Day 10: July 17, 2025

 We arrived in Brativslata, Slovakia overnight. The sight outside our window was that of a blocky, Soviet-style building and a lot of concrete instead of green.

Beerdock?

After our exercise class, we had a short walking tour. The tour was offered by the ship company, not by VBT, so a large crowd assembled on shore. We split into at least four groups and our group was joined by non-VBTers.

This is what it looked like in each direction.

Natalia wanted us to have a specific guide. We got her, and she was hilarious but I don't seem to have a picture of her.

I was pretty done with palaces and government buildings, so I don't have many pictures of those. What struck me were the monuments. I'm not an art history major, but I'd describe the style as communist-era ugly.

Jewish Quarter. Even the chain surrounding the monument doesn't say "graceful".

After the tour, we got on our bikes.

I guess I was getting tired of taking pictures, because this is the only picture of our ride.

Today, I was a victim of inattention. It was chilly most of the week, but it usually warmed up during the day. This time, it didn't warm up much and it sprinkled a little on and off. I should have brought a rain jacket and arm warmers. I had neither. Plus I should have packed walking shoes and street clothes in the van for a walking tour after the ride although I asked Natalia about that during the briefing the day before. She thanked me for asking so that everyone would be prepared. Who forgot to bring walking shoes and a change of clothes?

We rode for about 11 miles into a strong headwind and then stopped for lunch. Don't be fooled by the sunshine.

This is not my favorite itinerary and I didn't much feel like getting back on the bike. We had 11 more miles to go and I thought about asking for the spare ebike. Fortunately, another strong rider on a hybrid had already claimed it. So, no wimping out!

The second half was not as bad as the first half, but still too much work to take pictures. And oddly, we never bothered to stop for a photo op.

Our ride ended with a short, steep climb to a parking lot of a palace, the Schloss Hof. It was really the only climb of the week.

Here's Alex hamming it up at the gate.

Our tour guide was from the UK and when I asked her how she got here, she said she fell in love with an Austrian but it didn't work out. She did get a daughter out of it (her words, not mine).

All week, we had been dodging rain, occasionally getting sprinkled on, but between Marty going to church and at least one of us wearing a rain jacket, we managed to stay dry. During our palace tour, it began to rain buckets. I asked the tour guide if there was a way to get to the bus without going outside and she lead us through a series of underground tunnels. I found this more interesting than more portraits and uncomfortable furniture in huge rooms.

The bus ride back to the boat gave me an opportunity to stretch out on the back seat and take a nap. Surprisingly, none of the boys took a blackmail picture of me drooling on the seat.

Near the end of the dinner window, the Activity Director put on Pharrell Williams' song, "Happy" (Mike's favorite song), and all of the staff came marching in. They were introduced by teams and I had a chance to meet the Executive Chef to thank him for making plant-based meals for me.

He's not in this picture, but one of our wait people described him to me as the "fat guy".

Day's riding, interrupted by lunch: https://www.strava.com/activities/15148403800, 22 flat miles