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We boarded our river cruise ship Amadagio on April 9th for a 7 night voyage from Budapest, Hungary to Rousse, Bulgaria. Our voyage will travel southeast down the Danube River through the former Yugoslavian Republic countries of Croatia and Serbia and the former Soviet Block countries of Bulgaria and Romania. While we don’t actually sail into the Black Sea, we will get fairly close to the juncture.
We were warmly greeted by several staff members in the airy lobby and escorted to our cabins. We were assigned to a 170 square foot Category B cabin 225 on the Cello Deck with French Balcony. The cabins are compact, but make efficient use of the space. The floor to ceiling glass doors made the room feel open and airy. There is a small wardrobe closet with digital safe and a small shelf closet on either side of the vanity area that contained an infotainment system consisting of a 17 inch plasma screen satellite TV, internet keyboard, music, movies and alarm clock system. The bedding was high quality thread count white on white linens with a pillow top covering that padded the gap between the two twin beds put together. The mattress was
Budapest
Danube River at Nightquite comfortable in this arrangement. There were two small end tables on either side of the bed and a sofa chair and ottoman next to the balcony door. There is also a large drawer underneath the bed for additional storage.
The bathroom was quite large for a river cruise ship. The shower was a delight with a glass door enclosure and a massaging Swiss type shower. Shelf space in the bathroom would be a bit tight however, if two women were traveling together.
After checking out our room, we were summoned to the Main Lounge where we would meet our Cruise Manager Maddy Caldaruse, from Bucharest, Romania. She provided a brief explanation of how the river cruise would operate during the next week. The main phrase used over and over was “Be flexible”. This was in regards to the immigration officers at each port along the way, because we would be passing through several countries that each operated with their own set of rules. This is different from river cruising in other parts of Europe, where immigration is not necessary because they all operate under the Schengen Rule. Meals would be open seating at designated times with a
la carte at dinner and buffet and a la carte at breakfast and dinner. Light breakfast and lunch would also be served everyday in the main lounge as an alternative to the main dining room. All tours in each port will be conducted with the use of a “magic box”, which is a personal portable speaker with earphone. The earphones were given to us in our cabins and each morning we would pick up a color designated box that would correspond to the same color tour bus and group. Normally, these color codes are representative of the activity level of the tour, but on this itinerary all tours would be the same level due to the limited choice and infrastructure in all ports except Vidin, Bulgaria.
We returned to the Main Lounge at 6:30 PM for our welcome aboard cocktail party where we got to meet the Captain and crew. Most of the crew were from Bulgaria and Romania.
We enjoyed a lovely dinner in the dining room and were entertained by roving musicians playing gypsy music. Dinner would be a nightly 5 course feast featuring appetizers, soups, salads, main courses including fresh (not frozen) fish or meats, and
sumptuous desserts. There were also delectable cheeses available at every meal. The dinners each night reflected the area we were visiting that day. The best part was the free flowing local wines (choice of red or white) and beer with dinner every night. I really enjoyed each of the wines they served.
After dinner, we went up to the Sun Deck to enjoy our scenic cruise at 9:00 PM up river past the chain bridge to see the Budapest sights lit up at night. It was a lovely way to begin our journey.
We had a nightcap at the Main Lounge Bar where we met the bar staff Stefan, Marcel and Alina. They were all from Romania and we got to know them pretty well by the end of our cruise. The nightly entertainment was provided by a very talented pianist named Kalin, with a flair for dressing.
After a great night’s sleep, we headed down to a delicious champagne buffet breakfast. Free flowing champagne is served every morning at the buffet table. My other favorite part was the daily bread spread, filled with fresh made breads, rolls and pastries, sure to make my hips spread by
Crypt
Sella Septachora Pecs the end of the voyage.
Today we are docked in Mohacs, Hungary in the region known as Transdanubia. There were no immigration formalities today since we are still in Hungary, so our tour set off on time at 8:30 AM. We drove through the town of Mohacs. Mohacs claim to fame is that the Hungarian army was defeated here by the Turks in 1526. The town is decorated with symbols of men wearing frightening hand made masks called buso in order to scare away the Turkish occupiers, and is commemorated with an annual festival of a mask parade. We also passed a few very large stork nests up on roofs and tops of telephone poles. Our guide explained that the Danube area has large numbers of storks giving birth at this time of year. They migrate north from Africa.
