On a Sunday morning we grabbed a quick breakfast on Stephensplatz (no more breakfast at Opera Suites) and took off for Bratislava. Once there, we walked to the Loft Hotel about halfway between the train station and old town. What a place - gorgeous modern room, huge bath, free minibar etc... We got into our room super early which is always a pleasant surprise, but I saw they also have a bag room if needed. We knew a lot of things would be closed on Monday so we set out to do as much as possible. We were at the Gallery Nedbalka as soon as it opened and I would rate this small modern art museum a don't miss. Our inexpensive admission price came with a free cup of coffee or tea at the cafe when we finished touring. By 14:30 we were down at the LOD docks to take a Danube cruise up to Devin Castle. It poured rain on the boat both going and returning but we had a glorious 2 rainfree hours to tour the Devin Castle ruins. There were also lovely views of Bratislava Castle from the boat. Dinner that night was at Koliba Kamzik where a rabbit dish was wonderful and an apple strudel with cherries was delicious. Breakfast at the Loft Hotel is in their attached restaurant Fabrik and was good. Next day was devoted to walking and photography and Bratislava is perfect for both of those. Mid afternoon, starving, we had burgers at Fat Louis which were good and very messy with hot, crisp fries. Later that evening we tried out the Grand Cru Wine Gallery which was so fun but we drank too much wine and ended up walking out with two bottles that we then had to carry to Prague and drink before we came home. Vacation challenges!
The next day we were off to Prague about mid-day. First class tickets for two were $41 so we splurged and sat in a wonderful compartment with complimentary sparking wine or oj, and water. The rest of the train was jam packed so we felt really good about this extravagance! En route we were intrigued by Brno. It's going on the list for another trip. Upon arrival, tired of carrying backpacks and now wine, and coming off those splurgy train tickets, we opted to try an Uber to our hotel. It worked great and saved some shoe leather. We stayed at the Grand Hotel Praha with a view of the Astronomical Clock. Amazingly, our room was very quiet despite the human theater going on down below. Dinner was excellent pizza at Gamberorosso which was so good we ate there again on our last night.
The next morning we had scheduled an ebike tour but there was rain most of the day, so we went to the Mucha Museum and then the Strahan monastery. We also dropped off some well used clothing for a wash and fold. We decided to have a big splurge dinner at U Modre Kachnicky II - the blue ducklng. We did their extravagant tasting menu with wine pairings and loved it. There was a pianist playing american pop music from when we were teenagers. The rain finally ended and the moon was gorgeous, so we spent several hours that night out doing night photography. On our second day we concentrated on the Synagogues - still raining - so that kept us inside a lot. That evening we had a concert in the Mirror Hall of the Klementinum. 4 strings, organ and soloist and it was an impressive performance. Dinner was at the Pivovar Stare Mesto and the food there was top notch. Don't miss the blueberry pancakes for dessert. Our last day was the Castle quarter and the rescheduled bike tour. These ebikes will get you up ANY hill. They were no joke. Some of the older folks on our tour did not enjoy it, and one fell and got scraped up. But we saw a lot and the cold rain that we were caught in passed quickly. On our last night, it was back to GamberoRossi for more pizza. Oh, and the macarons at the mad rabbit are to die for!
At 3:30am it was off to the airport for the marathon of flights home. They all went perfectly.