Bucharest to the Black Sea and Back

The Arch in Bucharest



McDonalds, new and old transportation



Chowcheske (sp?) Memorial in Bucharest

Fortress at the Black Sea

At the black sea

The boys in conversation after a beer lunch

Charlie and Mary at Black Sea

Nancy & Jim at Archeology Museum

Government bldg. in Bucharest

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Varna

·         This morning we departed by motor coach for a 3-12 hour (each way) excursion to the Black Sea resort town of Varna, Bulgaria

·         The charming city of Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, and another of Europe's oldest continually inhabited destinations.  A major agricultural, trade and shipbuilding center for the Ottoman Empire in the 16th-17th centuries, today it remains a popular seaside resort and hub of business and education.  It's also home to a number of notable sights:  The Varna Archaeological Museum features numerous regional artifacts, such as the Gold of Varna (thought to be the world's oldest gold), while the beautiful Sea Garden--the largest landscaped public part in the Balcans--is an ideal locale for which we gazed upon the Black Sea.

·         It was very cold and windy.

·         After lunch, we got a chance to dip our fingers into the Black Sea and collect some sea shells. 

·         After the ride back, we had dinner at our hotel and then up to bed.



Monday, November 14, 2011

Bucharest, Romania

·         This morning we explored the highlights of Bucharest during our city tour of Bucharest.  Bucharest is an old city that, since 1659, served as the capital of Wallachia and later, Romania.  During the 19th century, it was often referred to as "Little Paris of the East".  Today it is noted for its broad tree-lined boulevards, parks and architectural styles.  Highlights are the Arc de Triomphe, which commemorates the exploits of World War I soldiers and Revolution Square, where recent events in history are inscribed.

·         After a few picture taking stops, we were set loose in the Bucharest shopping mall for two hours.  We all had different items for lunch.  Bob and Mary -- McDonalds, the Montanos-- Chinese, Charlie and Rose- Lebanese food.  After much intense shopping, we came away with Star Bucks go cups with Romania printed on them.  What a find!!

·         We have our last happy hour in the hotel—and prepare for a farewell drink in the lobby before dinner at hotel - Ramada Plaza Bucharest.

·         36 of our tour group goes on to Transylvania.  We wanted to do this portion of the trip, but were told by GCT that it wasn’t available.  There will be strongly worded letter written to GCT upon our return.

·         We say our goodbyes to Radu, our guide as he leads the next tour group on to Transylvania.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Bucharest

·         Transfer to the airport for your flight home

·         We have an early check out (3:45 a.m.) for a 6:00 departure home through Amsterdam.  We are to arrive about 1:30 on the same day that we leave, even thought there is over a 10 hour time difference.

·         We have had lots of fun, and will never think of Eastern Europe the same again.  It is a country that is surviving, and doing quite well, as well as preserving the past.

Iron Gates to Bucharest

Our four program directors (Radu with microphone)

Charlie and Mary checking up on the Captain

Castle at the opening to the Iron Gates

Rock statue of Dacian king Decebalus (Decebal)  carved in mountain

Hi Mary--don't get stuck in the lock

Sundeck of the River Adagio while in the lock

Rose with wall of lock behind her on room deck

Our wonderful server in the dining room

Friday, November 11, 2011

·         Today we cruised the scenic stretch of the Danube known as the Iron Gates.  We got to the first lock around 2:00 and had to wait in line to go in.  It was  very impressive.  It is about the same size as Ice Harbor’s lock on the Columbia River.  The drop, however, was not quite as deep.  After we went through the first lock, then we immediately went into another lock before exiting back onto the river.

·         It was fun being in our room and watching it turn from daylight, to a dark, grey wall of darkness when we went down in the lock.  Upstairs, you could almost walk out onto the side of the lock when we were even with the pavement.  Mary would hang her head out the window and I would take her picture.

·         We later had a discussion about life under Communism with our four program directors.

