Belgrade, Serbia

Our next stop was Serbia.  This is part of the region that was held together in relative peace during the time of Tito, but has fallen back into a series of wars in recent years.  The region is currently at peace, but evidence of war is everywhere, and we didn't get the feeling that peace will be everlasting.  Serbia and Croatia are the two newest members of the European Union, however, and there was much hopeful talk about the benefits of that association.

Our first stop in Serbia was the Kalamegdan Fortress in Belgrade.  This fortress was once the entire city of Belgrade because in ancient times, the entire population lived inside it.  Our guide explained its value because the site is so easily defended, but when he also told us briefly about the many times the fortress has changed hands, I couldn't help wondering at the irony of that first statement.  Apparently, it is also easily conquered?

The entrance to the fortress

Impressive and old

I love finding signs that make me laugh.  The truth is that you could easily fall from this wall.  In many countries, there would be protective fences to save the public from its own carelessness.  The openness here reminds me of places my family visited when I was a child--before we all became so safety conscious and wary of the potential for lawsuits.

Turning a little the other way, you can see there is a wide view of the area surrounding the fortress from the safety of its walls.  The view is peaceful and impressive now, but I'm sure in the days when a fortress could save you from enemy incursions, this would have seemed to be a safe haven with excellent lookout potential.

Another warning sign--at the entrance to the main exit gate.  We were happy to make it through with no head pounding rock slides.

The Iron Gates

The Danube River flows through a gorge that separates the Carpathian Mountains of southern Romania from the foothills of the Balkan Mountains.  The Romanian-Yugoslav project of the Iron Gates dam tamed the river in 1972, allowing easier boat passage and creating two hydroelectric plants.  I didn't photograph the dam or the locks, but below are sights as we traveled through.  The truth is, this project is the only reason we were able to take this river cruise.  Without the dam and locks, boats like ours could never have come this far south.

This is the gorge through which the Danube flows here.  This is the Romanian side.

Decabalus, the ancient Dacian chief who ruled over this area once upon a time

A guardhouse on the Serbian side of the gorge

Farms are sprinkled along the fertile banks of the river.  If you click to enlarge this photo, you will be able to see the conical haystacks to the left of the farm buildings.  I loved the haystacks in this region!

Ruse, Bulgaria

It's been a LONG time since I posted anything here.  I've been busy, I suppose, but I hope to continue now--and hope I remember enough details of the rest of our journey to do this!

We had docked in Ruse, Bulgaria before traveling to the places mentioned in the previous two posts, then returned to Ruse where we had time to walk around.  Ruse is  Bulgaria's largest river port, and the country's fifth largest city.  It's a nice town with some charming architecture and very colorful buildings.

This is Holy Trinity Church, which is still in use with an active congregation.

The main square is home to a beautiful opera house... 

...and surrounded by buildings painted in wonderfully exuberant colors.

As we strolled back to our boat, we discovered that not everything is as well maintained as the previous buildings, but also that the use of pretty colors must be traditional, because even when the paint is peeling, they are visible.

This contemporary home overlooks the Danube and continues the tradition in a much more modern way.

Here is our boat, Vantage's River Odyssey.

Back on board that evening, we enjoyed another excellent dinner.  We had an interesting conversation with our server, who was Bulgarian.  He said he hoped we would one day return--but that when we did, the area might be all Bulgaria, or all Romania.  When I asked how that could be, he predicted more wars in their future--because "We love to fight!"  He was so cheerful about it that I was truly aghast to realize that decades or centuries of war have apparently taught nothing about the advantages of peace.