Part 1.
When Rita and I discussed our next trip we thought we should try a river cruise. We’d done ocean cruises but never one on a river. Of course, Viking came to mind because of the years of ads I’d seen on PBS. Since I have been to most of the cities on the Western European cruises, I wanted to do one to Eastern countries some of which would be new to me. Rita graciously agreed. We chose a Budapest to Bucharest Danube cruise called Passage to Eastern Europe followed by an indulgent 3 1/2 days in Paris so that I could see the “new” Notre Dame. We chose September-October to avoid the crowds and heat of summer but still have nice weather.
Sunday/Monday. I am happy to say that we did not have the transportation snafus that Glenna and I had on our Uzbekistan trip. All our flights went as scheduled. The food was airplane usual except that Rita, who seldom eats beef, had a great roast beef dish on the way over.
In Frankfurt we had a long line at customs (after navigating the longest jetway I have ever seen). We weren’t overly impressed with the airport which surprised me—no charging stations and a pretty disgusting women’s bathroom. In both Frankfurt and Budapest we were met at the gate by people from Viking. That was a foretaste of the service we experienced with Viking. After a half hour ride we arrived at our quite elegant hotel Corinthia on Grand Boulevard.
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| Lobby of Corinthia hotel |
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Table in the lobby of the hotel
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At 4:30 we joined a Viking walking tour of the neighborhood. Just a few blocks away was a nice street with lots of trees and statues of famous Hungarians such as Franz Liszt. Most of the buildings were lovely 19th c or earlier but every now and then we encountered one that was a replacement for a bombed out building unfortunately constructed in the truly awful Brutalist style.
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| Nice 19th c building |
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| Franz Lizst sculpture in the park |
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Franz Lizst above a doorway
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We had booked dinner at a place called Tati, a farm to table restaurant not far from our hotel. We started with an amuse bouche made with buckwheat followed by cabbage with tomatoes and then a wonderful goulash with good bread. Dessert was white chocolate balls with various additions including crumbs, jam and sour cream. 10,149 steps that day.
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Pretty dessert at Tati
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Tuesday. We were up early to catch our 8:30 sightseeing tour of the city—on a bus which I don’t think is a very good way to see a city but inevitable when the sites are spread out. We had the same guide as on our walking tour; she was a native of the city and very proud of her city, her country and her people. We passed many buildings and monuments and heard historical commentary all along the way. Definitely not the best way to get good pictures but I always like hearing the history.
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Building with sheathing that shows what the building looks like.
Clever, I thought. |
She emphasized the House of Terror on both tours; it focuses on the Communist period. I think that Glenna and I visited it in 2010; I didn’t have my glasses with me for some reason and had a hard time reading the labels resulting in a less than great experience. But it was a powerful one.
At Heroes Square we saw monuments to the seven chieftains of the Magyars, the people from the 800’s who settled the area now known as Hungary and who brought with them a language unlike any other European language and one which I have heard is very hard to learn.
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| Magyar warriors at foot of memorial |
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| View of Heroes Square |
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| Magyar sculpture in the square |
Our guide went back to the interrogations and torture endured during the Soviet era where captives had to sleep on the ground and many died and the 1956 uprising which was hopeless but which resulted in somewhat better treatment afterward because the Soviets did not want another rebellion. October 23, 1989 was the end of that era for the Hungarians; the Soviet statues all over the city were taken to Statues Park which Glenna and I saw.
We learned of the two cities Buda and Pest on the west and east sides of the Danube River. Pest was a small village in the 11th c when Buda was the seat of government. It later industrialized and became more important than Buda. In the winter the two sides were separated by a frozen river (with ice floes which made it dangerous). One prominent man was stuck on one side when he got word that his father had died, and he couldn’t get back for the funeral. He had a bridge built which is now popularly known as Chain Bridge because its iron construction looks like bicycle chains. That act united the sides, and in 1873 it was formalized. Pest continued to outdo Buda with the construction of beautiful houses and other buildings on Andrassy Blvd and Grand Blvd.
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| Just liked this building on Bajcsy-Zsillinksy ut |
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| Glimpse of St Stephens Cathedral |
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Chain Bridge with Hungarian National
Gallery in background |
We passed the Moorish-style Dohany St Synagogue. We had signed up for an afternoon excursion to it only to have it cancelled because of events there. I wanted Rita to experience it because I had been so impressed when Glenna and I saw it.
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| Dohany ut Synagogue |
We crossed over the Danube on the Elizabeth Bridge, named for the wife of Franz Josef, and saw the Liberty Statue (commemorating the end of the Nazi era though worse was to come under the Soviets) and the statue of St Gellert. Along the way we heard about the 500-year Ottoman occupation (we heard about this time in all five countries), a bad time for Hungarians where churches were converted to mosques. The Hapsburgs drove them out in 1686. Times were better for the Magyars under the Austro-Hungarian empire.