There aren’t many sights to visit in Mohacs, so we drove about an hour to the UNESCO world heritage site of Pecs. Pecs has also been voted a 2010 European Capital of Culture. It was a medieval walled city and about 1/3 of the wall still remains. The centre of the town is mainly a pedestrian zone with the
Wine Tasting
Kadar Winery in Villany main square, Szechenyi Ter, surrounded by beautiful baroque buildings and the Mosque Church built in the 16th century by the Turks and repossessed when the Turks were finally defeated.
We visited the Sopianae excavations in the center of Pecs. Sopianae was the name of this area in the 4th century when it was a Roman Christian enclave. The on going excavations have revealed several burial crypts with memorial chapels built directly above them. No catacombs were found which indicates the absence of Christian persecution during this time. Some of the frescoes found were in amazing condition, with the Peter and Paul Crypt being the most famous for being the first one discovered in 1782, and the extent to which it is decorated with biblical scenes.
We had some free time after the tour to stroll along Kiraly Utca, the main pedestrian street filled with shops and cafes. We found some paprika brandy to purchase (in our continuing attempt to find the most interesting cheap, local brandy we can find on our travels) and some very tasty dark beer called Szalon, made in Pecs.
We returned back to the ship and enjoyed some delicious Hungarian Goulash, before heading
out on our afternoon excursion to Villany, one of Hungary’s best known wine regions. It was a pleasant 45 minute drive through Hungary’s agricultural heartland to Gere Winery. We had an interesting tour through their wine cellar and production areas, before being treated to a tasting of 5 different wines. We all had an enjoyable afternoon before returning back to the ship.
Tonight was a French style bistro dinner followed by a roaring 20’s party in the Main Lounge. We loved our waiter, Alex from Romania. He said everyone calls him George Clooney, but we dubbed him Toby McGuire of Spiderman fame. Here is his photo…you be the judge. In any case, he was a real cutie with a fun personality. Everyone was given a hat or feather boa as they entered the lounge and all of the dining room staff came out to join us for dancing. It was a bit corny, but fun nonetheless.
We woke up in Vukovar, Croatia and met our first immigration stumbling block. The authorities decided they needed to do a passport/person face check, so we all had to line up and see the immigration authorities one by one, which delayed our
tour start by one hour. We were finally on our way at 9:30 am and loaded up the buses for our short ride through the town to the Ovcara Memorial. Our first sign that we weren’t in Kansas anymore, was the remains of a bombed out water tower a short distance from the ship. The town had evidence of bombed out buildings everywhere, with beautifully spruced up houses right next door. The guide explained that when Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, a Yugoslav army invaded Vukovar and the city fell resulting in four years of turmoil, sporadic fighting and destruction. The dispute settled down in 1995 with UN intervention and in 1998, Vukovar officially became part of Croatia.
The Ovcara Memorial pays a moving and emotional tribute to the over 200 Croats who were executed and buried in a mass grave during the invasion in November 1991. The victims included prisoners, hospital workers, women and children. The memorial consists of a barn where they were held and beaten, with a well done exhibit of photographs of the victims projected on the wall that fade in and out at random, with personal effects displayed under glass around
the edges of the building. The center displays a whirlpool type light that constantly spirals downward with the names of the victims. The outdoor memorial displays a simple, sobering black marble monument with a dove cutout surrounded by flowers and candles.
We had about 30 minutes to stroll through the main market area where we were more of a novelty, since this area is rarely visited by foreigners. We were also able to view some of the devastated buildings up close.
We returned to the ship for lunch and we set sail towards Serbia. We had a relaxing afternoon on board and enjoyed high tea as we arrived into the port of Novi Sad. The immigration officers collected all the passports again and scrutinized each one before granting the ship clearance.
