The ship's bell. Even it is folded flat onto the deck when the ship passes under a low bridge.
We passed other cruise ships as we approached Bratislava.
A modern bridge joins Slovakia (on the right) with Austria. There's a restaurant in the circular structure atop the tower. It doesn't rotate, but our guide says it does turn if you've had enough plum brandy.
Not a cruise ship, this one appears to be a floating night club.
How to make your meal appear even larger in a photo.
Bratislava's castle. We didn't have a chance to visit it, but it loomed over the city as we walked around.
Our ship and one from a competing cruise line are moored side-by-side to one dock. This is common practice; people on the outboard ship walk through our lobby to get to the shore.
Our guide met us just off the ship and took us on a tour of the small city of Bratislava.
Vintage-looking buses (they're actually modern, I think) are used to take tourists around. Bratislava has modern trams and buses for regular transit.
Tourists on Segways, just like in Prague and Vienna.
Heroic-looking statues, suspended in the air.
It seems odd that this "For Rent" notice on the side of a Bratislava building would be entirely in English.
Richard Strauss' Salome opens November 14 at the national opera.
Spire and crosses on the end of a church.
A lovely green spire on a church tower.
Everyone's getting the same shot.
Walking past more heroic statuary.
The American embassy, surrounded by a high fence.
Explaining about the embassy.
Bratislava is relatively less well-off than Prague, but there's no shortage of high-end shops.
More statuary in this park, this time purely as art rather than heroic figures.
A statue of Hans Christian Andersen. Rubbing his finger is good luck, apparently. He is supposed to have said about Bratislava, "If you want a fairy tale, your city is a fairy tale itself."
And religious statues, of course.
The angles of the legs on this little dogs make me think of children's jacks.
Quite a lot of graffiti along this wall; this is only about a quarter of it.
A memorial to the Holocaust; the caption says "Remember!"
This building, opposite the Holocaust Memorial, used to be built in to the city wall. The wall is now demolished, but its "ghost" can be seen at the corner of the building.
Colorful containers at this antique shop.
Enamel ware is popular in central Europe.
Not just a souvenir; the price is about US $1300.
A modern optician's shop with a quaint old-fashioned sign.
Planters decorated with artists' names.
"I live life with complete honesty. And to be completely honest, one can never have enough shoes." Probably not from Imelda Marcos, just from the owner of this shoe shop.
Mozart was here, too, conducting a concert of his music.
I can't remember the last time I had beef leg with parsnip purée and apple-quince horseradish. This restaurant's chalk board menu is entirely in English.
The narrow streets lead eventually to the castle, visible in the mist in the second photo.
Crowns set into the street mark the route of the coronation procession, which led to the castle. One of the crowns can be seen at the bottom of the photo at right, above.
We passed a man praying on the street.
An elaborate "onion dome" spire on one of the churches.
At the sign of the Gilded Dragon.
More souvenirs, including more enamel ware.
A famous Klimt painting, available in every possible format.
The House of Seven Gables, plus one.
Some very modern art.
Our guide pointing out an elaborate church tower.
"Riding" a whimsical penny-farthing bicycle that's built in to this bike rack.
This is "Cumil", one of Bratislava's humorous street people. Kids like to sit on his head.
A beer is only 20 Euro cents more than an espresso.
An internet search revealed that "Schone Naci was a well known figure in the early 20th century. A poor and mentally ill man, he paraded the streets of Bratislava in an old but elegant velvet frock coat, greeting passers-by with his top hat and bowing courteously to ladies."
This human statue was pretty good. He stood stock still in his suit of armor, ignoring the taunts of children. When the little girl put a coin in his collection box, though, he bowed to her and invited a fist bump.
A harpist busking on the sidewalk.
We passed a small market area on the way back to the ship. Real eggs painted and made into Christmas ornaments, embroidery, ceramics (the hats), angels, and the inevitable refrigerator magnets.
The Cafe Propeler is (where else?) on the waterfront.
Back to our ship for dinner, and an overnight cruise downstream to Budapest.
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