Thursday, Oct 12, 2023

Today we wake and have breakfast. I dish out a classic English Breakfast! We have signed up for the all day tour today. We don’t know what that entails. But like the troopers we are, we board the bus before 9AM and are lucky enough to get the front seat again! It turns out that we have in excess of a two hour ride to our destination! So that will be over 4 hours both ways to make up over half of our eight hour tour.

We are visiting Veliko Tarnovo, a very old town in Bulgaria. This town is famous for it’s beer brewery and it’s views overlooking the river and a castle. We also visit an old church where Chanters perform for us inside the acoustic interior. It is mesmerizing for sure!

Then we have lunch in a local hotel but it leaves us wanting better. The food is bland and overcooked. Well, I guess you can’t get it right all of the time! We wander along a cobblestone street and Elee even finds her obligatory hand painted painting to bring home!

The sign did say to take a selfie! So here you go!

Then, alas, it is time to depart for the 2 hour ride back to the ship. We arrive in time for the evening review of tomorrow’s activities and dinner. Then it is off to our stateroom to pack for we have to put our luggage out by 7 AM. It doesn’t take long and I even find time to go up to the lounge and see one more show put on by our Activities Director, Noel. He is a very talented performer and everyone is entertained!

Well it’s off to bed for us! See you tomorrow!

Wed, Oct 11 Vidin Bulgaria

We wake today in Bulgaria. We are being told the ship might not be able to get to Bucharest because of water levels. But we still carry on. Breakfast over, we board the buses for today’s excursion. We tour an old fortress in Vidin and it’s somewhat scenic. Fun stuff touring around ancient ruins.

We visit the Albutin Rock Monastery and see some strange headstones. Reading the descriptive sign doesn’t shed much light on what we are seeing!

Then it’s off to Dos Alamos Winery in the Danube Plains for a fun Wine Tasting and vineyard tour. The Owner takes to me when I tell him I am a small winemaker. We join his wine room tour and the barrels in the room are to be envied. Hundreds of barrels! During the wine tour and tasting, he gives us a “Barrel Tasting” of his “Gamza” wine, which is a new grape for us and a very tasty wine! So I buy a bottle to bring home! It turns out to be not nearly as good as the Barrel Taste!

Then it is back on board the ship for the rest of the day. The ship leaves the docks and we cruise on down the river. Several sights confront our cameras and we oblige them. Even see a River Dredge in action!

After dinner there is a show in the lounge where passengers get to express their dancing talents! We join them for several songs and all are happy!

So goodnight it is! See you tomorrow!

Tuesday, Oct 10 Milanovac & the Iron Gate

Up at 7AM today to have breakfast and be on the buses by 9AM. We cruised by some castle this morning at 6AM coming in. Turns out the castle is right next to us when we step off the ship. We are in Golubac, Serbia. This is what they call a ‘Technical Stop’ as we get off the ship and the ship will move on as we take our bus and walking tour today.

We board the buses and travel along the Danube. It is raining lightly but enough to obscure the vision of most things. We arrive at Lepenski Vir, an archaeological site where the oldest community on earth is documented. Not that it is the oldest, but the oldest ‘community’ ever found! They have built a museum roof over the site and you can walk around and see what the insides of the houses looked like. Outside they have a couple complete grass huts that show what the completed homes looked like. All in all a fun excursion!

Then it’s back on the buses where they take us to our ship which is now docked in Donji Milanovac and we have lunch. We have to walk across a barge to get on the ship and I find I can walk up to our room from the outside and a couple fun photos are acquired! As soon as we clear Customs, we will cruise down the Danube through the Iron Gorge. This is a much more scenic part of the Danube with mountains and hills. The scenes are beautiful and our cameras are happy once again! We meet with shipboard friends and start up a game of Mexican Train Dominos. But partway through the game our ship reaches the dam and Iron Gate Locks and our cameras complain at us because we are not setting up to photograph a new set of ship’s locks in the world! We are bound by our cameras wishes and walk away from the game to step out on the front of the ship.

