Slovakia: July 14: Bratislava and Trnava

A main square in Bratislava. It was a relief to arrive in Bratislava and see some real European cuteness after the austerity of Vienna. There are a lot of red roofs, old, messy architecture, and imperfect pavers. We loved it!

This is a plaque describing how Mozart played a concert here when he was 6 years old.

This is the rest of the Mozart Building.

Gio noticing a small crown plaque in the pavers. This signifies the coronation walk for Hungarian Kings when Bratislava was part of Hungary.

Check out this crazy instrument. It's like a huge wooden recorder. It made a beautiful, but strange sound, almost like a digiridoo.

Up on the hill, you can see the Bratislava castle. It's described as a 4 poster bed. 

Eamon making friends with the locals!

Eamon begging for another lick of ice cream. He can't get enough of it!

This is one of many churches in the town of Trnava. This is the town where we're staying. 

And another church.

Eamon checking out the sights. We're in the middle of the town square.

A row of a very pretty buildings on the way back to the hotel.

This is my favorite church in Trnava. The bells ring at 5:00 in the morning, but they make a lovely sound. Our hotel is right behind it.

Vienna: July 12 & 13: Schloss Belvedere, Neumarkt Flea Market, and Spittelberg

In the garden at Schloss Belvedere. Just like Schonnbrun, we sought to wear the kids out in the garden then go into the house. Schloss Belvedere houses the world's largest collection of paintings by Gustav Klimt, including the famous, The Kiss. 

Of course, as soon as we got there, the boys got right into the gravel. That's always their first order of business.

We don't know much about the house, only that it was given to a General who was made into a Prince. He lived in the house at the bottom, called the Lower Belvedere, while he had meetings and balls up in the Upper Belvedere. The paintings are housed in the Upper Belvedere.

Eamon got a hold of my camera and took a portrait of Gio during lunch. After play, we eat, then, the boys are pretty worn out and tired while Ming and I explore the museum.

The boys, reunited with their best buddies, doggie and monkey. We accidentally left them in Budapest and our Airbnb host sent them to our place in Vienna express. The boys were thrilled! They're repeated kissing them!

On Saturday, we visited the flea market at Neumarkt. It was really a typical flea market, but the food was certainly more exciting than what we're used to.

Ming choosing spice mixes. There were quite a few Turkish vendors selling spices. They all smelled wonderful

Gio helping choose.

There were many stone fruits on offer. Notice the cute strawberry basket near the center of the photo.

Really incredible, handmade, brass kaleidescopes. We were all fascintated by them; Gio especially. They're made by this vendors friend, in Geneva.

Eamon munching on an apricot. This guy is a fruit freak!

Asleep soon after!

That afternoon, we explored a neighborhood called Spittelberg. It's the only cute neighborhood we found in Vienna. The city is very similar to Washington D.C in that there are a lot of large, looming, grandiose buildings. All of the cute, winding street neighborhoods were demolished back in the late 1800's to make way for the large, ostentatious buildings. Of course, WW2 didn't help much as we saw a lot of non-descript, boring, cement buildings. 

Another amazing playground. These play structures are so incredible. The boys loved them. Vienna has some truly great playground equipment!

Notice the pump and spigot. The kids can pump out water to rush down the platforms and redirect it if they choose. Gio had a blast with this!