We took lots of pictures with the I-touch, but the quality isn't as good as with the camera, which should be repaired again soon (and for the last time hopefully)!!
Friday morning we didn't have to get up very early, but we still got a lot done - washed the sheets so they could dry on the racks while we were gone - scrubbed the bathroom areas from top to bottom - packed for the weekend - and made lunches for the train ride. We caught the 10:25 train, and we sat with Saška, the elementary principal, and her daughter, Zuzka, who is a favorite student of ours. It really made the trip go quickly visiting with them the whole way.
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| We stayed at Katie's flat in Bratislava again, and since they had a teacher work day, she was still at school when we arrived. So we relaxed and enjoyed a leisurely walk from the train station, and we noticed things along the way that we'd missed on all our other trips to Bratislava!! :-) This is the back side of the Presidential Palace, with a lovely and spacious park behind it! |
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| We walked down into the park, and this fountain still had water in it - it was a very mild, pleasant day in Bratislava! |
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| This large plaque commemorated the first electricity in Slovakia - the first lights were Palace gardens in 1878!! |
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| The gates into the Palace Gardens. It amazed us that the gardens were open to the public, right behind the Palace! So pretty! |
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| We continued past the front of the Palace, which we've seen and photographed on previous trips to the capitol city, but we'd never seen the uniformed ceremonial guards out front before. |
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| On the way to Katie's flat, we took a detour to the Billa (grocery) store, and picked up some yummy sweet rolls and a sort of cream-cheese filled coffee cake for weekend breakfasts. Tim waited outside with our luggage, so we wouldn't have to haul it through the grocery aisles - HAHA!! This cool sculpture is in the pedestrian walk-way area. (I had seen some over-ripe bananas on clearance last week, so Thursday night I made banana bread - one loaf for Katie to thank her for letting us stay in their flat, and one loaf for the Fredells for arranging our concert tickets. So I wanted to bring an alternative so Katie wouldn't serve us HER banana bread for breakfast!! LOL!!) THANKS to Judith for emailing the recipe!!! :-) |
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| Street musician ---- Slovak style!! :-) This is a Fujara ( a type of wooden flute) used by shepherds, played here by a guy in traditional costume. It's a very haunting sound, especially echoing in the entrance to the underground tunnel. |
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| This is the old Bratislava town square, with Bill and Cathy Fredell, on our walk to a pre-concert pot-luck dinner with other American and British ex-pats. We had a lovely meal with delightful people, at a flat a couple blocks from the symphony hall. Since we were traveling from afar, our suggested contribution was wine, so that was easy!! :-) |
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| Tim at the doorway into the newly-renovated symphony hall. |
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| The doorway from the entryway into the main part of the building |
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| Bill and Tim (Cathy in the background) in the hallway inside the symphony building. It was incredibly ornate and beautiful! |
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| Ready to head into the symphony hall. |
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| The stage, with the newly-installed pipe organ - very impressive! |
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| The box seats. (We were NOT in them - HA!!) We did have excellent seats, however, in the 11th row. Awesome spots!! |
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| At the Bratislava Symphony Hall - ready for the Slovenská Filharmónia concert!! |
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| The balcony - I took lot of pics inside because it was so beautiful! At intermission, we were introduced to a woman named Olga, who taught with Tim's Aunt Ruth when she served here at the lyceum in Bratislava about 12 years ago. How fun!! |
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| The concert was marvelous!! We were thrilled to be there and enjoy such a quality performance!! Here's the program, for those who are interested:
Ladislav Holoubek: Tribute to the name BACH for orchestra
W.A. Mozart: Piano Concerto in d minor
Aaron Copland: Symphony #3 (which includes "Fanfare for the Common Man")
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| After the concert, six of the pot-luck group went to a really neat wine bar. The connoisseurs in the group ordered a white and a red, both from Slovakia, that were wonderful. We were also served a platter of proscuitto and cheese cubes - yum!! Two of the gals work for Habitat for Humanity in Europe - fascinating. This picture is on our walk back to Katie's flat - this alley goes beside the Lutheran church where we attend English-speaking services when we're in Bratislava. I liked this shot of the wet cobblestones under the streetlights! |
I think this will be all for one evening's blogging. It's about time for bed, so I'll continue with the rest of our Culture Weekend in Bratislava tomorrow!! :-)
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