Monday, August 28th, Bratislava, Slovakia

This morning was a City Tour, and our guide (Ivan) led us on a bus tour of the upscale neighborhoods of Bratislava.  The views from the hills overlooking the City were breath-taking, and so were the home prices.  Fortunately, some were being reserved for ambassadors and business leaders.  The one for the U.S. Ambassador looked like the White House.

A City tour wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Pressburg Bakery, a centuries old landmark which delivers daily a popular pastry in the shape of a crescent filled with either poppyseed or walnut. We even got to watch as they were being made, and then devoured our pick courtesy of William, our main tour guide.

One of the worst decisions made by the communist forces in the 1960s was to tear down the Jewish quarter and build a freeway through town.  Beginning after the end of the war, the returning Jewish population, and those who had decided to flee a hostile Europe for Israel or the U.S. - passed through Bratislava.  Encountering no one left to protect the quarter, the Central Synagogue and most of the surrounding neighborhoods were torn down.  A memorial sculpture, and posters with photos and texts stands nearby.  

After lunch, we returned to the road to cross into Austria to visit a large ancient Roman legionary fortress.  Carnuntum is situated on the Danube, halfway between Vienna and Bratislava.  As the headquarters of one of the largest Roman fleets, and home to 50,000 inhabitants between 193 and 235 AD, it was severely damaged by an earthquake in 350 AD.  Defeated not long after by Germanic and Barbarian Invaders, it was eventually abandoned and used as a cemetery, a storage area for building materials, was buried and forgotten.
 To see all of the photos taken today, click on Monday, August 28th, Bratislava, Slovakia

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