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| Another view of Chain Bridg |
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| Liberty Statue in Buda |
We drove up Castle Hill, the highlight of Buda, and got off the bus near Matthias Church and Fisherman’s Bastion.
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| Pretty building on Castle Hill |
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| Fisherman's Bastion from below |
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| Another sheathed building |
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| War statue on Castle Hill |
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| Statue of St Stephen I, national hero |
We visited the church which was damaged during the war and rebuilt after. The stained glass windows had been taken down and preserved in sand. We were so lucky to hear an organ concert while we were there—and to see the organist who often is out of sight. We climbed up to the area above the choir and walked down the west side as we listened.
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Tower of Matthias Church
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| View of Matthias Church |
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| Beautiful Matthias Church |
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Nave of Matthias Church
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Royal regalia
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Stained glass saved in wartime
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| Another view of the interior |
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| Organist giving his stirring concert |
Outside we walked along Fisherman’s Bastion, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and back down the hill with a stop at a souvenir shop and a chimney cake shop. That was so good and fun to watch being made.
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View of Pest from Fisherman's Bastion
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Betty and Rita from Fisherman's Bastion
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| View through an arch at Fisherman's Bastion |
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Last view of the Fisherman's Bastion
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The chimney cake shop
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Back on the bus we went back over to Pest and drove along the river and past more majestic buildings.
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| View of the Parliament Building in Pest |
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The Margaret Bridge
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In the afternoon we took a tram (trams are free for those 65 and older—we took advantage of that) to Margaret’s Island, an entire island in the Danube dedicated to fun. There were all kinds of vehicles for hire, waterfalls to watch, play areas for kids, running/walking paths, soccer, concerts, swimming and an arcade where they were setting up for Octoberfest.
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Soccer field on Margaret Island
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Ready for Octoberfest
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| More of the vehicles for hire |
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| Some of the vehicles for hire |
We sat for awhile and watched the water display coordinated with a concert of contemporary and classical songs. There was a poster that gave the schedule for the entire day—on the hour every hour. Very well done. After this walk I was convinced that my summer surgery to repair my hiatal hernia was the right thing to do; it had indeed cured my breathing problem. Rita was amazed at the difference. I even did well with stairs.
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| Fountains which really shot the water high |
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| More of the water show |
After exiting the island, we took another tram along the Danube and got views of both sides of the river.
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| Looking back at the Castle Hill in Buda |
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| We happened past some Viking long boats |
We wanted to visit the Bronze shoes memorial (which we had only glimpsed from the bus in the morning). It is a memorial commemorating the Jewish people who were told to take off their valuable shoes before being shot and falling backward into the Danube. There were 60 pairs of shoes because it was sixty years after the event when the memorial was constructed. Our guide that morning readily admitted that it was Hungarian Nazis who did the shooting. Very simple but effective memorial.
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Some of the shoes in the Bronze
Shoes memorial
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More of the bronze shoes
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| And children's shoes |
We rode farther down the tram line to where we thought the Market Hall was and looked all around for it. It turned out that we were at the wrong tram stop. It was closed by the time we discovered that and almost time for our dinner reservation nearby. My bruschetta and veal paprika were very good but also very filling. Two more trams and we were back at the hotel. 14,030 steps, a real accomplishment for me.
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| Bronze sculpture--I always like these |
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Dinner at Beef and Bone
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Wednesday. Up early again to get our luggage out into the hall by 8AM. We sat at breakfast for a long time just talking and then decided to take another tram just somewhere. We first walked down to the New York Café which had been touted by our guide—a really fancy eating place where one goes to be seen, I suspect.
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| Our hotel, the Corinthia |
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| Inside the very fancy New York Cafe |
We didn’t get anything but instead got on the #4 tram and rode. It took us through more residential areas on the Buda side before ending. So we got on a #17 to ride some more. I eventually was not sure where we were on our map so we got off and started back. I finally had to ask someone who got us back to the #4 and then to our hotel.
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| One of the Budapest trams--great system |
We were just in time to get the bus to our boat, the Viking Vidar named for a Norse god. We got right into our room which seemed small at first glance. I grew to appreciate it. There was plenty of storage—drawers and shelves and hangups. The bathroom was really efficient—getting the three things you need into a very small space. The shower had a wooden floor with just a slit near the front to let the water go out. Our balcony was also small but big enough for two chairs and a table. The whole room was an example of Scandinavian efficiency and style.
