Bulgaria to Bucharest 

As our trip down the Danube continued we stopped in Bulgaria...

First stop was a town called Vidin

This castle and fortress was right along the river

Fun to explore, but those cobblestones were slippy!

Our tour guide told us that Bulgaria tried to protest the Jewish residents during WWII.  The king, who had German roots, pretended to go along with the deportations but delayed them so people could hide the Jews in that castle, in homes, caves, basements.  Sadly, once the war was over and Soviet system took over the Jews were not welcome and emigrated to Israel.

Our guide talked about what life was like under Soviet rule and how many homes were take over by the Soviets.

The old buildings were ornate and beautiful!

On to Plevin, Bulgaria - Bulgaria is famous for rose oil used in perfume making.  I bought some to use in my lotion.

A huge battle took place near this town during the Russo-Turkish war 1877-1878 and there was a great museum explaining the battle.

Last stop on the cruise was where the Danube flows into the Black Sea in Constanta, Romania.  Beautiful pedestrian walkway and buildings along the sea!

Then on to Bucharest by bus...

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at the oldest restaurant in Bucharest and had traditional dance and music entertainment.

Beautiful buildings and old friends enjoying the sunshine...

We strolled around and enjoyed the street music.

Last stop on the tour was the  Palace of the Parliament Building - started by  Nicolae Ceaușescu, the dictator executed in 1989.  It is the largest and heaviest civilian administrative building in the world

Our hotel in Bucharest was gorgeous and in a great spot to explore the city.

We were located right near this new cathedral under construction and not far from the Palace of Parliament. 

It was Orthodox Easter Monday and everything was closed...but our Viking guide in the hotel called a friend who worked at the Parliament and arranged a tour for us...we needed our passports and Romanian money - 

We stopped at the ATM in the lobby and we were all set...but we walked 10,000 steps trying to find the entrance where we were to meet the guide.  All around the building, until we finally found a guard to let us in...

The main office was large enough to accommodate tanks - and there are 15,000 chandeliers in the place!

This young man was taking us on the tour and explaining things until we met up with the guide...we were late because we could not find a way in!!!

A stunning building - so sad that an entire neighborhood of homes and businesses were demolished to build it.

Our guide, Serena, and her twin sons - we were so lucky to be able to get in to tour this marvelous building.

We passed by the cathedral on our way back to our hotel...

tired, happy, and ready to enjoy dinner in the hotel and rest up for our journey to Transylvania the next day!

Thanks for continuing on this journey with us...it was such an educational trip.  Transylvania in the next post - until then, thanks for stopping by Our New Vista!

 Beyond Budapest

Come along with me as we sail the Danube to countries and places that we had never been before...

Once we sailed away  from Budapest on our Viking Capitals of Eastern Europe cruise our first stop was a town called

Pécs, Hungary.  A beautiful town with so much history - 

Ancient roman ruins...

A beautiful town square...

With a violinist !

This mosque from the 16th century during the Ottoman control of the area is now a Catholic Church  - the wall murals are original and now the baptismal font is in the place where the Koran used to be...

Fascinating to see the top of this building!

Next stop was Croatia where we had a home visit - greeted with delicious homemade slivovitz - plum brandy!

Buše are ancient, pagan rooted creatures/costumes that are intended to chase away Winter and bring on Spring!

Our host talked about the Croatian/Serbian War in the 1990's and watching for mines as he played outside as a child.

Homemade apple cake to go with the slivovitz!

Remnants of the war...and then a goodbye to the village.

Back on board we had good food, good wine, and traditional Croatian music.

We sailed on to Novi Sad, Serbia 

After the Jewish population was deported to concentration camps the building was not used, but now is a cultural center for concerts.

A beautiful old building...we had a concert of Jewish music and then a solo violinist played the theme from Schindler's List.  

Very moving and beyond sad.

Such a sad place - 

Then we sailed away at night to Belgrade, Serbia

Beautiful city where the Danube and Sava rivers converge...so much history and always wars with the Turks.

Of course, I found the Belgrade Public Library and when I went in to take a look met Sandra - a wonderful Serbian librarian.  The Serbian alphabet has 30 letters...it was fun to see the library.

Damage from the bombing by Nato in 1999 to stop the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.   So much history, so much hate.

New Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Sava

The doors have prayers written in every language.

So beautiful - and so many devout people there.

Then back on board for dinner and traditional Serbian folk dancing!

A visit to a small village along the Danube in Serbia - another beautiful old church and a great concert.

A school visit - students start learning English in First Grade so they are very fluent.  And..even in Serbia, the kids were doing 6/7!

Sailing down the Danube through the area called the Iron Gate

Rock carvings so impressive

A sign post from Roman times

Through another lock...fascinating.

And that night a traditional Serbian dinner - with Serbian beer for John!

Thanks for coming along on this trip down the Danube...but we are not finished.  There is more to see in my next post - until then I hope you are having a marvelous May!  Please leave a comment below because I love hearing from you.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend to all!