We set off on our walking tour direct from the ship with our guide, Slobodan Stetic. We walked through a lovely park into the historic neighborhood of Stori Grad. The main pedestrian street called Dunavska was lined with boutiques and lively cafes. There was no evidence of the devastation by NATO bombardment during the Kosovo War of 1999. The city lost all of its three bridges,
communications, water and electricity, and its oil refinery was bombed daily resulting in severe pollution and widespread ecological damage.
Novi Sad has a history of being a tolerant city since the days of Queen Maria Theresa, when she decreed that a tolerant neighborhood be set up to accommodate Hungarians, ethnic Serbs, Christian orthodox, and Romanians. In the late 19th century, it was referred to as the Athens of Serbia, due to its Bohemian atmosphere of poets, novelists and publicists that lived here. It is also home to two large universities with over 40,000 students. This has led to it being a young and friendly city.
The main square was surrounded by churches and neo-classical buildings dating back to the 1800s. It was a colorful square filled with families out for an early evening stroll.
We returned to the ship for a Serbo-Croatian themed dinner with Croatian wines and then enjoyed a lecture about modern Serbia, presented by our guide Slobodan Stetic, who is a college professor in Belgrade. He explained the complex make up of the former Yugoslavia. The country has much diversity with two alphabets, three religions, four languages, five official nationalities, and six republics. The
national minorities include Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Macedonians, and Montenegrins with many national minorities including Albanians, Hungarians, Turks, Slovaks, Bulgars, Romanians, Czechs, Italians, Germans, and Gypsies. Together, these diverse peoples made up the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, governmentally organized into the six republics of Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Montenegro, and two autonomous provinces (within Serbia), Vojvodina and Kosovo.
Josep Tito was a benevolent dictator who repressed religious and cultural differences in the country through centralized nationalism. Mr. Stetic stated that most people prospered under his rule because Tito was able to keep the Soviet Union out of Yugoslavia by practicing communist/socialist principles that put the society on equal footing with each other. Land owners lost the most, because privately owned land was seized by the state and state run agriculture programs were put in place to make the country self sufficient. The profits made on those farms were paid back to the workers on the farm resulting in a socialist market economy. Tito was able to achieve his vision for a united brotherhood in Yugoslavia because he was a popular military leader who fended off the Germans during WWII. The economic state of the country was
Tight Squeeze
Ships docked together in Belgrade in disrepair, and Yugoslavia began to thrive under his rule. Unemployment fell to 6% and the infrastructure was greatly improved. Yugoslavia eventually began to distance their self from the Soviet Union and formed ties with the West.
Tito died in 1980 and the country openly mourned his death. The loss of his leadership, led to several different parties from each republic jockeying for position eventually leading to Slobadan Milosevijc being in charge. This ultimately resulted in civil war as he tried to maintain control over each republic exercising their right to secede from the Yugoslavian Republic. This right was written into a constitution set up by Tito over 20 years prior.
Today’s Yugoslavia is represented by each of the former republics as independent nations. The Kosovo province still seeks independent nation status that is not officially recognized by Serbia.
After the informative presentation, a number of us walked across the street to the park where a former military base bar was now open to the public. We got in trouble when some took flash photos of the sign on the military building next door, bringing out an armed soldier waving his arms with raised voice sharply stating “no photos”. We
giggled like school kids and entered the social club establishment. The bar was brightly lit with fluorescent lighting and had plastic tables covered with pink tablecloths. We ordered local tap beer, and got bottled beer. A couple ordered dark beer, which brought a huge smile from the bar keep. He ran to the bar and happily brought them a glass of slivovitz, the national drink. I guess something got lost in translation. Slivovitz reminded us of grappa made from plums. The most amazing part of the experience was the bill that came to about $12.00 USD for 20 bottles of beer and 2 slivovitz. Too bad it’s such a long commute !!
We re-boarded the ship in time to set sail for Belgrade. We saw Stephan the bartender coming back on board at the same time. His arm was in a sling and taped across his chest. We found out that he fell down the stairs and dislocated his shoulder, so would be recuperating in his cabin for the next few days. We wished him well and set off to bed.
We woke up and found ourselves staring into the kitchen of an adjacent river boat. This is river boat
life at popular ports. The river cruise ships tie up right next to each other reminding you that you are not alone and to keep your cabin curtains drawn. You actually step through the lobbies of several river ships to gain access to the shore.