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| Plenty of storage in the room |
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| Rita on her bed in our room on Viking Vidar |
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| The tiny but efficient bathroom |
The rest of the boat was roomy by comparison. On our level was the dining room which could seat everyone on board—capacity was 200. Above the dining room was the lounge where special events took place or where one could just sit around and chat or play games or have a drink or read. There was a small library including books and a few games. On the upper level was an open deck, partly covered and partly open. It included lots of tables and chairs as well as a small oval track, shuffle board and a small golf hole. Unfortunately it was just a bit too cool to sit out there for any length of time for most of the trip—the perils of going in late September.
As we learned, Viking is definitely a quality company. The staff were very helpful and cheerful--if occasionally a little too cheerful for my taste. Our tour director was really good—enthusiastic and fun. The food was very good. We chafed a bit at having two sit-down meals every day, but that’s just our innate impatience. Every day we had a choice of food that was local to wherever we were as well as other choices. The guides on our excursions were uniformly good. Viking is routinely rated as the top cruise company.
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| Table setting in the dining room |
After the orientation was dinner. The literature said that dinner attire was elegant casual. We started out that way as did many others, but as the days wore on, the attire got more casual as did we. Over the course of the cruise we sat with many different people for meals. It was fun to hear about other people’s lives and experiences. We sat most often with two women, Trish and Kate, who had been work friends and were still traveling together.
That first evening we reversed the boat, riding upstream a bit to wait for the sun to go down so that when we went downstream we would see Budapest in all its lighted glory.
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| Budapest at night from our boat |
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| One of the bridges on the Danube |
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| Castle Hill at night |
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| Parliament from the boat |
One of the reasons I was interested in a river trip was that I figured we would see a lot more than one does on an ocean voyage where what you see most of the time is endless water. That didn’t turn out to be true. We almost always moved at night. Only one day did we deliberately travel during the day—to see a spectacular part of the Danube. 8769 steps
I’m going to insert here amidst the travelog a bit of history. In the coming days, when we were on a bus going somewhere or while walking around at a site, we heard about the history of the place/country we were in and about the life of the people today. It soon became clear that there is a lot of shared history in Eastern Europe. We heard again and again about the same conflicts that influenced the lives of the inhabitants, so here I will give a little of that shared history instead of reiterating it for every day. Hearing it over and over, we couldn’t help but think that the story of Eastern Europe is one of continuous conflict and domination by outsiders. And that history has no doubt influenced who these people are today.
Most of the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe are Slavs (with a common cultural identity and language origin) who migrated from Asia about 2000 BCE. All of the countries we visited (Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania) became a part of the Roman Republic/Empire some time after the founding of Rome in 753 BCE and later the Byzantine Empire when the Roman Empire split into East and West.
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The Roman Empire which included the areas we visited in the Balkans and north
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This rule continued until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. The 500-year Ottoman rule brought Islam to the area though other religions and their laws were generally tolerated. Many churches were repurposed as mosques as with Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofia) in Constantinople/Istanbul. After numerous conflicts the area where Croatia is today eventually came under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. With the rise of nationalism in the 19th c and defeat in World War I, the Ottoman Empire ended in 1918 as did the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
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| Ottoman Empire through the centuries |
But soon the area was under the influence of the Soviets. The ethnic groups of the Balkans (including the Serbs and the Croats) were incorporated into Yugoslavia, a Communist state but one which, under Tito, maintained a distance from Moscow. Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania were puppet states of the USSR.
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| Eastern Europe under the USSR |
That rule was thrown off in 1989 after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Yugoslavia collapsed, and the ethnic groups formed their own countries. Hostilities flared again among the Slavs in the 1991-1995 war in the Balkans. Since that time the countries have been able to maintain their independence, some more successful economically than others but none very successful. It seemed obvious to me that all that history had to take a toll on the outlook of the peoples who endured it. And, if our guides are typical, that is certainly the case. Now back to the travelog.
Thursday. This day we went to Kolacsa, Hungary, a town of several thousand which is 2000 years old. The whole area is very fertile because of ample humidity, 2000+ hours of sunlight in the growing season and soil 115” deep (average across the world is 6-11”). They grow wheat, barley, sunflowers and canola (the last two for the oils) and corn (for biofuel). Our guide told us that one field yielded 11 crops of hay in one season where in the US the average yield is 3 crops. We heard again and again about the wonderful agricultural land over the days. It was a point of pride in each of the countries.
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Fertile farmland
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Field of sunflowers
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| Amusing bales of hay |
As we entered Kolacsa we saw the old Russian area—where the Soviets lived when they occupied Hungary. They had their own stores, post office, pharmacy, primary schools and quarters for families. The locals call the barracks Stalin rococo. There was definitely no love lost there.