·         Because we were going to leave the ship a day early, we had a special Captain’s farewell drink and dinner that evening.  And later on we had a special crew show.  The dinner was capped off by a baked Alaska

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Vidin, Bulgaria

·         This morning we docked at Vidin, one of Bulgaria's oldest towns. We toured the legendary Baba Vida fortress

·         After lunch onboard, we boarded buses for a 5 hour ride to Bucharest, Romania.  We arrived around 6:30 and after getting settled in our Ramada Plaza hotel, we had a late dinner.  The dinner was nothing like being on the ship.

·         The dinners on the ship were 6 star!!  It is hard going down.

Serbia

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Belgrade, Serbia

·         This morning we awoke to a very foggy day.  We looked out our window and could not see beyond our balcony.  After breakfast, we boarded our buses and had a tour of the city of Belgrade.  We stopped first at a church that was orthodox, and it was filled with beautiful frescos.  Then we went to the Sava Orthodox Cathedral--the world's largest Orthodox Cathedral, just a few steps away, that has been under construction for the past 180 years.  It is completely funded by the people of Serbia.  As we drove through the city, we could still see the buildings that were bombed in 1991 that have never been refurbished. 

·         Next we stopped at the Tito memorial.  Tito was the head of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1980.  After he died, the country was split into 6 countries.  Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Hersegovnia, and Macedonia (Not Kosovo).  At his memorial, they had a hall of gifts, that people from all over the world sent to Tito. 

·         Next we went to the Kalemegdan Castle, a fortress that was medieval.  It was located in the center of Belgrade.  From there you can see the Sava and the Danube converging. 

·         After lunch on board, we went back to the walking (pedestrian) street in Belgrade, and spent about an hour enjoying the city.

·         After a short rest, we went to the lounge to hear a candid discussion with Serbian students.  We then enjoyed a wonderful dinner of halibut followed by a fabulous dessert and entertainment in the lounge by folk dancers.

Belgrade, Serbia

Settled many centuries ago along import and East-West trade routes, Belgrade--Serbia's largest city and one of Europe's oldest--was used as a gateway to Western Europe from the Balkans. Today the historic capital is emerging from years of repressive rule. It boasts impressive parks, squares, monuments and architecture such as old Town Hall, St. Sava Orthodox Cathedral--the world's largest Orthodox Cathedral--and Kalemegdan Castle, as well as a pedestrian zone and arts and cultural scene.

Frescos in church in Serbia

Bombed out building in Serbia from 1991 war

The boys on the pedistrian street

River Adagio parked at dock in Serbia

Mary and Nancy at Tito Memorial

Croatia

Charlie and Nancy with home host Anna

Musicians at school

Radu (our guide) with Bob

Bullet holes in Croatia

Wednesday, November 9

Vukovar, Croatio

·        We cruised all night and arrived in the Croatian town of Osijek.  After breakfast and customs checking, we disembarked to meet our tour guide Sarah.  She was so beautiful that the boys teased Radu that they wanted to trade him in for Sarah.  Of course, the girls wouldn’t let that happen. 

·        As we walked around the town of Vukovar, you could see where many buildings still had the destruction of war with bullet holes in the buildings.  Most of the city was destroyed in this 1991 war, and you can still feel it as you look around.  The bus driver picked us up at the other end of the town and we drove to Osijek where first visited a fortress.  We walked around the fortress.  We were told about a Vegga packet (spice) that you use to put into everything you cook except desert.  Later on we got to sample some of the spices in a soup at our home-host meal.  We were able to purchase the packets as souvenirs to take home – will try to duplicate it when making vegetable soup.

·        Next we visited with students at a local school (Dobrisa Cesaric school) supported by Grand Circle Foundation where they gave us a tremendous music concert.  The instruments were purchased by donations from GCT.  Every time we go on a trip, $10 of each person’s trip goes towards this school. 

