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. 

Arbanassi, Bulgaria

From Veliko Tarnovo we drove to the nearby town of Arbanassi.  This was a medieval town that has been nicely preserved.  New homes being built today must conform visually to the original architecture.  Typical features include red tile roofs, stone-clad ground floors, and timbered upper stories.  This museum was formerly the home of a wealthy Jewish merchant and his family.  Inside we saw large divans that were used for entertaining business guests, another that slept most of the family, a well equipped kitchen of the day, and even an indoor toilet of sorts.  If you are interested, there are many more photos in the Picassa album linked in the column on the right.

Despite the evidence of comfort and ease in the house, it was also a fortress of sorts because of the danger of invasion by bands of thieves and other enemies and marauders.  The well was located inside the walls of the dwelling in order to help the family survive a siege until outside help could arrive.

We see this wall as charming and the garden as a lovely secluded place to relax.  I suspect the original occupants felt some of that, but primarily, they also probably saw it as a necessary part of their defense against dangerous intruders.

This is a monastery in the same town.  Bulgarians are now mostly Eastern Orthodox Christians.  Like most countries in this region, they were dominated by the Ottoman Empire for several centuries, however.

Before we left the area, we had a rest stop here in the Arbanassi Palace Hotel.   This was an opulent vacation home of the last Communist leader of Bulgaria, complete with heliport.  Funny how these guys managed to live so well while turning their people's lives upside down with restrictions against private ownership.

Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

After a terrific stay in Romania, our riverboat took us to the port city of Ruse, Bulgaria.  From there, we took a bus to visit some interesting sites.  Below is a farm field of sunflowers.  We passed many of these along the way in nearly every country we visited.  Alongside fields of wheat and corn, they represent a principle crop in the region--and have the added virtue of being beautiful.  It was interesting to see their faces change directions during the day as they followed the sun.

In the distance you can see farm fields, but in the foreground is a special treat--a stork nest full of birds.  Often smaller birds nest or at least feed in the outer parts of the stork's nest, which can weigh over a ton.  I knew they were large, but had no idea they weighed that much!

This is the town of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, beautifully reflected in the river below.  This town was once an important defense and political center of Bulgaria.  Today it is home to a couple of universities, and as one of the oldest settlements in the country, had several historic sites to explore.

There is a medieval wall guarding the old town.

It reminds me a little bit of the Great Wall in China as it wends its way through the countryside.

Constanza, Romania

After Bucharest, we boarded our riverboat and went to Romania's largest port on the Black Sea--Constanta.  We admired the harbor and then learned a bit about the history of this place.  Constanta actually dates from ancient Greek and Roman times when it was known as Tomis until it was renamed in honor of the Roman emperor Constantine.  In fact, the poet, Ovid, was exiled to Tomis/Constanta and died there.   Below is a photo of the waterfront between an abandoned casino and a small lighthouse.  That's the casino you can see in the distance.

We visited a museum dedicated to ancient Greek and Roman artifacts.  Below is a vase I thought was especially delicate and lovely.  There was also a large partially preserved mosaic there from that period.  

 Just outside the museum were several ancient tombstones like the one below.  SO much writing!

In front of each tombstone was the translation into Romanian and English.  Reading them took me right to another world.  Here is a sample.  Don't forget you can click on any photo to see it larger.

Bucharest, Romania

After our pretrip tour of Transylvania, we went back to Bucharest, where we were joined by the rest of the group that were going on the riverboat tour of the lower Danube.  We had a quick tour of the city of Bucharest before we headed for the boat.  Below is a shot of Revolution Square.  The monument is dedicated to the people who died during the revolution of 1989 when Ceausescu was deposed and executed and the country began to move away from Communism.  The locals refer to this monument as the olive and the toothpick.  It's always good to know that humor lives on no matter what.

The building below has the second largest footprint in the world--behind the Pentagon.  It is now called the People's Palace, but it was originally built by Ceausescu as a residence where he intended to live and host state functions to impress the world with his power and importance.  He never moved in.  Our tour guide here was pretty snide in her references to this man who was executed before she was even born.

