Slovakia is sweet.

---

Well here goes anoararther hit or miss entry. I will have fun finding all these when I get home if they havent gone through. We are in Bratislava an old Austro Hungarian town that became the capital in C14th then lost it then regained it etc for about the next 400 years. It is a quaint town right on the Danube and has some car manufacturers and a bit of crystal making but apparently the whole country is expecting dire consequences when the crunch really come. It is sad to see because they have gone through so much and put alot into trying to become a real member of the E.U. and they might not be pulled out of trouble if it comes. Appparently Hungary is bankrupt at the moment and we have been told to not even bother about changing money tomorrow unless we want to throw whats left in the Danube. The crew that are on the ship are very grateful to be working for Aussies and most are supporting families. Its almost as bad as visiting third world countries only these people are proud of their heritage and what they have gone through and come out the other side. Weve had a professor of economics from Germany who explained the forming of the E.U. and gee it was interesting. Its unfortunate that it wont pull some of the smaller countries out of the quagmire. They are all lovely people on the crew and we will be sad to feel that if things get much worse over here that even they are in jeopardy. Some are on a trip by trip contract and only the top five jobs are for a whole year. The town of Bratislava is pretty and our guide was a graphic designer who loved his town. He is supporting a wife and 4y.o. with three tours a week and what ever work he picks up but with big car firms going and advertising almost non existent he is still saying he is one of the lucky ones. We have just been given the disembarkation times and mine is 4.45 a.m. Would you believe they are still going to provide breakfast for everyone. We all have to be off by 9.00 a.m. as they are getting ready for the next trip back to Amsterdam at 2p.m. that afternoon. I hope everyone is well and happy and I am looking forward to seeing you all soon after I get back. It will be hard to say goodbye to some of the people though. We have become a close knit community. Well love for now from Bratislava.

---