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| One of the "Stalin rococo" barracks |
We went first to a horse show. In this area they are great horsemen—stemming from their Magyar ancestors who came from the steppes of Mongolia. We first saw Hungarian gray cattle, very stolid and powerful animals.
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| Hungarian gray cattle |
Next were five horsemen and one comic on a donkey who cracked whips, never touching the horses but getting the sound near their ears—all so in a war the horses would not shy at a gunshot.
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Some of the horsemen
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Horses and riders performing
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| Very well trained horses |
There were then men in carriages pulled by three horses, one of whom was the leader because that works best when getting a carriage out of the mud. Following were 8 horses pulling a carriage and then horses where the driver was standing on two of the horses’ backs. It was a good show followed by a small refreshment of brandy and a cake.
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| Team of ten with rider straddling horses |
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| Rita at the horse show |
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| Betty at the horse show |
Our last stop was to the Church of the Assumption built in 1735-54 in the Italian baroque style which relied on sunshine and light colored walls for illumination. We were treated to an organ concert. They take great pride in their organ which has 4600+ pipes and which was first played by Franz Liszt. We were told that the place with the second most pipes is Sainte Chapelle in Paris (which we saw later in the trip) and the winner in the pipes war is the Sydney Opera House which has more than 10,000!
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Church of the Assumption in Kolacsa
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Interior of the church
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Some of the 4600+ pipes
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King Stephen I in his niche
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| Schoolchildren dutifully lined up |
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| Some of the houses along the Danube |
Back in the boat we had lunch, free time and a nice afternoon tea at 3:45. By the end we decided that doing an excursion in the morning and then not having anything else organized to do was not a good use of our money. Most of the time we were not docked at a town where we could easily go ashore in the afternoon. There were sometimes afternoon excursions, but we chose not to do any of them—so the free time was partly on us.
That evening was trivia time after dinner. We played with the friends I mentioned earlier. I didn’t know many of the answers (musicals trivia), but our team did pretty well anyway. Part of the fun was people getting up and dancing and singing to the songs. Only 5223 steps
Friday. The next morning we were docked in Vukovar in eastern Croatia just across the Danube from Serbia. On our bus trip to Osajek we heard some history of Croatia regarding its relations to its neighbors. We heard here that the main distinguishing features of the division among the Slavic peoples are religion, Roman vs Orthodox, and alphabet, Latin vs Cyrillic. Owning up to their failings, our guide admitted that during World War II the Croats were divided, one group cooperating with the Nazis and the other opposing the killing of Serbs, gypsies, Jews and fellow Croats. Josip Broz Tito was on the side of the resistance and at the end of the war established Communism—a type unique to Yugoslavia of which the Croats were a part. He brought jobs, free health care and relatively less rigidity. Our guide thought that the situation today was worse because people have to make their own way. For example, people in their 30’s often still live with their parents because they can’t afford to live on their own. Additionally, as many ethnic Croats live abroad as at home because of the lack of jobs for the young. Interesting perspective.
Our first stop near Osajek was to a home. In our case, it belonged to a family of mother, father, older daughter who was married with a 17-year old non-verbal autistic son and lived elsewhere and a younger daughter who still lived at home. The younger daughter had gone to university to become a beekeeper. She now has 30 hives and wants eventually to have 100. She told us all about her profession and supplemented it with a slide show of photos of her and her mother at work. They served us cake and mint tea as we listened. It was a really nice visit.
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The home that we visited near Osajek
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The beekeeper explaining her trade
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| Closeup of her bees |
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Betty in traditional costume
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We traveled on to Osajek and visited the Church of the Virgin Mary built in 1714. We heard a wonderful concert from a young soprano Martina who is a member of a group of musicians who had won singing contests in Sydney, Australia and South Korea and most recently had been named the best choir in the world in a competition in Denmark. She sang two folk tunes, Amazing Grace and Hallelejah.
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Inside the Church of the
Glorious Name of Mary |
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Steeple of Church of the
Glorious Name of Mary |
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| Soloist with a glorious voice |
There were remnants of a recent wedding in the church; our guide mentioned that weddings are very big in Croatia. In the rural areas they had a tradition of putting money in envelopes for the couple. When it was found that many of the envelopes were empty, the idea grew to open the envelopes at the reception and say how much was inside!
We learned something about their economics. They pay a 25% VAT, 18% of their salaries go for healthcare and 17% go to their pension fund. A typical factory job pays $1000 per month. So salaries are not great, thus the many Croats going abroad. Children begin learning English in kindergarten (ages 1-6) and continue through university (which is 5 years). German is their second language.