This set of ship’s locks are different from what we have ever seen before. There are two locks here. The first lock is very intriguing and we enter it. As the water recedes (we are descending in altitude) the lock gates are unusual. Once we drop to our intended water level, the gates split in the middle. The top gate rises and the bottom two thirds drops down and goes under water. The red light turns to green and our ship drives under pipes and a bridge. Interesting! Then we find ourselves in a second lock where we drop further and this time, swing gates (like the Panama Canal Gates) swing open and we power out into the Danube once again! All told, we drop 30 Meters, a fantastic drop! Even the Panama Canal doesn’t drop that much total! We drive out into the Danube again and power on.

It is time for dinner. We go back inside and get our daily briefing and then go to dinner. It seems we may have to divert from our planned itinerary due to river water levels. We are told of a barge that is stuck on a sandbar. So we await the morning announcement to hear where we will go.

We go to the lounge for a Cabaret Show performed by our Activity Director and it is entertaining. I do not bring my cameras and therefore do not photograph it. Now it is time for bed so we bid you adieu!

Monday, Oct 9, 2023

Today it’s rise and shine at 7AM. We watch some lights of the city as it is dawn here at 7AM. Breakfast and on the buses by 9AM to visit the capitol of Serbia! We first visit the Fortress at the top of the hill. We learn about the ancient history of this area. Once a part of Yugoslavia, our Guide, Pavlo, tells us he is 34 years old and this is his birthplace. He has lived in 4 different countries in the same place during his life! He says he wants to die in Serbia and we get his drift!

We get some panoramic views from the fort and head back to the bus. Next we visit the Belgrade Temple. More amazing architecture both inside and out. We watch as patrons of the church come and go, digilently kissing all the alters. There is a lot of gold leaf and gold plating and the lights twinkle and shine!

Back on the bus we then visit a museum and mausoleum to an interesting dictator whom the people didn’t like but the government built a memorial to. Tito. I get some of the history of this dictator that murdered many people and it is a very poignant history. The interesting part is that our guide gets the museum to open just for us!

Then we go back to the ship and kick back for the afternoon. We turn down the opportunity to visit the places connected to Nicola Tesla who lived here. We are able to walk about town on our own but choose not to. We feel we have seen Belgrade, the “White City”. Originally called Beograd, Beo meaning ‘White’ and Grad meaning ‘City’. I do not understand why it is the White City, not much is white. Not like Amman Jordan where all the buildings are pretty much white marble and the city looks ‘White’ from a distance.

The internet is down on the ship and I have to wonder if it has something to do with our location. The general feeling we get here is that the people wish we weren’t here. It is sad and strange at the same time. We will be in Serbia again tomorrow so we will find out. In two days we will be in Bulgaria.

We have dinner and then it is upstairs to the lounge for a local dancers show that does not disappoint! Fun night in Belgrade!

See you all tomorrow!

Sunday, Oct 8, 2023 Vukovar to Osijek

We arise and have breakfast around 8 AM. At 9:30 AM we get on buses that take us into Vukovar, Croatia. We get off and walk around the city center. and our cameras are happy. A visit into a local church produces some fun photos! We see one of my nemesis restaurants and, against my best desires, I take a pic, LOL We take a short break and i try a local IPA. It’s just okay. But refreshing! We are making friends on the ship and another couple sits with us. Welcome Lee and Pam!

Shortly, we get back on the buses and head to Osijek about 20 minutes away. We tour the old armaments and other buildings and entertain our cameras!

After a tour of the old retired military armaments there, we then get dropped off at a private home where we meet the mother and daughter and they make us a fabulous lunch, consisting of salad, a rice dish and meatloaf made with local paprika. We are served a walnut liquor that is divine! I ask for the recipe to make it since I am currently making Brandy myself. She gives me the basic recipe and I am excited to try it when I get home! The meal is finished with a Apple Strudel and everyone is happy!

Back on the bus, we ride the hour or so back to the ship. I decide to stay on the ship and Elee joins a group that takes a hike to a local water tower with a view. She comes back with stories of climbing the tower with her bad knee! And scoring a glass of wine for the equivalent of $1.50! Then we have a local music group entertain us onboard with local music again!

We attend the itinerary meeting and then to dinner. After dinner we go to a show in the lounge where a local group of stringed instruments serenades us for an hour and a half and it is fun! Then it’s off to bed to refresh for tomorrow’s new day in Serbia!

See you then!