VRC Slovakia: Bratislava

Bratislava is pleasantly whimsical but small.  After our short tour, we raced to Tesco on the basis that it sold the best and cheapest chocolates in all of Europe (per our unbiased Slovakian Program Director).  We found the chocolates and much more.  This Tesco was not like a London Tesco - it was filled with clothing bargains.  I paid $2.75 for a very nice fleece cap and when I went to the counter, I got an additional 25% off.  That is when Teresa and I both went back and stocked up on winter accessories (for those chilly Peruvian and Houston winters.)

As darkness fell, the town became more dramatic because of the special lighting on the castle and churches.  We climbed up to Bratislava Castle for a panoramic night view of the city.  Inside the castle walls, we discovered the "Amazing Planet" photography exhibit by Filip Kulisev.  We were mesmerized for over an hour. 

Last but not least, I have a special interest in Slovakia because my grandmother (mother's mother) and her family came from Slovakia (although from the Tatra mountains and my grandmother fondly remembered visiting Prague but never mentioned Bratislava).  This is how she and a dancing partner might have dressed, had she not sailed to Ellis Island for a new life in New Jersey when she was 11.

VRC Hungary: Budapest

It was pouring in Budapest so Teresa and most of the ship opted for the bus tour.  A few stalwarts and I insisted on the walking tour since we were promised a ride on a funicular and the metro.

We also toured an abandoned apartment in which we could still admire its opulent luxury.

Later, we compared notes over coffee and pastry at Cafe Gerbeaud.

We found we had both seen many of the same "must-see" Budapest highlights including the Royal Palace (only a facade), Fishermen's Bastion, the Chain Bridge connecting hilltop Buda with sprawling lower Pest (note Hammersmith Bridge engineer William Tierney Clark also designed this bridge), and the colorful roof of Matyas Church fronted by King / Saint Stephen.

Together, we visited St Stephen's Basilica.

And took a few night photos before returning to the ship.

 

VRC Hungary: Kalocsa

We enjoyed a triple feature in Kalocsa: Puszta Horse Show, Home Tour, and Evening Church Organ Concert.

VRC Serbia: Belgrade

Belgrade is at the confluence of the Sava River and the Danube.  Belgrade's oldest site, the walled Kalemegdan Fortress, is perched high above these rivers.

Our enthusiastic guide pointed out some serious signs of bombing during the most recent war

St Sava's Temple was both impressive and still under construction (or perhaps being repaired)

VRC Iron Gate & Viminacium

The Iron Gate is a series of gorges between Serbia and Romania that used to render passage at this point almost impossible.  Two locks and a dam made passage safer if less dramatic. 

After the Roman Emperor Trajan defeated the Dacians almost 2000 years ago, he set down the Tabula Traiana on the Serbian side of the Danube as a marker to commemorate the building of a road into Dacia.  More recently in 2004, sculptors completed a statue of the defeated Dacian King Decebalus on the Romanian side of the Danube.  It took  12 sculptors 10 years to complete the 40-meter high monument, the tallest rock scupture in Europe.

Later that evening, we transferred off the ship in darkness on to a bus.  Passing concrete apartments that looked abandoned and a working Serbian coal plant, we lumbered closer to an eerie glow in the distance.  This was the first of the tented excavations of Viminacium, a northern Roman outpost. 

The extensive baths and history of the site provided a good introduction but the necropolis under the next tent was the highlight.  Archeologists discovered over 2000 tombs and have left some skeletons exposed. 

Clinging to one another, we crawled underground to view colored frescos of the entombed.

VRC Bulgaria: Belogradchik Rocks & Fortress and Vidin

Teresa scaled Belogradchik Fortress for a birdseye view of the surreal landscape.  Some of the outcroppings reach 200 meters. 

After we returned to the ship, we were allowed to wander around Vidin.  Much to our surprise, we discovered the Baba Vida castle which we explored thoroughly.

Heading into town, we saw an abandonded synagogue and a beautiful church out of which we saw a priest and his entourage hurrying towards our ship to give a lecture on the orthodox church.