Our last visit was to the Fortress back in Vukovar built by the Hapsbergs. We saw pock-marked buildings from war, a Franciscan monastery, Holy Trinity Square with its monument containing St Roch with his wound which we had seen on a church and a stork nesting on City Hall. The previous year the stork had landed on the monument and the mayor had it taken down. They figured this was the stork’s revenge.
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| Pock marked walls--evidence of battle |
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| Vukovar street |
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| Nests on the Franciscan monastery |
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| Top of the St Roch monument |
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| St Roch at foot of monument |
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| Revenge stork's nest on City Hall chimney |
After lunch on the boat we walked back to the town where there was a little market and up the street visiting a shoe shop. Not really much to see but it added steps. We started a movie before dinner, fell asleep and finished it after dinner. No entertainment this night. 7753 steps
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Kid climbing up the blow-up slide
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Entrance to the small market in Vukovar
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| Pork with potatoes and cabbage for dinner |
Saturday. This morning we were docked in Belgrade, Serbia. (Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia.) First stop on our excursion of the day was to Belgrade Fortress on top of the hill which overlooks the town. Beo-grad means white city because the fortress is white. We heard a lot about the history of the area going back to Roman times through the Ottomans, Hapsburgs, Yugoslavia under Tito and the breakup into six Slavic states including Serbia. Again we heard that people are nostalgic for the time of Tito (when the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes were joined in the one country Yugoslavia--land of the Southern Slavs). Tito was a Communist but one friendly to some western ways such as private ownership and entrepreneurialism and befriended by Woodrow Wilson which drew them to the west and away from Russia. One of their exports was the Yugo, not known for its quality. They made many jokes about it—our guide said that Serbs have a dark sense of humor.
Yesterday our Croatian guide told us that we would hear the other side of the story today from our Serbian guide. But actually our guide was quite anti-war and wasn’t ready to give an advantage to either side in the wars that divided them. He didn’t even mention the 1990-95 war until someone asked and then only said that brothers were fighting and why? In his view the only difference between Croats and Serbs is religion.
After walking around the fortress grounds where we saw Hapsburg ruins and great views of the city and the two rivers—Sava and Danube--we had some free time on the shopping street where I got their famous snack, the burek. It was okay—filled pastry, mine with just cheese.
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| On the base of a war monument |
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| Statue in Kalmegdan Park |
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| Entrance to Belgrade Fortress |
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Some of the artillery from one of
the many wars
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| Fortress walls |
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| Lovely view of the Sava and Danube Rivers from atop the hill |
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Back of the Naked Man monument
commemorating Serbian victory over
the Ottomans and Austro-Hungarians |
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| Belgrade's Stari Grad walking street |
Back on the bus we rode by many civic buildings and then stopped at St Sava’s Church, a modern but very large Byzantine-style church full of gold and frescoes. I don’t think Rita was too impressed though I liked it. It was round with no chairs—they have to stand for the services which can be long!
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| St Sava's church |
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| Entryway of St Sava's church |
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| Interior of St Sava's |
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| Lots of gold and icons |
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| Arches and niches |
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| Icon of Jesus |
Our guide mentioned several Serb sporting heroes including Novak Djkovic who in the present political turmoil is on the side of the protesters—so he has moved to Greece. In the end our guide expressed optimism for Serbia.
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| Monument to Nikola Tesla, a national hero |
Before dinner I listened to a lecture on Serbia given by someone who has written a definitive book. His take: the Slavs came south and settled in the Balkans area. The three tribes--Slavs, Croats and Slovenes—define the people, not the modern day countries. The peak for the Slavs was the 14th c after which came the 500-year reign of the Ottomans.
After World War I the Serbs dominated in Yugoslavia until in 1934 King Alexander I was assassinated by a Croatian officer. The Croats killed 300-500,000 Serbs during this period.
In the Communist period the Soviets wanted an outlet to the Mediterranean. (This sounds exactly like the present-day Russians wanting an outlet to the Black Sea—thus part of the reason for their attack on Ukraine.) The West supported Yugoslavia to keep that from happening. The Soviets tried to kill Tito 22 times. When he died in 1980 he was succeeded by a rotating group of leaders which didn’t work. After the Berlin Wall fell, because of the many divisions among the Slavs, Yugoslavia broke up into 6 countries. Today the speaker said that Serbia would soon join the EU even though he also mentioned the corruption and economic struggles and political instability in the country. The young are protesting; they want change. This sounds so familiar!
