The summer after our Bordeaux trip, we traveled with Viking again, this time on a cruise up the Danube from Bucharest, Romania, to Budapest, Hungary. Prior to the actual cruise, we spent three days touring Transylvania by land, not because I had any particular desire to visit Count Dracula's reputed or real haunts, but because the trip included an excursion to Constanta, ancient Tomi, and I wanted to see Ovid's place of exile. In Ovidian studies, the commonplace is that Tomi, far from being the desolate barbarian settlement described in the exile poetry, was actually a flourishing Greek seaport located on the Black Sea coast with a very temperate climate. Indeed, Constanta is now a popular beach resort.
So. When we arrived there by bus, rain was imminent. We managed to get in a visit to the derelict Casino on the beach and a local Greek orthodox church with fourth-century BCE ruins outside. I would have liked to look at the ruins, but then the rain started. The party was booked for lunch at a restaurant about a mile away, and the guide decided--since the bus couldn't navigate the narrow streets--that the best course of action would be to walk, pressing close to buildings and diving under awnings. Fifteen people in a narrow file slopping along, all drenched after the first two minutes. The restaurant was on the town square, opposite the archaeological museum, and the famous statue of a pensive Ovid occupies the center of the square. As we passed it, I looked up and muttered "OK, OK, I believe you."
During the rest of our trip, naturally, we mostly enjoyed excellent weather. Highlights of Bucharest included the remains of the Old Court, where Vlad Tepes ruled, and the Dimitrie Gusti National Village Museum, recreating burgher and peasant life. On the first day after embarking, we went to the Bulgarian villages of Veliko Tarnovo and Arbanasi, where I bought a bagful of Damascus Rose soaps and fragrances as gifts. Belogradchik Fortress in Vidin was the one obligatory military installation--glad to get that over with. The next day, cruising through the Iron Gate in Serbia, we were able to see both the Tabula Traiana, an ancient inscription commemorating the emperor's conquest of Dacia, and the modern statue of his adversary Decebalus. Trajan is popular in these parts, but they have to pay tribute to the local defenders as well.
We then arrived in Belgrade, starting to feel discombobulated by going through so many countries so quickly and having to learn new currency exchange rates in each one. The big event was a chance to go backstage at the Serbian Opera House and see costumes being sewn. Near Vakovar, Croatia (another day, another currency), we were taken to meet Suzi, a German woman who owns a bakery in an outlying town and served delicious coffee and kuchen as she explained why she had settled there. On the return to the ship, our bus passed numerous abandoned farms and houses, an indication that the Balkan War had affected even the remoter parts of Croatia. Indeed, the effects of the war were a recurring theme in country after country.
The next stop at Kalocsa, Hungary, featured a touristy but still interesting display of Puszta horsemanship, a rider driving four horses cantering abreast while standing on the backs of two. Not sure of any practical applications for that trick. Finally we arrived in Budapest, where the rain caught up with us. Our hotel was right on the central square, close to the Matthias Church, a good thing because the weather remained unpredictable. Lunch on our own in the Central Market Hall was a zoo. We were able to take in one of the major museums in our free time and had a nice sunny morning when we went on our final excursion to the village of Szentendre, an artsy-craftsy place with attractive embroidery and woodwork.
All in all, this tour was a good deal more informative than the previous France cruise and it whetted my appetite to learn more about Eastern Europe, specifically the Balkans. That was the major reason I chose to go on a small-boat tour of Croatia and Montenegro by myself in 2017.
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