Bratislava, Slovakia (and a little Vienna)

Back to my trip with my mom...So we arrived in Vienna on Thursday afternoon (July 2nd). I gave mother the grand walking tour of Vienna before dinner with my friends.

We went all over Vienna to some of my favorite churches and locations (Minoretinkirche, Rathaus, National Library, Spanish Horseriding School etc). After about 2 hours of walking, we decided to head back to get ready. And by we, I mean mother. She was a bit tired announcing "I'M NOT GOING TO MAKE ITT" (hehe sorry mother I had to) which was quite hilarious later on, but she was a bit distressed at the time.

We saw this guy in front of the Burgtheater and it made for a rather amusing picture I think...

After taking showers (due to the extreme humidity) we met Liviu, Alina, Nayeem, Jasmit, and Jeremy for dinner at Centimeter. As a group, we decided to order the thing they recommend for 6-7 people....which ended up being a good idea. Specifically because it was served on a sword.

See, I was not joking...

The next day, mother and I took a day trip to Bratislava, Slovakia. We took the boat in the morning and came back by train in the afternoon. I thought the boat was at 9:30, but it was actually at either 8:30 or 9. So I got up very early in the morning (around 6) so I could get to mother's hotel and wake her up in time to catch the boat about 20 from where we were. We made it to the boat. The boat ride was very cool. It was a very fast boat, and we saw some very nice scenery.

It was a bit rainy in the morning (releasing a bit of the humidity I think...) Along the river were some towns, and then these little houses they use for fishing!

It took about an hour by boat to arrive in Bratislava. We were told by Nayeem to take the little red train tour (which may or may not be called the "Happy Tour Train" at least I think it is...) so we did. It was a very nice little train,.

There was a bit of a scary moment. Apparently the train was called back to pick up more people...as a result we went on the freeway in the train. The Problem with this little adventure? The train went maximun 25 km/h...with cars zooming along at 100 km/h. (15 mph vs 60 mph.) I did not like that little excursion needless to say.
Here we are on the freeway.....I think the sign is telling the train driver that he is PSYCHO.

so after our daredevil highway excursion, we picked up more people and headed up to the castle, finding some nice buildings along the way. One thing I noticed about Bratislava is that, even though it's really close to Vienna (it took less than an hour to get there by boat...) is that it has a very distinct Eastern European feel that isn't quite as obvious in Vienna...I noticed it in Budapest and now in Bratislava. Also, I can't begin to understand any Slovakian words

The castle was very nice. and the view was great!

After the castle (which was closed for construction), our tour guide took us into the center part of the city, showing us the main areas and the cool statues located throughout the center of town. It was very cool
This is a little mini apartment...if you notice it is barely wider than the lamppost.

This is Napoleon leaning again the bench...
So after the tour, mom and I got lunch and then wandered the town a bit, bought some souvenirs then headed home. I liked Bratislava a lot. It was a very cute town and just very pleasant (and the people were very nice too!)

I'm hoping my hair didn't look like this the entire day....(The Christian Beer Pub...)

That evening we went to Hunderwasserhaus and the Kunsthaus Wien to see the Hundertwasser exhibit. Pictures in next blog...