It was such a grand idea to take a break from city sights and visit a smaller town rich in history and architecture and only an hour away by train. The visit would add another country to our list of those we have visited too. We kept asking each other, did you ever dream you'd go to Slovakia??? We expected to see why artists are attracted to the city and hoped to walk along the banks of the Danube to view the Old Town Hall and St. Martin's Cathedral. We had heard about the Primatialpalais, the city's most wonderful palace that was once the Archbishop's winter castle but now houses the mayor and city government. Then we planned to have a late but fancy lunch at a romantic restaurant.

Some things just don't work out.

We boarded our 10:45 am train and settled into nice seats with a nice large window for viewing the passing landscape. Light snow was falling on our walk to the Underground but we had high hopes for a break in the weather. We packed a nice little cold breakfast of a bit of bread, cheese, eggs, and smoked meat along with fresh tomatoes and red pepper strips. As we rolled through the countryside, the snowfall became more noticeable and the wind was making snowflakes fall upwards and side-ways.

We arrived in Bratislava in a virtual wet, sloppy blizzard. We couldn't believe it. Even the locals said it was crazy weather! The wind was fierce and the snow literally stung our faces and wetted the legs of our pants. We had planned to leave the train at the station and catch a bus/tram into the old town for a walking tour. We got on the first bus we saw. Still wet from waiting for the bus, we decided not to get off in Old Town. Instead, we stayed on the bus as it made two trips to the perimeter of Old Town and back to the train station. The weather deteriorated even more. We got off the bus at the train station, went to a café and had a glass of wine and then caught the next train back to Vienna. Goodbye Bratislava.

The farmland countryside we passed enroute was pretty. Some fields were green with new sprouts, some were flowering and going to seed - we guessed these might be mustard seed; and some fields had been freshly tilled and looked black and rich. We saw deer stands too; at least we think their purpose was for deer hunting. It could be something else, but they sure looked like deer stands to us.

By the time we reached Vienna again, the horrid weather in Bratislava had extended to the city. We took the train to the Westbahnhof station. We had heard the area around this station was off the tourist track and offered great shopping and a wide variety of good restaurants. My Lord! The air was icy, the whipping wind turned my umbrella inside out and the snow was wetter than rain. It merely soaked in as it hit our faces and clothes. We walked a short way then popped into a hip -- translation: expensive -- hamburger bistro and had some pretty delicious burgers. Not ready to go to the apartment just yet after lunch, we tried the outdoors one more time. We were looking for a place to buy a Vienna Philharmonic CD. I know I could get one in Atlanta but I just have my heart set on buying the CD here. That too just did not work out! Our umbrellas kept flipping, our hands were freezing even with gloves and our clothes were getting wetter by the minute. We wanted to go home. Not even the adult toy shop could intrigue us to stay out a moment longer.

We have had such good luck with the weather thus far that is just doesn't seem right to complain. But boy, today's weather was vile, simply vile.