Bratislava, Slovakia: Quaint Little Town

Janine and I headed over the Bratislava, Slovakia--just a short train ride from Vienna--for the day.  Slovakia's capital is a quaint little town, with both a modern business section and a historic town center, filled with narrow cobbled streets, little shops and cafes, and plenty of old buildings.  We had lunch on one of the town squares, and for all you Sound of Music fans out there, I found a beer called Edelweiss :-)

One of Bratislava's claims to fame is that the cathedral there, St. Martin's, was the coronation site for eleven Turkish rulers of the Ottoman empire back in the Middle Ages.  The church itself was under restoration, but this square near it has similar architecture.

As per usual, we found the opera house--pictured behind me--which was an artwork in itself.  Overall, a charming visit.  One last anecdote: on our way in, we happened to be walking past the President's Palace.  All of a sudden, the police pass by, then turn into the palace, which was surrounded by a gate that we could see through.  We went up to the gate, and there was a band assembled and a guard of forty or so soldiers.  Then, the President gets out of one of the cars, and others (presumably foreign leaders?) get out of the second car.  The band starts playing, the soldiers do some sort of presentation, and the President walks the visitors around this red carpet that has been put out in as a sort of formal welcome mat.  They go inside, the band marches out, and the soldiers follow.  All this happens in the space of five minutes.  Welcome to Slovakia.