During the SAS course we were able to explore Bratislava

St Michael's Gate of the medieval city wall

Medieval artifacts have a commercial purpose now

Choosing traditional food

Ice cream (zmerzlina) in the Green Tree Cafe

Kings and Queens of Austro-Hungary ruled their empire from this castle in the 16th and 17th centuries

The castle is high above the city

A replica of the Hungarian crown caps the steeple of St Martin's Cathedral

Ships cruising the Danube bring tourists to Bratislava

Docked today is the ship that first brought us here in 2008

Many modern sculptures are diplayed along the river

Just below the castle is the statue of St Elizabeth of Hungary
Many churches in Eastern Europe are dedicated to her.

Throughout the city many churches with a simple exterior

have an elegant interior

100 years ago thousands of Slovaks and Rusyns immigrated to the USA.
The depression, WWII and Communist rule disrupted contact between families

After nearly 70 years, I was fortunate to reconnect with family in Slovakia in 2008.
This trip gave us the opportunity to visit again.

During our 3 weeks in Bratislava we saw many tour groups from the cruise ships and bus tours
In 2008 that was how we also first visited the city. HERE are the pictures I took then