May 29-31, 2017

May 29 - 31, 2017

 

Monday afternoon we arrived in Vidin, Bulgaria, where we took a walking tour of the town, including the medieval Fortress of Baba Vida and a small mosque in use today. After returning to the ship we were entertained during social hour by a quartet of ladies from the Ruse (Bulgaria) Philharmonic. Tonight we chose to dine in the "Bistro" where they are serving a special Balkan dinner this week.  It was quite good, but as usual, too much food!  We are getting to know our other passengers quite well.  Such a much more relaxed and friendly situation than on the large ocean cruises.

Fortress of Baba Vida

 

 

Osman Pazvantoglu Mosque

 

Tuesday morning was a relaxing sail...no ports and therefore no tours.  We were up early, though as we passed through the first lock of the Iron Gate. Passengers were encouraged to wear their bathrobes and go to the upper deck to view the passage through the locks, and we were served a cocktail, dubbed the "Lock-a-tini". We also passed by a huge stone carving/statue along the river: Decebalus (120 Ft). In the afternoon, while docked for Serbian customs clearance at the town of Donij Milanovic, we took a quick tour of an archeological site, Lipinski Vir.  This is a new tour Tauck is thinking about including in their itinerary, so we could choose to join the "experiment".  It was quite interesting.  We all agreed more time would have been nice.  Just a 20-30 minute drive from the ship and a recreated archeological site of early human settlement. Unfortunately the original site was flooded by the dams in the 1970's, but they began studying the area in the 60's and were able to recover (and relocate) many relics (human remains and dwellings) dating to 4000 to 5000 BC.

 

Going Through the Locks

 

 

 

 Fellow Passenger Helen (from Australia), Tour Guide Julia, Tour Director Vincenzo

Dave and Decebalus

Lipinsky Vir

 

 

 

Wednesday, May 31, we arrived in Belgrade, Serbia, early in the morning and were already docked by the time we woke up. Sailing on a river cruise is much smoother than an ocean cruise....most of the time we don't even know we are moving unless we are on an outside deck or looking out a window (which we do, a lot!). The weather has warmed up considerably, and it is now in the 80's.

Last night we changed our clocks one hour and now we are only 9 hours later than home! (i.e., when it's noon here it is 3am this morning at home.) The is the closest we will get to home time until we actually fly home!

 

This was a very long day! We started with an 8am lecture about Serbia followed by a 9:15 departure by coach for a city tour which included a fort, a church (of course), and the Tito Memorial.

 

Batons carrying messages honoring Tito

St. Sava Church

 

What used to be a moat is now a tennis court!

 

We returned to the ship for lunch and in the afternoon another "experimental" tour to the Tesla Museum.  For those who only know Tesla as the name of a car, this was quite an eye-opening experience. Such a talented inventor!

Statue of Tesla                                                                            

Bag made by Tesla's Mother

In the evening we were first entertained by an enthusiastic and talented troupe of young Serbian folk dancers, and then we were whisked away to the Royal Compound where we had a tour, a reception, and a dinner at the White Palace, built in the 1920's for the Yugoslavian royal family.  Crown Prince Alexander II of Serbia and his family live there today.  The changes in country names, borders, royalty, governments, and the accompanying wars in this part of the world are all very confusing to me! It was a beautiful setting, but we were all exhausted by the time we returned to the ship around 10pm.

Folk Dancing Demo on the Ship

 

 

Reception and Dinner at the Royal Compound