"Black Sea to Bratislava with Passion"

Thanks we are on the 5th of October on the Illumination

Ontario Cruiser

Thanks we are on the 5th of October on the Illumination

Ontario Cruiser

Budapest to Bucharest? Bring a warm hooded sweatshirt for going through the Iron Gates. :D

Color should be smashing.

Hi HK,

No concert at Arbanassi.

Ira

Hey OC,

Very informal traveling.

Even the more formal among us don't go beyond the blue blazer-khakis-loafers combination.

Ira

This morning we are tied up at “Drobeta Turnu Severin”, which might be the name of place or a direction sign, somewhere between lochs 1 and 2 near the Iron Gates.

More to come.

………………………………………………………….

Hello again,

It was blustery and chilly as we approached the set of two locks at the Iron Gates Dam. We were raised about 20 meters by the first lock and another 20 by the second. Very interesting in that as you rise in the 2nd lock you get a view as if you were in an “infinity pool” looking out across the Danube.

We breasted the choppy waters and the winds for the next couple of hours – very nice scenery – to the Trajan Tablet. When the Romans completed their road in the 1st C they placed a marble tablet about 30 m above the water to mark the event. After construction of the dam, the tablet is now about 1 m above the water.

We had to slow down at one point to let a tug pushing 6 barges through the narrowest part of the river. It was BIG.

Along about 5:00 – we were 3 hrs late due to the medical event – we arrived at Donji Milanovac, where we boarded buses for the short ride up to Lepenski Vir.

It seems that a very long time ago, when Uncle Ira was but a child (about 5000 BCE), a group of Mesolithic Hunter-Gatherers moved down from the cold North to the warmer lands along the Danube where they became Mesolithic Hunter-Gatherers-Fisherfolk. Over the next few millennia, they “transitioned” to Neolithic Fishers-Farmers.

Well, wouldn’t you know it but along come modern developers to build a dam that will put their village under 10 meters of water. The artifacts at Lepensky Vir were collected and moved upward about 100 m to an exact reproduction of the original site. It’s quite an interesting place, bounded in front by the Danube and at the rear by steep mountains. The weather is not unpleasant, and the views are very nice.

The Facility will be used to house 17th – 20th C buildings typical of the region – a la the Village at Bucharest – as well as the archaeological site.

There is a small souvenir shop at LV. I found two items that totaled 800 (Serbian Somethings). I brought them to a pleasant young woman who asked how I would pay for them. I said that I had Serbian money.

However, when I showed it to her, it turned out to be Croatian money. (Typical tourist.) “OK”, says I, “do you take

credit cards”? No.

Euro? Yes.

How much?

She punched a few buttons on her calculator and showed me “110”.

Oh dear. I only had a 50 Euro note. “What can I get for this?”, I asked. “It is too much”, she said.

Perplexed “hmmmm” from me.

A gentleman behind me asked her, “How many Euro does he need”?

“Seven”.

So he loaned me 7 E.

A refrigerator magnet in Western Europe runs about 4 E. For 7 E, I got 2 hand-painted reproductions of ancient artifacts. Good deal.

(PS, the houses at LV were V-shaped, with the wide end facing the river. We don’t know why.)

Back to the boat.

Happy hour was set back until after dinner (salad or tiny blini, duck or pumpkin soup, stuffed turkey roulade or poached cod, iced cream or rice pudding).

And so to bed.

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Yesterday, we visited Belgrade.

(Don’t mention the war.)

We were driven around town to see the various sights (They mention the war) among which are the St Sava Cathedral (very nice outside, unfinished inside. Come back in ten years.) and the ruins of yet another medieval fortress. We went along with the Cathedral, but skipped the fortress.

We wandered about a bit and took a cab back to the boat.

Before dinner, we were treated to a string quartet playing arrangements of various famous symphonic works, as well as “A Train” plucked out on violins. A fun time.

A pleasant dinner.

And so to bed.

I don't think St. Sava's will ever be finished inside! We visited the fortress and it was very interesting but it's more of a park than a fortress and it was a very long day. I think we may have had the same combo entertain us that night, they were quite good.

Hi All,

I'm still here, and apologize for the hiatus.

We both picked up a bug of some sort just before we debarked in Bratislava.

Did not leave the room the first day.

Felt better the second.

Caught another bug the third.

Not fully recovered yet.

In addition, all of my travel is on my tablet and it has decided to become very finicky and won't let me in.

A Quick Review:

The Iron Gates portion was quite picturesque.

Lepenski Vir was very interesting.

Although I had trepidations about our visit with a family in Osijek, it turned out to be a highlight of the trip.

We weren't feeling all that well in Budapest and limited ourselves to the bus trips in the morning and at night.

Overall the Passion experience was great.

More to come if I can get into my tablet.

Ira