Btatislava and Vienna

Tuesday morning, we stopped in Bratislava, Slovakia, a charming town with beautiful buildings, courtyards, parks and memorials. After returning to the ship, we had the opportunity to participate in Viennese waltz lessons, led by a charming young couple. We need a lot more practice, but truly enjoyed the class.

Meanwhile, we sailed to Vienna, where we departed the ship to attend a private Strauss and Mozart concert presented by professional musicians and singers. This was a highlight of our cruise so far. Magnificent music in a beautiful old concert hall. When we returned to the ship after 10 p.m., we were offered a “snack” of wieners, pretzels, soup, etc.

On Wednesday, we participated in a 3 hour walking tour, again “Do as the Locals Do”, of Vienna’s old city center, beginning at the Museum of Arts, which is in one of the palace buildings belonging to the Habsburgs who ruled for many years. Gorgeous building, as well as an amazing collection of Peter Paul Rubens’ work and many others. One of the most fascinating items we saw was a golden ‘salt cellar”created by Benvenuto Cellini in 1543.. It was actually a small mechanized sculpture made of gold. It was wound up and traveled randomly around the center of the dining table. One of the small figures on the cellar, Neptune, threw his triton, and whoever’s place it landed on had to say something witty about mythology, and then something clever to entertain the other dinner guests. It is valued at $68 million!

On our tour, we also sampled the famous Viennese coffee at Gerstner’s, inside another palace, and  stopped at a sausage kiosk with a wonderful variety of sausages - cheese, smoked and spicy. Our walking tour took us to St. Stephen’s cathedral, and by a house where Mozart once lived in an apartment.

Too little time in Vienna - what a beautiful city!