We began our tour at 9:30 AM with a drive to Kalmegdan Fortress. The fort sits on a ridge above the city overlooking the confluence of the Danube and Sava Rivers. It was originally built in the 1st century A.D. but has been expanded over the years. The fortress provided beautiful panoramic views over the rivers and new Belgrade on the opposite side of the waterway. The famous Pobednik Monument commemorates Serbian victory in WW I in Thessaloniki. The statue was supposed to be erected in the city’s main square, but was banned to this location because of its nudity.
We re-boarded the bus and continued on a panoramic tour of the city. There were several destroyed buildings in view that were bombed by NATO in 1999. These showed the precision of laser guided missiles, where buildings on either side of the target were left untouched. Over its 2,300 years of history, Belgrade has been
Flower Filled Street
Skadarlija District - Belgrade destroyed and rebuilt 40 times. The tour guide insinuated her resentment towards the U.S. and other NATO nations for the last bombing of the city.
Our next stop was St. Sava’s Temple. It is a modern building built high on a hill where it can be seen from several points around the city. This is the largest Serbian Votive Temple and was named after the first archbishop of the Serbian church. The interior is still under construction.
We continued on to Republic Square and the main pedestrian promenade Mihailova Street. The square is surrounded by several beautiful buildings including the National Theater, the National Museum and the monument to Prince Mihailo. We had some free time to check out the myriad shops and cafes, before heading back to the ship for a special Balkan themed lunch.
After lunch, we took the ship’s shuttle bus back to Republic Square and headed off to the Skadarlija District. We strolled Skadarska Street famous for its Serbian cafes, galleries, antique and souvenir shops. It was a lively street full of beautiful flowers. We stopped at Sisir Moj for some Serbian bottled beer called Niksicko and later at an outdoor beer garden to have some
of the same beer fresh from the tap. We walked back to the main pedestrian zone past several modern outdoor cafes. The whole area had a young, university town feel to it.
We arrived back at the ship in time for an Eastern European themed dinner and were entertained in the main lounge afterwards, by a local Serbian folklore dance troupe. Our ship wasn’t sailing until midnight, so we ventured across the street from the pier to a nice, modern pub called Strauss where we were able to sample the dark Niksicko on tap. It was quite delicious.
We woke up just in time as we passed the Golubac Castle indicating that we entered the famous Iron Gates section of the Danube. The Iron Gates (Portile de Fier in Romanian) refers to the beautiful set of gorges through which the Danube River flows between Serbia in the South and Romania in the North. It extends for 84 miles and ends at the set of locks near Orsovo, Romania at the hydroelectric dam.
We passed by the isle of Moldova Veche with cliff faces soaring over 1600 feet. The narrowest gorge of the route at 500 feet is located in the
Orsova Valley and called the Great Kazan. It was at this site the legendary Roman emperor Trajan had Apollodorus of Damascus erect the legendary suspension bridge. His opponent Decebalus’ likeness is carved in the rock at this point.
We continued on to the gorge of Gospodin Vir, where a 1960s archeological survey found statues from the early Neolithic period, indicating the region has been inhabited for a very long time. From here be passed through the Sip Channel and ultimately to the Dam and locks. Most of the area along this area is now a protected national park.
We had a special Fruhschoppen lunch with beer and sausages in the lounge. Afterwards, several of us enjoyed the partly sunny weather up on the sun deck and polished off our bottles of Hungarian wine we bought at the supermarket. The Captain also gave wheelhouse tours.
We convened in the lounge for a talk by our cruise manager, Maddy, about her memories of living with communism in Romania. The most telling of her talk was how no one could ever voice their true opinion of the government, because you couldn’t trust that someone wouldn’t report you to the state. Making your displeasure
known publicly, would result in being sent to a work camp or prison.
We enjoyed a Black Sea themed dinner and reported to the lounge to watch a dance performance by children when we arrived in Vidin, Bulgaria. They were adorable and got several of us up on the dance floor to try our hand at the folklore group dance.
