While in Budapest, we boarded our Viking ship for our cruise down the Danube. This article describes the stops we made each day on our cruise along the Danube. With Viking, there was an included tour each day. Most days we took the included tour but there were days when we decided to go it alone.
Kalocsa, Hungary
It was very warm for our first stop in Kalocsa, Hungary, located in the countryside and home to farmers and ranchers. First, we visited the church in the town of Kalocsa, it was quite beautiful.
The next stop was the Puszta horsemanship show and cultural center. After the requisite bus ride, we were given samples of brandy. We discovered that we liked the cherry brandy and didn’t like the plum one, slivovitz, which is much stronger. That was the warm-up. We also got to visit with the horses before the show.
After we took our seats in the bleachers, the riders came out in traditional costumes and went through a series of maneuvers that had their origins in cowboy activities. The show, including a clown of sorts on a donkey, was very entertaining.
After we returned to the boat, we had lunch and spent the rest of the day at leisure trying to stay cool.
Osijek, Croatia
The next day, we arrived at Osijek, Croatia, and took a tour around the town of Vukovar. With a church visit, of course. We also visited a small history museum that focused on the archeological history of the area.
Here we heard a lot about Marshal Tito, the dictator who led Yugoslavia for many years in the aftermath of World War II. Many citizens felt they were better off with Tito than they are now. Tito negotiated with the Soviets to be an independent state so the people were able to travel freely. Workers were able to afford a seaside vacation every year, which most cannot today.
In Vukovar, we also had a home visit with a Croatian/Serbian family. In addition to serving us traditional cake and wine, our host was very frank talking about the prejudices against Croatians in Serbia and Serbians in Croatia. Then you have to throw in the Bosnians. People are still extremely conscious of their ethnic background throughout the Balkans. They really seem to have lots of mixed families. Ethnic minority enclaves exist in all of the countries, creating tension, but their languages are similar enough so everyone understands each other.
In the afternoon, we had an optional tour of a winery for a little tasting. This was actually described as a large winery for this region but it seemed kind of small to us. We thought the wine was mediocre, but we have pretty sophisticated palettes. The outing was fun and the day was really nice but hot again.
Belgrade, Serbia
The most interesting thing we learned at this stop was how different the Serbian experience is from Croatia. Serbia is not part of the EU so they have not benefited from the trade and development funds available to EU countries.
Belgrade is located at the confluence of the Danube and the Sava rivers making it a perfect strategic city. First, we visited the Kalemegdan Fortress on the banks of the Danube. The fortress with its moat full of military equipment overlooks Belgrade. Everywhere you looked as we were driving around town you can see the evidence of the bloody conflict of the 1990’s.
We also visited one of the newer Russian Orthodox churches in Belgrade. In addition to being beautiful with lots of gold leaf, we learned about the typical Russian Orthodox iconography. That is what they call all of the scenes depicted in mosaics on the walls. Sometimes holy paintings or mosaics are sitting on easels at the front of the church and people pray to these. The scenes on the upper walls recount the lives of the Russian Orthodox saints and we saw similar iconography in all of the churches of Eastern Europe.
Golubac, Serbia
The fortress at Golubac was part of a fortress network along the Danube defended by nights in the 14th century. Much of the fortress has been restored in the last 20 years but it definitely maintains the look of a medieval fortress defended by knights. For most of the last few centuries, there was a road that went right through the fortress but once they decided that there was more to be gained from tourism, they closed the road and built a tunnel through another spot. In addition to climbing around the fortress, we were able to visit a small museum with artifacts that were found in the area during restoration.
This part of the Danube is probably the most picturesque on the rural part of the river. The river views and the great carved face were memorable sites.
Sailing the Iron Gate
That evening we were treated to a sail through the narrowest part of the Danube, the Iron Gate. It has steep rocks ending in the river forming a picturesque canyon and was difficult to navigate in prior centuries. Romans used to patrol this stretch of the Danube as it was once the border of the Roman Empire.
After the Iron Gate, we got to go through a series of locks on the Danube. We have gone through locks before in small boats but never in such a large boat. We spent the entire time, maybe an hour for two locks, sitting on the deck with a drink watching the action. Even though the action was actually pretty slow.
Vidin, Bulgaria
In Vidin, we drove out of town to a preserved medieval castle. The castle was originally part of the lookout towers created by the Romans about every 20 miles along their northern frontier. It was interesting to see how the Romans added to the natural rock formations to enclose the space to make a fortress/castle. At this castle, we climbed and climbed but then we were treated to very special views of the surrounding countryside. Because of the castle’s remote location, it was very well preserved even though all of the castles have been restored to one extent or another.
Visiting the Town of Vidin
After lunch on the ship, concluding with the best cherry ice cream we had until we got to Bologna, we went to explore the town of Vidin. We were honestly shocked at just how quiet it was. Before the fall of the Soviet Union, Vidin was a major industrial hub but after the fall, most of the population left to go to the big cities looking for work. There were an astonishing number of derelict buildings but there was a nice park along the riverside. This town was beyond quiet and we didn’t need to visit this part of Bulgaria again. But there is yet another medieval castle.
You can see the Soviet-era factories and the state of the buildings and public works. It was also a really hot day so we walked in the shade of a riverfront park.
Ruse, Bulgaria
In Ruse, we visited a small local museum that provided the history of the area over the last few thousand years. We also went to a very old semi-underground church where there were tombs of the local bishops. Then we went to the downtown area of Ruse where we were able to wander around our own. Our walk back to the boat was interesting too.
We also learned that during the Soviet era, most people owned their apartments. But many years on, there is no one who is responsible for maintaining the outside of the buildings or the infrastructure. Everyone just cares for their apartment, so the result is lots of buildings that look very run down. It is quite clear that the Bulgarians are rebuilding but it is going to take a long time in this area of Bulgaria far from the capital of Sofia.
After our short visit to Ruse, we got back on the boat and crossed the river to Romania. Here a group of young Romanian folk dancers boarded the ship and they performed traditional music and folk dances in traditional Romanian costumes. The performance was quite good and everyone had a good time.
Mike also made a final tribute to his father by having his favorite drink on our second to the last night on board, a Manhattan. Here’s to Dad and the Viking Cruise.
Overall Impressions
We were struck by the small towns we visited in Serbia and Bulgaria. What a world of difference EU membership seems to have. In Vidin, for example, while under Soviet rule, there were factories that got their raw materials from Russia and sent their finished goods to the Russian market. After the fall of communism, there were no more raw materials or markets for their products, so the factories closed down. This had a devastating effect on the economy of these towns.
The end result is that there just isn’t anything going on, the population has dwindled, there are derelict buildings all over, and it is just depressing.
There is a little more life in Serbia but they haven’t benefited from the influx of EU money and the ready European markets the way Croatia has. It will probably be a long time before we venture back to Serbia or Bulgaria even though we have heard good things about Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.
Which of these places would you like to visit?