In the evening we saw a folk group—three musicians and eight dancers in colorful costumes and lively music. They were very talented but the women’s loud high noises were quite annoying. 9198 steps
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| Serbian dance troupe for our entertainment |
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| Their costumes were very colorful |
Sunday. This was a good day—the best one for me. Our first stop on the excursion was to the Golubec Fortress in Serbia which was right where we were docked. It was built on the side of the mountain so was on several levels with round towers and lower structures. It was impregnable because of its odd shape. In a restored section inside we saw a facsimile of a very old book. The Russians have one page of the original and don’t appear to want to return it; it has a painting of a naked lady on it. There were nice exhibits of cannonballs, swords, arrowheads, chain mail and a very old vest from medieval times. There were also very nice views of the Danube and Bulgaria on the other side from the loopholes in the towers. At one point they built a road right through the castle but have since put it around and under.
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Butte across the Danube which was
probably an object of worship
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Evidence of iron in the rock today
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Adorable puppy who followed us all
the way to the site |
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| Traditional houses along the way |
In more recent times, while looking for something else, an archaeological team came across ruins. Continuing to dig, they found several earlier sites as is typical. Astoundingly the date range was 9500-7200 BC—Early Middle Mesolithic, Late Mesolithic, Transition and Neolithic. The most interesting fact was that in all the layers the houses were built in the shape of that rock across the Danube. All of them have a firepit in the middle and a red floor containing iron which kept the whole floor warm in the colder months. The largest house was in the center.
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Long view of the archaeological site
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Closer view of the houses and the layers
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Closeup of one house with its
distinctive shape and firepit |
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Guess as to what the dwelling
looked like |
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| View of a recreated interior |
Investigation of the skeletons found has shown that the people in the lower layers were taller, lived longer, had all their teeth when they died and ate 90% fish (mostly sturgeon whose caviar is high in Omega 3’s). And they all died a natural death indicating the lack of wars even though they invited outsiders into their communities and traded with others. Later people ate agricultural products and weren’t as healthy or strong.
One skeleton was found sitting up with softer bones, probably a shaman. Older ones were buried curled up; later ones were stretched out. Artifacts found include utensils, carved antler horns, stone tools, augurs and art objects. Human figures were depicted with sturgeon lips.
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| Skeleton laid out fully |
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Skeleton with knees bent
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| Skeleton on its side with knees bent |
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| Depiction of human with sturgeon mouth |
It was a fascinating place for me. In the 1970’s they decided to build a hydroelectric dam to capture the energy of the flowing water. That was going to make the Danube wider necessitating the relocation of the site. They moved it piece by piece to higher ground and built a structure around it to preserve the ruins and provide museum space for the findings. Well done.
Our last stop was to an artist’s home and workplace. He made interesting nature carvings from fallen trees, only altering them a little. We heard from the artist and got a nice sampling of local foods and a nice honey plum brandy.
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Our boat sailing past us
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Bird carved from wood finding
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More pretty October flowers
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| Carved animal of some sort |
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| Human face from the wood |
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Our very nice sampling and
honey plum brandy
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That afternoon we sat out in the chilly air on the top deck to watch the world go by. This was our day to travel on the Danube in daylight so that we could see the spectacular scenery. We rode past rocky crags on both sides, some with trees and some without, and went through the narrowest part of the Danube (300 m). We also rode past the Tabula Traiana erected by Trajan c 100 AD to mark the completion of a military road to facilitate his campaign against the Dacians and a wonderful rock carving of Decebalus, the last king of the Dacians.
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| Pretty scenery on the Romanian side of the Danube |
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| Settlement also on Romanian side |
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| Tabula Traiana from 100 AD! |
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Narrowest part of the Danube
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Mraconian Monastery
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| Statue of Decebalus carved out of the rock |
In an hour we were at the locks waiting for two ships to come through from the other direction before we could go through. We have been through locks before (Panama Canal, for example), so we watched as we went through the first lock and then went down to dinner.
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Approaching the locks
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Traveling through the locks
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| Lock up ahead |
This area of the Danube is where the time zone changes (from 6 hours ahead of NYC to 7 hours ahead). At one point my watch said one hour and Rita’s said another. It all depends on which satellite your phone is reading. At one point my phone and iPad read differently. 9450 steps
Monday. By morning Rita’s watch had not changed so we got up an hour later than we meant to and really had to hustle to make our excursion. Today we were in Bulgaria for our trip to Belogradchik Fortress and town (there’s that belo-grad again, so they had to add the ‘chik’ to mean little). It was very gloomy and spitting a little with sunshine later in the day. The bus ride was 75 minutes and we had commentary part of the way and then a video of singers one of which was an amazing 10-year old who was in the Eurovision Youth competition.
