Danube River Cruise 2

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August 12, 2016Bratislava. Another city that was founded by Celtic tribes 2000 years ago. It has gone through the rise and fall of many empires. The historic old town is charming with its medieval castle, a maze of narrow pedestian streets and myriad sidewalk cafes. To date it is my favorite. There is much more to see here than I expected. However, we spent only one day, not enough time to see everything. But it was well worth the visit. It is the capital of Slovakia. Population: 500,000. The total population of Slovakia is only 5 million. Slovakia was part of the former Czechoslovakia. After the fall of communism it gained its independance, although 75% of the population did not want to separate (according to a public opinion pole). Our guide was telling us that the 2countries get along except in one area: hockey. It is the national sport of both countries. She thanked the Americans for defeating the Czechs in the World cup.

August 13, 2016BudapestWe arrived in Budapest this morning. Budapest is the capital and the largest city of Hungary. It is a big city divided by the Danube. Buda is the old city established 2000 years ago on one side of the river and pest (pronounced pesht) the newer part is on the other side of the river. It was in 1873 that both sides united to make one city. Cited as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, Budapest's extensive World Heritage Sites includes the banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter, Andrassy Avenue, Heroes Square and the Millenium Underground Railway, the second-oldest metro line in the world. It would be too long to talk about these individually, however if you are interested in knowing more you can google these. It has around 80 geothermal springs, the world's largest thermal water cave system, second largest synagogue, and third largest Parliament building. The city attracts about 4.4 million tourists a year, making it the 25th most popular city in the world, and the 6th in Europe according . Unfortunately we are only here for one day, not enough time to discover everything the city offers. Our guide told us that the movie Evita (with Madonna and Antonio Banderas) was filmed here. She showed us the restaurant where they would have lunch. Across the street from this restaurant is another good restaurant where Bill Clinton and the Pope (she didn't mentioned which one) had lunch (not together of course). The locals refer to it as the holy restaurant. I bet some of you think it is because the Pope ate there. It is not. The food is so good that your reaction is "Oh my god!!" and when you see the bill you say "Jesus Christ!!". These are the kind of stories I like from our guides. I remember those better than the historical facts.

August 14, 2016Our cruise finishes here, this morning we take the train to Vienna, then Salzburg and Munich.

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