We went up to the sundeck early this morning to experience the boat going through the lock on the way to Bratislava. It was 20m high and pretty interesting to watch. The boats have a lock time booked and then drive into the holding area and wait for the gate to close. Then the water level rises till we reach the top. It was cold and a bit rainy up on the deck but worth the effort.
After a leisurely morning and a late breakfast/brunch, we headed off to Devin castle. We were welcomed by a group in traditional costumes who led some medieval games. Flynn did pretty well with the crossbow but Josh and Cam were a complete fail on the armour reconstruction. I managed to avoid the one where you try to hack an apple in half with a sword. The castle is a ruin perched high up on a hill and despite the rain we managed to have a good wander about. You can see three countries from the top of the castle, Austria on the other side of the river, Hungary further along and Slovakia where we were.
We then did a walking tour of the old town, with a selfie scavenger hunt for the boys to complete. It’s a car free section of the town so was nice to walk about and get a feel for the history of the city. The complex history of governance of the two cities we have been in is an eye-opener and it’s interesting to see the different influences that have left a legacy. The tour finished off with a gelato (lavender!) and we had free time to wander. The boys and I couldn’t resist checking out the local McDonalds (plus they had toilets) . We hardly recognised anything on the menu - burgers with black buns were to oddest, but the menu was all in Slovakian some don’t really know what things were.
I wandered out to the lounge for pre dinner drinks to discover Cam ensconced with a group (mostly adults) chatting away. I settled in too, with the multi generational group from Louisiana, who I ended up joining for dinner. The teen passengers had a separate table tonight and they looked like they had a lot of fun. I’m really proud of the boys - their attitude, their interactions with others and their behaviour.
Good conversation and a few nice glasses of red wine made for a lovely evening. There was a traditional violin and dance group in the lounge after dinner - some very strange yipping from the girl dancer, but the music was good.
I escaped relatively early and crashed in bed.
After a leisurely morning and a late breakfast/brunch, we headed off to Devin castle. We were welcomed by a group in traditional costumes who led some medieval games. Flynn did pretty well with the crossbow but Josh and Cam were a complete fail on the armour reconstruction. I managed to avoid the one where you try to hack an apple in half with a sword. The castle is a ruin perched high up on a hill and despite the rain we managed to have a good wander about. You can see three countries from the top of the castle, Austria on the other side of the river, Hungary further along and Slovakia where we were.
We then did a walking tour of the old town, with a selfie scavenger hunt for the boys to complete. It’s a car free section of the town so was nice to walk about and get a feel for the history of the city. The complex history of governance of the two cities we have been in is an eye-opener and it’s interesting to see the different influences that have left a legacy. The tour finished off with a gelato (lavender!) and we had free time to wander. The boys and I couldn’t resist checking out the local McDonalds (plus they had toilets) . We hardly recognised anything on the menu - burgers with black buns were to oddest, but the menu was all in Slovakian some don’t really know what things were.
I wandered out to the lounge for pre dinner drinks to discover Cam ensconced with a group (mostly adults) chatting away. I settled in too, with the multi generational group from Louisiana, who I ended up joining for dinner. The teen passengers had a separate table tonight and they looked like they had a lot of fun. I’m really proud of the boys - their attitude, their interactions with others and their behaviour.
Good conversation and a few nice glasses of red wine made for a lovely evening. There was a traditional violin and dance group in the lounge after dinner - some very strange yipping from the girl dancer, but the music was good.
I escaped relatively early and crashed in bed.
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