I really thought I was done with castles for a while,  but the promise of a nice countryside bus adventure won me over. Plus, the castle was in ruins.

It *was nice, the castle *was ruined,  and the day was sunny and delightfully breezy. I had a lovely time walking through the castle grounds and looking at the rivers.

After a pleasant lunch in the square back in Bratislava, the national gallery was quite close. It’s being reconstructed, so the offerings were limited and the admission free. Two of the exhibits were forgettable. The third,  oh man, what a trip.

A Slovak performance artist had just died after a long and illustrious career. I know, I thought the same thing….performance artist and illustrious career being used in the same sentence?????

But it’s true. I had to walk through the exhibit 3 times before I even understood what was going on. This dude was a legit genius.  He had A LOT of respect from the art community.

He was a graphic artist, cellist,  instrument maker, promoter, and ??? 

In addition to all his materials, there were audio and video recordings, promotional materials,  instruments, and a room devoted solely to instruments visitors could play.

It was a well-curated exhibit, understandable and enjoyable even for those of us (me) who don’t really appreciate performance art.

Anyhoo, after that I needed a nap. A long, long walk and dinner ended my day.

Happy Saturday!

It sure didn’t take long to get here. I was checked into my hostel in Bratislava by 11 AM. On a travel day, I got 7 hours of sightseeing in!

And…I saw most of the historic area, the riverside, some of the churches, and all of the town except for the castle area. Oops.

Well, I did leave the castle hill and the far side of the river for tomorrow.

Also, there’s a nice ruined by Napoleon castle outside of town for Sunday.

Knowing me, a museum will wiggle in there somewhere.

Bye for now!

Well, I found the river today. It’s not blue; Strauss didn’t know what he was talking about. I did get a nice morning out of it. The walk was pleasant and the morning cool.

Today’s museum was the Albertina. It’s part of the old palace, and has been turned into a great gallery space. No less than five separate exhibitions! I saw work from some artists I’ve never heard of before so that’s neat. The collection includes drawings and etchings from daVinci and Michelangelo. We don’t see them of course. Works get displayed, at most, for 90 days every 10 years. Some good copies tho.

After a ridiculously good lunch of middle eastern food (doner kebab), I wanted a park or something. 

The Hapsburg summer palace grounds are free to look around and really nice in spring. I spent the afternoon reading and looking at shrubs and stuff. As I said yesterday, the Hapsburgs loved making things look old, so the park was filled with fake Roman ruins and Greek statuary. Very pleasant.

I had a drink with a roommate Aubrey and a dinner of random food I had left to eat. 

Tomorrow I’m off to Bratislava!

Have a good day!

It started with an early walk around the edge of the old city. In addition to seeing lots of people going to work, I saw in 2.5 hours…

5 parks, the Rathaus, parliament, a giant bunny, one royal greenhouse, the outside of 6 museums, lots and lots of statues, the canal, and many churches.

Also, treats.

At 10:30, A pretty good walking tour. This was a professional guide, who taught me a lot about Vienna. 

On the tour, I met Jackie, who had a coffee with me. Interestingly enough, at the coffee place they serve something I’ve always wanted to try; schwarzwälder kirschtorte. 

It’s amazing, just so you know.

I discovered that something else I’ve always wanted to see was in Vienna…the Venus of Willendorf. It’s a small limestone carving estimated to be 25,000 years old. I’m glad to have seen it. 

Also the natural history museum where it’s displayed is a solid visit. I didn’t mean to spend 3 hours there, I promise you.

All the coffee and treats I’d had were telling me to take a long walk. I tried to get to the Danube on foot. No bueno. Although I did discover a cute neighborhood and awesome park.

So, 40 thousand steps later….I had a lovely day in the sun.

See you tomorrow 

Mary