Our guide was once again proud of her country and her people—and particularly of her city Vidin. It really wasn't spectacular, but I do admire the fervency for one’s home. We learned that after the fall of Communism many factories closed. Some have since been taken over by international companies, but others are just rotting which we observed. The towns looked mostly rundown. She talked of the beautiful countryside; unfortunately it was too foggy for us to tell. She mentioned that many people left when the factories closed but some are now coming back, she was proud to say.
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| Delapidated factory |
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| Delapidated house |
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| Another delapidated house |
Long ago Thracian tribes settled the area. Most Bulgarians are descended from people of central Aisa who are Russians now. 80% are Orthodox and 10-12% are Muslims, a holdover from Ottoman times. She emphasized that Bulgarians are open-minded, kind and optimistic and get along well with one another. They use the Cyrillic alphabet and are proud of that (not sure why).
The fortress was built by the Ottomans to control the traffic on the river. Natural rocks were part of the fortification. I counted 140 steps, some a bit treacherous because of the odd shapes of the rocks and the wet ground. There was a higher level which we didn’t attempt. We could see that the views would have been very nice had it not been for the fog. We watched several videos on the way back to the boat—about the fortress, an important home, a museum and an archaeological site. It was very hard to read the small and not very distinguishable subtitles. Not a great excursion though the weather was partly to blame.
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| Belogradchik Fortress from afar |
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| Entrance to Belogradchic Fortress |
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| The wet path up to the fortress |
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| Fortress wall |
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Rather foggy view from the fortress but
you could see that it would be beautiful |
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Cat with a striped tail. I googled to see
what kind of cat it was, but none of the
examples were as beautiful as this one. |
By afternoon it had warmed up a little so we sat on the deck. Later two local young people spoke of their lives (incredible command of English) and then a dance troupe performed accompanied by a singer, accordionist and drummer. The dancing was pretty much like what we saw in Serbia, including the shouts from the males and the screeches from the females.
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| Nice salade nicoise for lunch |
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| Troupe of young Bulgarian dancers |
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| Taking a bow |
After the performance we learned from the captain that we would not be able to get to Ruse tomorrow. The Danube was too low, and we wouldn’t be able to dock there. Instead we would dock about an hour upstream. That would lengthen the time of the all-day excursion we had booked. Rita’s sinuses were giving her fits, so we decided to sign up instead for an improvised half-day excursion. (I’m sure it was all planned as an alternative by Viking in case this happened.) We heard later from a couple who had been on a different Viking cruise where the water was too high at one point to get under a bridge. There was another Viking cruise coming from the other direction (maybe that is planned also). So that morning they packed their bags and left for their excursion. When they got back, each group got on the other boat and went to the same cabin number where their luggage had been deposited. Very clever. We also heard from another couple of having to travel several days on buses because the boat couldn’t go at all—that would be a bummer. Only 5299 steps
Tuesday. Our alternative excursion in Bulgaria was a good one, and we were glad that we had switched even though we heard good reviews from some who had gone on the all-day one. We were docked at Nikopol and traveled via bus to Pleven. Our guide was young (36) and said he was single because he hadn’t found the girl who would be willing to share his lifestyle.
The first stop was to the Regional Military Historical Museum on the outskirts of Pleven. A very important battle took place in and around Pleven in 1877 resulting in the defeat of the Ottomans in Bulgaria, thus the museum to commemorate it. It was a museum in the round much like the Cyclorama in Atlanta with a painting of battle scenes all around on the walls and a recreated battle space in front of that behind which we stood. It was quite well done. The artifacts in the battle space were all from the actual battle from the Russo-Turkish war adding to the authenticity. There were also some very large paintings of events leading up to the battle and of the battle itself on the walls in the stairwells leading up the top where the round part was. The pictures showed Christians and Jews being heavily taxed by the Ottomans (for example, for the number of chimneys on their houses), the resulting protests, the talks and the eventual fighting. At the end there was a painting of the Turkish pasha wounded and in defeat, surrendering to the rebels.
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| Regional Military History Museum |
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| Painting of trouble brewing |
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| Painting of talk in the town |
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| Battle scene around Pleven |
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| Trench with dead body |
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| Broken carriage |
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Lone Ottoman cap, the distinguishing
feature between the two sides |
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| Soldiers called to action |
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| Osman Pasha defeated |
We drove into Pleven and visited first the Mausoleum of St George where I took one picture, forgetting momentarily that it was not allowed.
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| Mausoleum of St George in Pleven |
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| Door of the mausoleum |
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| Image I inadvertently took inside |
We then walked down through the town to the Church of St Nicholas, a small Orthodox place with lots of icons at the front. Our guide mentioned that neither 500 years of Ottoman rule nor 70 years of Communist influence could obliterate Christianity. Not so many go to church now, he said, because education is no longer controlled by the religious authorities. This church was built at a time when they had to be low so as not to call attention to themselves which also meant that the bell tower could not be attached.