·        We then boarded the bus and were split in groups of 10 each to partake of a home-hosted lunch with a local family.  Our hostess was Anna.  Everything that we ate and drank was grown by her or her family.  We had meatballs, butterbeans (with paprika sauce), Yukon gold mashed potatoes, and coleslaw.  The wine was home made, and she mixed wine and coke to make a really good drink (name to be provided later).  She lived in a beautiful home with a view of the Danube.  The chocolate mouse cake at the end of the meal was fabulous—made with 6 eggs and real chocolate.

·        We waddled back to the buses and relaxed before enjoying dinner (eating again) and local folk singing entertainment onboard.  Tomorrow we visit Serbia.  One of our program guides (Tatiana) is from Serbia, and she gave a tear-choked description of what we will see tomorrow. 

Sailing the Danube

Mary & Nancy in Szentendre

Parliament at night

Budapest at night

Harvesting the paprika

Riding 5 horses

Bob and Mary tasting hot chocolate

Boys relaxing on deck without adult supervision

Horse carriage ride

Monday, November 7, 2011

·         This morning during breakfast, the captain repositioned the ship to the Buda side of the Danube, and we boarded the bus to tour the town of Szentendre.  This thousand year old town is famous for the architecture which is saved from the 18^th century.  We walked the town for about 2 hours.  We drank a hot chocolate drink that if you stood your spoon in it, it would stand straight up.  Yum!! 

·         We returned to the boat, which was again repositioned back onto the Pest side of the Danube.  After lunch we hopped on one of the local trains and sent into the marketplace in Budapest.  We had a donut-like snack (local) that looked like elephant ears.  We walked back along the main street to the boat. 

The big kahona

Budapest Cow? (or is it Chicago)

The Shoes memorial

extra large eggplant

·         Before coming on board we walked past the boat to a memorial for the victims of the Natzis who threw the people off the banks of the river after they shot them.  All that was left was their shoes, and the memorial is nothing but bronzed shoes lining the river bank.  Very sad.

·         Back on board after dinner, we finally set sail from Budapest.  We bundled up and went onto the bridge and a scenic “Budapest by Night”, narrated by our program director.  It was spectacular—the weather was very clear (which is not always the case because of the high pollution).  We sailed all evening—and cruised to Kalocsa. 

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Kalocsa

·         This morning we awoke to the ship being parked along the banks outside of Kalocsa.  After breakfast, Nancy, Rose & Mary boarded a bus and we had an optional tour -  Traditions of the Hungarian Countryside.  This included a visit to a local church where we enjoyed a 25-minute organ concert.  Next we visited a Paprika Museum, and a folk village house museum.  We then went to Bakodpuszra to enjoy the horse show.  We weren’t particularly impressed with the show, but the carriage ride (actually a ride in a covered farm wagon drawn by horses), a visit to the horse stalls and seeing the curly haired pigs was enjoyable.  We would not recommend this optional (expensive) tour to anyone.  We did learn about paprika and bought some sweet as well as hot paprika for souveniers.

·         The guys enjoyed their own (free) tour in town, and seemed quite happy to be without wife supervision!!

·         After a lunch on board of stuffed Hungarian peppers and ice cream (there is always ice cream at lunch and dinner), we napped as the ship sails toward Croatia.

·         At 5:00 we stopped in Mohacs for customs clearance, while the Inner Circle people enjoyed a cocktail reception in the dining room.  The Inner Circle people are those who have traveled with GCT or OAT more than 3 times.  We were surprised when the program director announced the most traveled couple with GCT/OAT as the Grays, and handed us a lovely gift.  They asked our best trips which was hard to say—but I picked Antarctica and Africa, and Bob followed it by saying that all the trips were good—none were bad!!   

Mary eating "elephant ears"

·         At the program review for the next day, the program directors made an announcement that because the Danube River is so low, we won’t be able to complete the trip entirely by water (ship).  On the 10^th day of our trip, we will be leaving the ship early and going by bus from Bulgaria to Bucharest.  We will stay in a hotel in Bucharest for the last 3 days of our trip.  You just have to be flexible with these things.  Most people were accepting, but there are always a few complainers.  This is what the traveling adventure is all about!!

