Gateway to the Black Sea-#6: Sailing the Iron Gates/Donji Milanovac, Serbia

Wed. June 10-Sailing the Iron Gates/Donji Milanovac, Serbia: During the night we passed into a new time zone so we gained an hour of sleep. That made it easy to get up in time to be on deck by 7:00 as we passed through the two locks of the Iron Gates dam, which raised us 90 feet and took about an hour and a half. After breakfast we went back to the sun deck to enjoy passing through the deep gorges called the Iron Gates in many languages, but not Serbian. High rock cliffs rose close together on each side and Alina gave a running commentary pointing out the natural and man-made features, such as the 1st Century carved tablet listing the virtues and names of the Roman Emperor at the time the road was laid (the tablet had to be remounted higher on the cliff when the dam went in); the Romanian Mount Rushmore, which is a large face carved into the rock face; and the new but picturesque church which serves as a hostel for weary travelers (no reservations) and is run by nuns. It was a wonderful way to spend another sunny morning. Around lunch we moored at the small Serbian village of Donji Milanovac.

Iron Gates Dam on the Danube River

Exiting the second lock

Hilly farming on the Romanian side of the river

Commemorative tablet from the Romans, who built
the original road more than 1500 years ago

Romanian Mount Rushmore

A friendly nun waves hello

Nunnery/hostel

The narrow passageway of the Iron Gates

Windblown in the Iron Gates

This interesting village began its life on an island in the Danube centuries ago. Eventually it moved to the shore upriver about 16 kilometers. When the Iron Gates Dam was built in the 1960s the village had to move again to its present location. A few original buildings and the contents of the church were moved but everything else was built new, with wide streets climbing up the hillside by the river. The largest National Park in Serbia is not too far away, where they have archaeological remains for humans from 9000 years ago. The little town is also on the Tour de Danube bike route so they get visitors for that. We were met by teenagers in traditional costumes doing dances. Because Serbia isn't in the European Union we were told to carry our passports at all times off the ship since police could ask for it anytime. As we disembarked a group of Serbian dances performed for us. Our tall youthful guide took us past a small market set-up beside the port with textiles and crafts and began our walking tour of the small village of about 3000 people. He highlighted a few monuments and told us more of the confusing history of conflict in Serbia. We walked through the village elementary (1-8) school and went into a classroom with 4 children in after-hours enrichment class. I wondered if they were kept there especially for us to see and talk with. The school has classes in Tourism that start in fifth grade and our guide said he had gone through the program to get his start. It was hot and sunny when we began our tour but as we climbed the hill to see the church there were dark clouds looming to the east. We headed towards the beach area a few blocks away but some people were dropping out and making their way back to the ship. As we circled back towards the tourist information center beside the port the wind whipped up and the temperature dropped. Passengers quickly thanked and tipped the guide and hustled to the ship. Marv and I instead headed back up into town about three blocks to a corner restaurant with tables outdoors on two sides that had umbrellas. The rain started in big drops as we arrived and then we sat out a good ol' Serbian thunderstorm as we enjoyed a good Serbian beer called "3ajeyapcko" (Tziya-peshtko) which cost us a dollar each. It thundered and lightninged and the wind blew and the rain came down in buckets. At one point we had to move inside because it was blowing in so hard.

Serbian Folk Dancers

School boys in their classroom. The teacher is on the far left by the windows.

Inside St. Nickolas Church, a Serbian Orthodox 

Flowers on a house in town

A profusion of roses. They were growing everywhere in town.

Soon after that it let up and we made our way back to the ship. All the craft people were gone and we had the little village pretty much to ourselves. Back at the ship we rested and wrote and then with Pat we went back to the village to walk around a bit before we had dinner. By this time we had "our table" with the Macks and Sim and Phyl, served by our favorite servers, Robert and Emily. The entertainment in the evening was the "ms River Splendor Crew Show", which, while not high on talent, was very entertaining.

Phyl and Marv get a little extra exercise and try to walk off
a few of the calories eaten.