When not biking between picturesque little towns and villages, we got to spend a few hours in more urban centres. Stop #1, Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia since 1993. During the communist reign, Czechoslovakia was split into two and became the Czech Socialist Republic and the Socialist Republic of Slovakia.
We arrived by bike, to a cold, wet gloomy Bratislava. We were booked for an evening tour but had a few hours to explore the city on our own. and meet some of the citizens.
Our tour transportation was unique.
And like every good European city, Bratislava has a hrad (castle). One of the more whiter ones we have seen. The choice of white for castles seems a very daring choice. How do you get the blood stains out.
It has burnt down several times over the last 1,000 years, the last time in 1811 where it laid in ruins till 1957 and finished in 1968.
The weather continued to deteriorate but on the positive side, we were the only ones wandering around the old city.
It was back to the MC Carissima for a special coffee.
Stop #2 was Budapest. Another wet and gloomy day.
Budapest was once two separate cities. Buda and Pest. Buda became the capital of Hungary in 1361. In 1849, the first permanent bridge was build across the Danube linking the two cities and 24 years later Buda and Pest merged to become Budapest. Not sure why it could not have been called Pudabest.
And like every European city, it has a castle.
And like every castle it was located on a hill.
The first Buda Castle was built in the 13th Century while this version was completed in the 18th Century.
Someone took pity on us poor tourists and 100 years later built a funicular that carried us to the castle. Pretty sweet ride for something almost 150 years old.
We were met by a friendly guard who didn't need a gun, his steely stare alone kept tourists at bey.
The day got pretty wet, traffic got pretty nasty and slow while the windows on the Hop on, Hop off bus got all steamy providing a very blurry view of Budapest.
Back to the MC Carissima for a special coffee.
Stop #3, the beautiful city of Vienna. We were booked on a bus tour during the day and off to a Strauss concert in the evening.
First stop was walking tour of old town.
No European city tour is complete without a cathedral. St. Stephen's Cathedral is the go to cathedral in Vienna and located smack in the middle of the Vienna's old town.
The old town has been nicely maintained and restored, sadly it is just like most other European old towns, full of restaurants, souvenir shops and stores found in most shopping malls around the world.
It did have some pretty cool fountains.
It has a palace! Schloss Schoenbrunn
I know you are asking, what is the difference between a castle and a palace. A castle is a fortified dwelling and a palace in just a glitzy dwelling.
Sadly it was not included in our drive by tour.
Photo: www.schoenbrunn.at
It was back to the MC Carissima for a special coffee and to dress for our concert. Surprise, surprise we were driven to Schloss Schoenbrunn for a 60 minute concert. No pictures allowed so borrowed one. Very enjoyable but expensive 60 minutes.
Back to the MC Carissima for a special coffee.
Photo: www.schoenbrunn.at
Stop #4, Passau, the start and the end of our trip. We arrived early in the morning to a beautiful blue sky day. With a late train departure to Vienna, we had the whole day to explore.
Of course our itinerary included a castle,Veste Oberhaus. To be fair to the definition of a castle, Veste Oberhaus is actually a fortress. A fort or fortress is different from both a castle and a palace as they are designed as a military fortification, specifically with war in mind.
Like any castle, it was located on a hill.
It was built in 1219 by Ulrich II, the first bishop-prince of Passau. It was attacked five times in it's first 200 years of existence, two of those times were by the pissed peasants of Passau.
Of course, there were no handy funiculars or elevators for us. .
Just stairs, lots and lots and lots of stairs.
But the views of Passau and the surrounding country were worth the climb.
While the views were spectacular, the fortress itself was a little under whelming.
Perhaps it was the company. Those bishops can get a little prickly.
Time to head to the train station.
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