Recovery

 So I've had Covid but I'm testing negative again now and it's nice to be out and about again and able to go to Starbucks.   It's just in time too - as I'm off to Iceland on vacation next week

9th June - Bucharest Day 2

This was our second day in Bucharest and the final day of our vacation.  We will be stopping off in the UK to visit family though, so we're not quite heading home yet.

This morning we had intended to do the tour of Vlad the Impaler's tomb.  However, there are some French dignitaries in town and they had been offered an official visit - so the tomb was shut to the general public. This meant I did not have to follow the advice of my friend Bridie and avoid tall, dark strangers in opera cloaks.

Instead we were taken on a tour of the Ceausescu Mansion, including the famous gold bathroom:

The afternoon was free so Becky and I decided to walk around and explore some places by ourselves. This is Revolution Square and the former Communist Headquarters building from which Ceausescu gave his final speech.

 After this we visited the beautiful fountains in Unirii Square.  There is a dancing fountain show with sound and light on weekends, but sadly we'll be on our way back to the UK tomorrow, so we won't be able to see it.

After a quick stop in Old Town for some souvenir shopping we stopped for coffee.  I just love the branding of this place.

This evening we had our final dinner of the vacation at a lovely Italian restaurant.  Tomorrow morning we get the minibus to the airport. 

8th June - Bucharest, Romania

 Today we left the ship and headed to Bucharest by coach.   Our first stop was the Palace of the Parliament. Built on the orders of Nicolae Ceausescu between 1984 and 1989, this is the second largest government building in the world after the Pentagon, and has over 1000 rooms.

 The building has some over the top decor.  The room below (now used as a conference room) was originally supposed to be an office for 1 person.

 

After this we were taken to the Old Town and given 2 hours at leisure to shop and get lunch.  Becky and I were not hungry and just had ice cream, but if we had been hungry we would definitely have tried out Dracula's Medieval Feast:

 

After lunch we were taken on a coach tour of the city which covered all the highlights and finally to the hotel. 
Becky and I were exhausted so we walked a short distance from the hotel to a small restaurant and had dinner before setting for an early night.

7th June - Rousse, Bulgaria

 This morning we docked in Rousse,  there was an option to go on a full day tour to some nearby attractions, but this was our last day on board and Becky and I wanted time to do our laundry and pack.
So we opted to just walk into Rousse by ourselves and take a quick look around.

Rousse is quite a pretty city, much more attractive than Vidin.  

We had coffee in a streetside cafe before heading back to the ship.  Our waiter didn't speak much English.  We ordered coffee and he said what we thought was "Long coffee?"  So we said yes, and ended up with Turkish coffees. 

After returning to the ship we did our packing and spent the afternoon relaxing on the sundeck.  Becky cannot understand how she came with a suitcase that was half empty and now she can't close her case anymore...

In the evening we had the Captain's farewell cocktail party and dinner.   I got a birthday cake delivered to the table.   I won't bother with a photo as it was identical to the birthday cake Becky got 3 days ago.

June 6th - A Wet day in Vidin

 This morning we docked in Vidin, Bulgaria.   We were  signed up for the tour to see the red rock formations, but as we were getting ready to walk off the ship a huge thunderstorm began.   We decided to skip the excursion as it probably would have been muddy/slippery on the rocks.

After 30 minutes the storm ended and the sun came out and it was a beautiful day,  so Becky and I decided to walk in to town and have a look around by ourselves.  Vidin is a good example of what I expected most towns in the former Eastern Bloc to look like.  Lots of concrete tower blocks and box shaped buildings

Pretty much the only thing of interest in the town is the Fortress of Baba Vida, which is one of very few intact fortresses in Bulgaria. 

Back on board we were treated to a concert of Bulgarian music and dance featuring local children.  Bulgarian folk music is unique within the Balkans for having an irregular tempo

The afternoon was spent on the sundeck watching the scenery as we cruised on down the Danube.  After dinner we had a Roaring Twenties party, which Becky and I dressed up for

June 5th - An even hotter day in Golubec

 This morning we visited Golubec castle.  Our guide, Nicola, was dressed in period costume.  The road used to run through the middle of the castle, but an EU grant paid for the road to be moved and the castle renovated,  

After this we took a coach to Lepenski Vir, another archeological museum.  Apparently there are many of these mesolithic archeological sites along this stretch of the Danube.  A dam was built in this area  in the 1970s, which significantly raised the level of the river and the original archeological site is now underwater.  But the museum was built further up the slope which recreated the original settlement and houses many of the artifacts found on the original site.  I'm afraid my battery ran out at this time, so I don't have any photos.

Back on the ship we spent the rest of the day sailing through the Iron Gorge, which is the narrowest part of the Danube with Transylvania on one side and Serbia on the other.   At one point our butler came up on deck to give us a demonstration of how to open a bottle of champagne using a sabre. 

This is our last day in Serbia.  Tomorrow we head on into Bulgaria.

June 4th - A Hot Day in Belgrade

 This morning we were docked in Belgrade and took a morning tour of the city by bus.  Our first stop was the Royal palace.   The Royal Chapel was beautifully painted.

We toured the ground floor of the palace and finally the basement, which is decorated in an elaborate style which reminded me of Cardiff Castle.