Life on the ship

·         The M/S Adagio is a beautiful ship.  It has three floors and a top deck that is wonderful to lounge on and take in the views of Budapest.  The top floor of the ship has cabins with small decks (enough to fit two chairs on—no table) but the advantage is a sliding glass door.  The next two floors have windows for viewing, but they do not open—no fresh air.  They are bigger rooms because they don’t have the tiny decks.

·         The biggest  complaint of the passengers is that when in port, you are usually parking next to another ship.  So when you look our your deck or window, you may be looking into the next ship’s cabin.  Fortunately, two of our rooms are on one side of the ship (which is facing shore today) and we actually have a view.  In the next port, we may not have that advantage, so one of our rooms is on the other side.  We hope to have one open side of the ship for our gatherings in the afternoon for happy hour.

·         The dining room is surrounded by windows.  The lounge is also surrounded by windows.  There is a library, exercise room (which is mostly vacant—because of the elderly age of most passengers) and it has a whirlpool and sauna.  There is also a massage therapist on board.  Mary can tell you about her foot massage yesterday.

·         The best part of the day is early in the morning and late in the evening.  The views are fantastic.  We are waking up early, and there is 24 hour coffee, espresso and capacinno service in the lounge, so you don’t have to wait.  There are usually fruit and pastries too.

Happy hour in the Gray's cabin

·         Our happy hour last night consisted of warm Hungarian beer served over ice (Soporini an d Kozel) and a Hungarian red wine cabarnet wine (less than 2 buck check) that wasn’t half bad.  Tonight we drink a more expensive wine that we have bought on the street.  We are sampling all the local fare—looking for apricot stuffed chocolate –perhaps we will find it on our shopping trip today.

 

Budapost again

Budapest at Night

Rose & Mary in Budapest at Night

Return from Shopping (in front of our ship)

Feast at lunch

On the Danube

Charlie and Mary kicking up the leaves

Beautiful fall follage on the Danube

Budapest, Hungary

Budapest, capital of Hungary, is the nation's political and cultural heart.  Spanned by ten bridges, the legendary Danube divides Budapest into two distinct halves:  Pest, the contemporary east bank, and Buda, the more historic west bank. 

Saturday, November, 5, 2011

Budapest

·         This morning after a wonderful sleep, we had a huge buffet breakfast.  Then we boarded a bus that took us on a city tour of  Budapest.  We began our tour in Buda and drove across the chain bridge to Pest.  We went to St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Castle Hill, Hero Square, and then to many of Budapest's historic sites and museums, including the Royal Palace. 

·         Back on board, we had lunch and then strolled along Andrassy Avenue, lined with palaces, high-end boutiques and restaurants. We had “glu wine” (reminding us of our Christmas on the Rhine cruise a few years ago) on our walk back to the ship.    

·         After relaxing for a while, we dressed for the Captains Welcome Dinner.  Mary and Charlie (15 trips with OAT/GCT) and Bob and Rose (18 trips with OAT/GCT) were invited to sit at the captain’s table, where we had bottled wine.  It was a pleasant evening.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

·         This morning we awoke to a most beautiful day.  Sun was shining, and it wasn’t that cold outside.  After a wonderful breakfast, we readied for our optional Medieval Hungary tour.

·         We boarded the bus for our journey to the historic town of Esztergom, birthplace of the first Hungarian king and site of a Roman fortress.  Later in Visegrad, we visited the Renaissance Palace Museum and have a delicious meal of medieval royal recipes.  The red and white wine flowed, and we had crowns on our head like kings and queens.  We could not believe the beautiful fall follage everywhere.  It was like being in New England, but with a most glorious charm of the old world.

·         Our guide Kate is the presenter who will be talking later about the Hungarian traditions during an onboard talk.  She was a fabulous guide.