Some facts we learnred about Romania: It was formed from three territories: Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania (which means across the woods). The first two united in 1859 when the Ottomans left and the third came along in 1918 after World War 1. The ancient group that the people are descended from are the Dacians (from Roman times). They use the Latin alphabet. The economy is not stable enough to use the euro. Total taxes are 45%; VAT is 21%. They have lots of deposits of salt and gold and silver. Of course, historically there were numerous invasions including Atilla. After World War II the people actually voted the Communists in which lasted until 1989. Some famous Romanians of note are Nadia Comaneci, Elie Nastase, Dracula and Nicolai Ceausescu who came from a modest family and who dropped out of school in 4th grade but nevertheless rose to lead the country in 1965 after a stint in jail for protesting. Romanian Communism was not as bad as some. Ceausescu cultivated relations with the West and brought industry and was popular at first. The Communists promised great things, in particular housing which they now derisively call commie condos.
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One of the Commie condos. This one doesn't look bad from afar.
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In Revolutionary Square we saw the famous man on the horse (King Carol I) whose statue isn’t exactly right. He didn’t die in battle as the horse’s raised leg would indicate and his raised tail wasn’t regal but rather indicated something else. The one there now is a replica because the original was melted down as was anything connected to the kings and used for statues of Ceausescu.
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| Revolutionary Square with statue of King Carol I |
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| Statue of Carol I |
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Revolutionary Square memorial
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Just down the square was the building from which Ceausescu gave his final speech from the balcony on the day of the revolution, Dec 21, 1989. We had a wonderful surprise visit—from one of the revolutionaries who was 15 at the time and there in the midst of it all. His words were quite moving as he described the events of that day and the subsequent days. An iconic picture of the day is of him holding up the Romanian flag with a hole in the center where the Communist emblem had been. He still has that flag and unfurled it for us as well as the bullet taken out of him. His best friend who was standing beside him was killed by government troops and he was later wounded.
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| The balcony from which Ceausescu made that last speech |
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| The casing for the bullet taken out of him |
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Our speaker holding the flag that he held in 1989
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The iconic picture of the Romanian revolution
with our speaker, then 15, holding up the flag
with the hole in it in what is now
called Revolutionary Square
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Ceausescu thought he would be cheered by the crowd but instead was booed. He retreated and tried to escape in a helicopter lifting off that building with his hated wife the next day, only to be tricked and captured. They were tried on Christmas day and executed by firing squad. Afterward it was determined that most of the bullets were directed at his wife. Romania was the last country in Eastern Europe to throw off the Communists, and they are very proud of their efforts. It was an inspiring hour for us—though Rita heard someone grumble that it would have been good if it had not been so much about him.
We walked a few blocks to a restaurant big enough to hold all of us and had a traditional Romanian meal—bread with sauces, squash soup, their version of goulash with roast potatoes and apple strudel. Good but a lot of food. On the way back to the bus we stopped into two Orthodox churches.
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Rita and Betty at lunch in the traditional restaurant
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The Romanian dancers who entertained us at lunch
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Our goulash-like meal
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Interior of Curtea Veche church
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| Curtea Veche church |
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| St Nicholas church |
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| Interior of St Nicholas church |
Our final stop was to an Open Air Museum in the northern part of the city. Along the way the housing was much nicer than the Communist-era ugly highrises that we had seen on the way in. Ceausescu, of course, lived in this northern section. The museum was like others I have visited—houses and churches and other buildings have been brought from all over the country so that visitors can get a sense of how the people lived over the centuries. I like these places, and I approve of them. There is a push right now to return art works to the country of origin. I understand that impulse. On the other hand, people can’t go to every country to see these wonderful pieces. It is only when some of them are collected certain places that we can appreciate the evolution of art—that magnificent expression of how man sees his world.
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| Grapini House from 1876 |
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One of the rooms of the Grapini House
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| I liked this fence made from sticks and straw |
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| 19th c farmstead |
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| Village church |
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| 19th c half-buried house (for warmth) |
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Back of half-buried house
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| 1898 house |
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| Interior of 1898 house |
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| Interior of 1884 house |
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Nice gate on 1815 house
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Then it was on to the Marriott where we were staying our last night. We ate our dinner in the bar—Caeser salad and chicken, just enough after the large lunch. Finally made 10,000 steps again.
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| Delapidated building as so many were |
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Parliament building
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End of Part 1. Go to Part 2.
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