A howitzer, the actual Danube River, and Slovakian black beer

On Monday, a rainy day, we decided to do laundry before we left Vienna and then visit just one museum. Thanks to my friend, Google, I found a self-service laundry accessible by tram. Not terrible on the price either, 2 loads washed and dried for 9 euro (it cost closer to 20 euro last year in the Swiss laundromat). Not worth a picture, though. After we returned our clean clothes to the hotel, we headed off for the National Armory Museum, again on the tram. 

entrance to the Vienna National Armory (Military Museum)

This museum had many displays of 18th, 19th and eary 20th century European uniforms and weaponry. 

The museum also contained the actual car in which Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were riding when they were assasinated, the event that triggered World War I. Following that historic exhibit were many display cases of WWI military gear, presented in chronological order as the exhibits told the story of "the war to end all wars."

Actual death car from 1914

The museum contained more than just handguns and rifles. It had an actual 1916 model howitzer.

1916 howitzer, seen from upper floor (too big for one floor of the museum)

This weapon weighs 81,700 kg (almost 90 tons) and took 12 people to operate. It had to be disaaembled in 4 pieces to move. It took a 740 kg shell. 

Many WWI exhibits, but the museum was skimpy on the WWII material, probably because Austria agreed to the takeover by Hitler. There were numerous exhibits of the Nazi propaganda posters. 

Early Tuesday, Phillip and I boarded the Twin City Liner as our transportation to Bratislava, Slovakia, where we currently are staying. A river cruise on the Danube! Since Bratislava is only about 80 km (less than 50 miles) from Vienna, our river cruise lasted about 75 minutes. It was however, a fun 75 minutes. I learned that we had previously walked along the Danube Canal, a regulated waterway that had been an arm of the Danube River. The walls of the canal are the only legal graffiti zone in Vienna, hence the proliferation of street art we had seen. About 10 minutes after we left the pier, the canal joined the actual Danube River.

Once out of the city, the Danube was surrounded by green space as we traveled into Slovakia.

view of the Danube from the back of the boat

We passed Devin Castle ruins, about 10 km from our destination. We enjoyed the cruise partly because I had booked us seats in the upper deck Captain's Lounge (basically, first-class for the boat, but just $10 more per person than the lower deck, with its crowded seats).

Devin Castle

In Bratislava, we easily found our hotel, as the town is not very large. Since it was only about 10:30 am when we arrived, we left our luggage and walked around. By the end of the day, we had seen all the sights of Bratislava except its castle. Really, it isn't a very large place. The highlights:

Many ice cream parlors, usually 1.50 euros per scoop

Bratislava has many statues, small humorous ones. 

Cumil, aka "The Peeper"

Another thing this town has a lot of are churches. One of the most notable is the Blue Church. Although it was closed when we went by, we could see in and even the pews were blue.

The streets are similar to others in Europe's older cities, made of cobblestones. The older, historic area is mostly pedestrian only. Delivery vans are allowed, but they arrive early in the morning because by 10 am the streets are full of day-trippers from Vienna.

typical Bratislava street in historic area

We had lunch at the KGB Pub and dinner at the Slovak Pub. I had the darkest beer I have ever drank. It has a Slovak name, but it is ordered by telling the waitstaff yu want a "black beer." It was delicious, flavorful but not bitter. Not thick, just really good. It rivals my favorite beer, Czech beer. None of that watery American pseudo-beer (I'm talking about you, Coors, Miller, etc) for me.

black beer

My final picture is of our room. Our hotel, Aplend City Center, has only 16 rooms on four floors. Five rooms on three floors and one room on the top floor. I booked directly with the hotel (a Rick Steeves tip about small hotels) and got a standard double room, but they put us on the top floor in the penthouse! The room is huge, with a curved bank of windows (no view except other roofs, though) and a tub/shower instead of just a shower. Pretty neat!  

our Bratislava hotel room

We spent today (Wednesday) visiting the local castle and casino, but I haven't pulled the pictures off my camera yet, so I'll make those adventures as a separate post.