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As we were in the country for such a
short time, many of us hadn’t bothered to
get any Hungarian money – the Forint –
as most places took euros, although at a very
inflated rate. Despite being heavily bombed,
you can still see some beautiful architecture,
and particularly the parliament building on
the banks of the Danube, which is floodlit
at night.
Our next stop was Bratislava, the capital
of Slovakia. As we wandered through the
lovely cobbled streets of the old town, we
were entertained by a group of artists dressed
in period military costume who, from time to
time, let off a noise similar to that of a cannon.
The place is very charming and quaint,
made even more so by large brightly
coloured models of cows dotted around
the place, each one sponsored, which is part
of a charity fund-raising event. Lingering
to soak up the atmosphere, I was fortunate
enough to be passing the opera house just
as a classical music recital was going on, with
the musicians performing on the balcony
at the front of the building.
Vienna was the only city on our cruise
where you needed transport to get into
the centre of town. It is a city that deserves
several days to visit, but at least we were
offered a glimpse. The historical centre
is very compact, being housed within the
city’s ring road, and has been designated
as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Above:
Melk Abbey in Austria, one of the most beautiful Baroque buildings in Europe
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Copyright 2002-2007
MQ Magazine
Web site created by Mark Griffin
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