Austria in May- Bratislava

OK, Bratislava isn't in Austria but it is pretty darn close- 30 km. So this was our quick dash into Slovakia. We took a very fast boat down and then up the Danube river to go there. Here's Howard hanging out on the top deck. It was a beautiful ride.

Bratislava is a small and somewhat interesting town with a GREAT public relations team. Everywhere you go you hear about what a wonderful place it is but when you get there you wonder why you went. But what was interesting was to see how it is recovering from years of communist rule. It is a slow process but it feels like a place that is about to really boom. Construction is everywhere!

And then right next to the town hall is an American "icon" that we have all grown to hate to see in these European cities. But there you are!

Another shot of town.

It was very hot that day (95 degrees) so we ducked into a cathedral since they are always about the same temperture (freezing cold). We went down into a crypt which was like a wine cellar but a little scary...go into the light, go into the light. Yikes!

So part of the PR effort involves hyping up these silly statues that are all over the town. They challenge you to find them all and for some reason we came to really care about finding them all. We couldn't leave until we did. Clever of them. So here are a few.

We were tempted...

And it turns out that this is the original Budweiser...in Slovakia!