This was a communist government building of some sort.  Today it has been gutted and is slated to become an upscale shopping center.  How ironic.

This is Romania's version of the Arch of Triumph.  It is a little smaller than its Parisian counterpart, but equally impressive.  As in Paris, several wide boulevards radiate out from it.  Our Romanian guide proudly told us they are wider than those in Paris. It is no wonder that Bucharest is known as the Paris of Eastern Europe.

Sighisoara, Transylvania, Romania

Each day we boarded a bus and traveled somewhere in Transylvania to see the sights--and sites.  Along the way we passed gentle mountains, farmlands, and villages like the one below.  This one looked so pretty nestled in the foothills off in the distance.

Below is a church we passed along the way to Sighisoara.  It had a large defensive tower right next door.  I suppose both were built in dangerous times. 

We came to Sighisoara because it is the town most closely associated with the Dracula story.  It is a small modern city, but it has a well preserved walled Old Town dating from the 1200s that is a UNESCO World heritage Site.  Below is the entry gate.  You follow in the footsteps of long ago visitors when you enter here. 

The clock tower dominates the view from everywhere in the old town.  It is the tallest structure there, massive, and ornamental. 

The house below is said to be the birthplace of Vlad Tepes, the Impaler.  Since it was built a couple of hundred years after he lived in this era, probably not!

But that doesn't stop him from making an occasional appearance in the restaurant that occupies the ground floor.

It's the medieval charm of the town that I liked best. 

No trumpet playing?  Really??? 

Brasov, Transylvania, Romania

This is St. Nicholas Church near Brasov.  Like the castles we have seen, it has a fairy tale appearance.  This is a Romanian Orthodox church, unsurprisingly the dominant religion in Romania.

This statue is just outside the cathedral.  I'm not sure what his connection to the church is, but this gentlemen invented the first printing press in Romania.

This is the front of the church with a large painted icon depicting St. Nicholas, the patron saint of the church. 

In the alcove next to the spiffy icon above, an original icon was in its unrestored state.  There is something very special about this one.

In front of the church lies the cemetery. This is part of the wall that surrounds it, with icons depicting St. Nicholas again.

Inside the wall is the cemetery.  It has a weedy, homey, friendly appeal.  We were surprised to see a list of names on nearly every tombstone rather than just one.  It turns out that after some time passes, when the next person in the family dies, they open the grave, put the bones of the earlier deceased into a small container, and place that at the feet of the newly deceased, whose name is then added to the gravestone.  I had not heard of this custom before, but since, I have learned that this is not unusual in countries that are quite old and where burial space might be limited. 

 Doesn't this look just like a fairy tale?

Castles in Transylvania

Bran Castle.  This is billed as having a connection to Dracula, the fictional vampire, but a real person in Romanian history. His actual castle is probably a ruin nearby, but although Romanians don't love the vampire story, they do know that it brings in visitors, so they are happy to drop some hints about it.  The historic Count Dracula was revered by his countrymen for standing up to the Turks, who had successfully invaded the area.  His method of dealing with captives was a little harsh.  Not for nothing was he known as Vlad the Impaler.

Once you are inside the castle, the story switches to its more modern history.  Romania became a monarchy in the 1800's when Carlos I, a member of the Hohenzollern royal family, agreed to become King of Romania.  In the early 1900's,  Queen Marie, a granddaughter of England's Queen Victoria, redecorated and restored this medieval castle, and came here often with her family.  It must have been fun for the children to grow up here.

Meanwhile, back when they first came to Romania, the new royal family had Peles Castle built to then modern European standards.  More livable in many ways, certainly more stately, Peles is also very much worth visiting.  The family gave up the crown after WWII in order to spare Romanian lives after the Soviet Union was awarded most of the country following the war.  Today the exiled king is one of the last living WWII heads of state and is fondly regarded by the Romanians we met.