 

Tito lived in the palace and during his lifetime it was known as the forbidden city.   Today it is occupied by Crown Prince Alexander (born in Claridges hotel in London) and his wife Princess Katherine.   Serbia is still a Republic, but they allowed Alexander to return and live in the palace after he was instrumental in bonding together the various opposition groups that eventually overthrew Milosevic.  He did most of this by email as he wasn't even in the country at the time.  How do I know this?  Well because he and his wife came out to meet us and talk to our tour group. 

After the palace it was off to Belgrade fortress for a walk around.  The fortress is situated on a large area and is today the home of a dinosaur park, tennis courts and various other leisure activities.

 It was a very hot day.  So Becky and I decided not to walk back into town for shopping after lunch and instead hung out on the sundeck for the afternoon. 

In the evening we were treated to a local folk dance group who did traditional dances from various times in Serbian history, including some oriental style dancing from the Ottoman occupation of Belgrade.

It was Becky's birthday today and the restaurant manager delivered a special cake to our table:

I must apologize for the lateness of this post.   The internet connection onboard has been spotty for the last couple of days

Croatia

 We were up early this morning for our "face check" before being allowed to cross the border into Croatia. We were dropped off at a small town called Batina.  The plan was that we would do a full day bus tour while the ship sailed on down river, and we would meet up with the ship at the end of the day in Vukovar.

 

 We began our excursion with a trip to the Battle of Batina monument.  This is one of the few WWII monuments to survive in Croatia.  Most of the Communist built monuments have been destroyed as the usually included an image of a star (the star represesnted Communism).  However, during the war  for Croatian independence the Yugoslav National Army used a star as their symbol.  So the Croatians destroyed anything with a star on it.   The monument at Batina only survived because it was in an occupied area.

After this we took a tour across wine country stopping at a crafts museum for lunch.  The museum specialized in forgotten crafts such as how to make mud bricks, which we could have a go at. After that there was a very tasty (and filling) 3 course lunch.

In the afternoon we visited the Vucedol Archeological Museum.  The Vucedol people lived in the area 3000 years ago and had many skills that were advanced for that period.  They arranged the bodies of their dead to represent star constellations when they buried them:

 

Late in the afternoon we arrived in the town of Vukovar which was the scene of an 87 day siege during the Croatian war of independence.  The Yugoslav National Army shelled the town until there was virtually nothing left.  When the city finally surrendered atrocities were committed.  Today few pre-war structures exist and the city is much reduced in size and obviously still recovering.   Becky and I did manage to find a nice ice cream parlour to visit though.

Finally we made our way back to the ship for the evening's entertainment, which was a local Croatian Folk group.   They did a very impressive rendition of that famous Croatian Folk song: Blue Suede Shoes;  complete with Elvis impersonation.   Becky and I decided to skip the evening meal in the dining room as lunch had just been too filling.  

We will be leaving Croatia tonight and sailing on into Bulgaria.  Tomorrow we have a tour of Belgrade.

A Long Day in Budapest

 This morning Becky and I went on the City Tour of Budapest with a visit to Europe's largest synagogue.  Becky reckoned our guide was the worst guide she'd ever had. We started to a visit to the Fisherman's Bastion and the Mathias Cathedral on the Buda side.  But the guide wouldn't stop talking and we were late getting back to the bus - without even having had time to view the inside of the church.  Fortunately, Becky and I have been to Budapest before and saw the inside of the church last time.

So we were already running late for the 2nd half of the tour which was a visit to the largest Synagogue in Europe (2nd largest in the world after the one in New York).   Our guide then proceeded to sit us down and give us 10 minutes of general information about Judaism, rather than say anything about the building.  There were several Americans in the group who I think were Jewish, so it was a bit ridiculous for us to be having a lecture about what the Torah was.    I think the tour guide needs to rethink her career choice. The Aussie bus driver we had was a good laugh though.

 

In the morning we had been double parked and had had to walk through the Thurgau Tours ship to get to shore.  We were so late getting back to the ship that the Thurgau ship was leaving and we had to wait for them to go and our ship to then re-dock before we could get back on board for a very late lunch. 

After lunch we walked back into town to visit the central market.  Rather reminiscent of Cardiff Market - only a lot bigger.  

Back to the ship to be up on the sundeck and watch us pull away from the dock and leave Budapest at 5pm - heading towards Croatia. 

This evening was the Captain's cocktail party and welcome dinner.  The Captain is from Ukraine.
We sat with John and Liz from the Shetlands who we have become firm friends with.  

 

After dinner there was entertainment on offer in the lounge, with a saxaphonist and his vocal counterpart who seemed to think he was Barry White.   Becky and I decided on an early night as we have to be up at 6am for a "face check" when we cross the border into Croatia.  Croatia is not part of the Schengen area so we cannot simply sail from Hungary into Croatia without the red tape. I'm sure those customs agents arrange it for 6am hoping to see nubile young ladies in their night wear.  Too bad for them that the average age of the passengers on this ship is probably 70.

Finally on board

 After 2 days of travel with an overnight stop in London, Becky and I finally boarded our ship today. The S S Beatrice is very nice and they provided some lovely snacks for us in the lounge when we got on board (I wonder if I'll end up putting on weight on this trip??). 

The ship is only 2/3rds occupied and around half the guests seem to be members of a single group of Americans.  Not quite sure what they are celebrating.   We have met  3 nice couples so far and had a very nice 4 course dinner.   After dinner we went on a night cruise through Budapest to see the city all lit up. 

Tomorrow we're going on the "panoramic city tour"  which includes a visit to the 2nd largest synagogue in the world.