Bratislava. Day 10

We're listening to a talk by Martin Sloboda, a Slovakian historian on the history of eastern Europe,pre- and post 1918. Fascinating synopsis of the evolution from what was Austria Hungary before WW1 to the breakup into numerous small countries afterwards He focused on the politics within Czechoslovakia to the break up into the two states of Czech Republic and Slovakia on 1/1/93. Known as the Velvet Divorce, it was much more costly for Slovakia because there was no infrastructure to run a country. Czech Republic agreed with Pres Bush to discontinue armaments production, 90% of which was produced in Slovakia). But Slovakia recovered by getting into automobile production.

Again, a dreary day but no rain. We hear Winters are very cold here. Enjoyed a walking tour of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. This included entry to a small palace to see five British tapestries which were found hidden in the walls. Their history is unknown so it is thought they were hidden from Napoleon and then forgotten. The city is quite proud to have them.

The tour ended with a traditional walnut pastry and tea in a lovely cafe. Then back to the ship for lunch. Skipping the afternoon tour, preferring to relax ... And so Georges can rest. He's a little flu-ish and is napping. Pamela, our Indonesian server prepared a pot of fresh ginger, lemon and honey tea, promising he'll feel better. I hope so because we still have four nights in Budapest. I hope I've not caught it. So far I feel well.Read more