Several of us headed into town where they had a lovely park with several outdoor cafes. We sat outside and enjoyed the local Bulgarian beer Kamenitza. We saw most of the crew out and about enjoying themselves as well. Most of the crowd headed back to the ship while Billy and I pressed further into the park in search of dark beer. We found a nice looking café where our ship’s chef was eating and we figured that was a good place. We enjoyed a delicious Zagorka beer and then realized that we were at the local gay bar as we observed several of the patrons. We enjoyed the local color for a while and headed back for a good night’s sleep.
Our tour of Vidin and Belgradochik departed at 8:30 AM. We began our tour at the Baba
Vida fortress originally built by the Romans in the 10th century over an original Celtic settlement. The local preservation society put on a play for us on a grass stage inside the fortress that told the story of the empire falling to the Turks.
From there we continued on to Belogradshik nestled in the Stara Planina Mountains. Gigantic rock formations were formed over millions of years in the shape of obelisks, sandstone castles and oversized stone figures. A fortress was built on top of the hill by the Romans in the 3rd century A.D. and the Turks added several towers, gates and walls when they conquered Bulgaria. We enjoyed climbing to the top for beautiful views and photogenic landscapes.
After a lovely morning, we returned to the ship in time for a Bulgarian themed lunch. We set sail at 2 PM and headed for Romania. The rest of the afternoon was spent chatting in the lounge as we sailed down the river.
We enjoyed a farewell cocktail party with the Captain and other officers and a lovely candlelight dinner. Tonight’s featured wine was called “No Man’s Land” from Bulgaria. It was one of my favorites that we had all week.
We woke up in Giurgiu, Romania and departed the ship at 8:30 AM to begin our full day tour to Bucharest. It was about a one hour drive to the edge of the city. Our guide spoke a lot about Ceaucescu, the last Communist dictator of Romania, who was quite the egomaniac.
We got a big laugh out of the hundreds of cables curled up and stapled to the sides of telephone poles all over the city. Another odd sight, was red stained water flowing through all of the fountains to bring attention to the Hemophiliac Society.
Our first stop was the Palace of the Parliament. This was the masterpiece of Ceaucescu’s Centru Civic. It is a multi-purpose building containing both houses of the Romanian Parliament. It is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest civilian administrative building, most expensive administration building and heaviest building. It is the second largest administrative building in the world after the Pentagon. There are over 1000 rooms in the 12 story above ground and 8 story below ground building, half of which are used as offices. Ceaucescu originally intended for the building to house ministries, Communist party offices and apartments
Beautiful Mosaic
Bucharest Romanian Orthodox Church of high ranking officials, but this never came to be. He was ousted from office and executed before the building was completed. It took several years for the new government to decide what to do with it. In 1994, it officially became the home of the parliament and senate.
We saw ten of the largest, most ornate rooms of the palace. Each room was decorated with marble and ornate hand made draperies in silk and brocade. The large terrace provided a spectacular view across the main lawn and fountains.
From here, we drove past Revolution Square to the main Romanian Orthodox Church where Sunday services were being held. The surrounding buildings were decorated with frescoes and Byzantine tiles depicting biblical scenes.
We headed to the central park of Bucharest where we enjoyed a lovely Romanian lunch and were entertained by a professional folk dance troupe. The setting was lovely, surrounded by flowers on the lake front.
Our last stop in Bucharest was the open air Village Museum on the shores of Lake Herastrau. It was a wonderful collection of hundreds of dwellings, windmills, churches and structures from every region of the country.
We got back to the ship and set
sail for our short trip across the river to Rousse, Bulgaria. We enjoyed our final dinner on board and said our goodbyes to our staff favorites before turning in for the night.
The next morning, we disembarked the ship after breakfast and boarded our bus heading for Istanbul. We were supposed to fly from Bucharest, but ash clouds from the erupting volcano in Iceland resulted in airport closures across Europe, including Bucharest.
The story continues on the Turkish Delights Blog.
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Lilian Scott-Baer
non-member comment
Danube Cruise to Black Sea
Thank you so much for writing this blog. It certainly brings back memories. Cannot wait for your "Turkish Delights Blog".