). My chicken and zalty basant beer was pretty good. My mom took about three bites of her lunch and gave up. On our way out of the restaurant, we noticed a sweet puppy sitting quietly under his owners table. We headed thru the presidential palace gardens and then the primatial palace. We put our toes in a couple churches and then head for the Cafe Mayer. We each selected a dessert and enjoyed the views of the main town square. After snapping a few pictures with a few of many of Bratislava's whimsical statues, we headed back to the hotel for a short rest. Dinner tonight was at a pub called pradezji, which was a Slovakian Beer Hall. Dinner was good and I sampled some local beer. After dinner we went for a stroll and got to see the beautiful castle and bridge all lite up. We wandered thru the old town for some night photo opportunities and then headed back to the hotel for the night

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