Gateway to the Black Sea-#10: Kalocsa, Hungary

Sun. June 14-Kalocsa, Hungary: Because we weren't doing the Hungarian Putza (cowboys) show we could sleep in a little and eat a later breakfast. Then the Macks and the Dunns got the ship bikes and headed out for a ride. It was already hot and hazy at 10:00 and headed for 96 degrees. Using Marv's phone GPS tracker we rode south on the levy beside the river where it was so hot and unshaded that Pat turned back, but luckily we continued. We rode until we got to a two rut hard mud farm road where we turned. There was some shade from trees planted between fields of corn, wheat, soybeans, cabbages, cauliflower, sunflowers, paprika (peppers), green beans and grains we couldn't identify. Occasional farmhouses could be seen, some with TV dishes and others apparently now used as outbuildings. It was very pastoral. We got to the small village of Batya where the road was paved and the house yards were mostly hidden by 5 foot stone or brick walls. We found the bike path that continued the rest of our ride and followed it out of town and on to the larger city of Kalocsa, which was an excursion in the afternoon so we didn't tarry. One more turn took us to the road back to the ship completing our ride of about 9 miles. 

Pat and Peggy riding in the levy beside the Danube,
where it was hot as blazes!

A wood stork skitters away from us beside the bike trail

Ross riding the trail between fields, where it was slightly cooler

Riding in Kolacsa

Church spires across the canola fields in the distance at the next town up river

Canola plant with seed pods. We learned that the government tried
but couldn't convince Hungarian housewives to use the oil. It is all exported. 

After lunch, buses took the whole group the short way back to Kalocsa where we visited St. Joseph's Church. It was built in the late 1800s and is the home of nuns of Our Lady convent whose mission is the education of all. When the Soviets took over they gave the nuns 2 hours to clear out and then closed the church. In 1989 when the USSR fell, the nuns came back, the church was beautifully restored and the schools were reopened. They have a wonderful organ and we were treated to a 20 minute recital by a local organist performing 5 pieces including Ave Maria and Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, which rumbled the pews in which we sat. Afterwards we walked the short way to the Cathedral and buildings of the Archbishop of Kalocsa. They have an even bigger (nearly 5000 pipes) organ there but the roof fell in 8 years ago destroying everything below and the renovations are not finished so we couldn't have the concert there, or even go inside. 

St. Joseph Church

Kalocsa Cathedral being renovated

Kalocsa square with the Archbishop's house in the background

The buses took us back to a restaurant near the ship where they gave us local schnapps and red and white wine, bread, sausage, bacon, and cukes and tomatoes. They had stations set up to teach us how to embroider, paint eggs, make kolache bread (with paprika), and crack a whip. Marv and I met up with Sim and Phyl there and had a great time. As we walked back to the ship Phyl and I decided to dip our toes in the Danube. Phyl went first and slipped on the slimy bottom and went down up to one knee. We laughed until we cried as Sim rescued her and Marv took pictures. I made my way very gingerly in with one foot while clinging to Marv for dear life. 

Peggy and Phyl paint eggs

Phyl, Sim and Marv enjoy local fare

Sim rescues Phyl from the Danube

That night there was a Farewell Reception and a Farewell Dinner with Baked Alaska for dessert. Ross ate three helpings!! The Sauls and the Dunns met up on the top deck to watch lightning in the distance and the lights of villages go by before we retired for the night. 

The Dunns, Macks and Sauls with our two favorite waitpersons,
Robert and Emily

Lightening, lights and stars

Gateway to the Black Sea-#9: Mohacs/Pecs/Kalocsa, Hungary

Sat. June 13--Mohacs/Pecs/Kalocsa, Hungary: We were very rudely awakened at 7:00am by an announcement that the Hungarian police were expecting a "face check" of all aboard and that the 200 level passengers were to report immediately to the lobby, followed by the other levels as they were called. Women showed up in curlers, everyone was bleary-eyed at best, and I'm not sure many people looked like their passport pictures, but all were checked. Then the ship was cleared to back up and moor at Mohacs. Since we were up so early Marv and I ate breakfast an hour earlier than usual and had time to walk around the quaint village. There is a wide brick main street, closed to traffic, lined with shops and with many people out and about on this already hot Saturday, many on bikes. 

Approaching Mohacs from the Danube River

The arrow shows where Mohacs is

Charming street leading from the dock to the main square

We walked down to the town square and by the time we returned we boarded our buses and began a day trip to Pecs. Our bus was so noisy it was hard to hear our guide and the engine was giving off enough heat that it was uncomfortable in our seat but we gutted it out for the half an hour or so drive to Pecs. The UNESCO World Heritage site has signs of habitation from the first century by the Romans, and it became a bustling city at the crossroads for military advancement and trade. In the fourth century the Romans built fortifications surrounding several cities to keep out the Ottoman Empire and much of the old wall and some of the gates still remain. In 1009 Pecs' Roman Catholic Church was named as the home of a bishop and gained even more stature. Over the centuries it was ruled by Hapsburgs, Ottomans, Nazis, and Soviets before Hungary became an independent nation. Luckily, no one in power ever bombed or razed the city and it is now a vibrant center of culture and arts. The Cathedral was beautifully renovated in 2009 to mark the 1000 year anniversary. We toured it and then went to the vast and wonderfully excavated and displayed cemetery that is the earliest example of Christian burials in the world. From there we did a walking tour of the Old Town seeing the church that was torn down and the rocks used to build a Moslem Temple that is now a Roman Catholic Church again with a cross on top that has a crescent moon on the base, and the Jewish Synagogue that is more of a cultural center now because of its magnificent organ and the fact that there are only about 3 dozen Jews left in the city. A few of us continued with our guide for an extended tour despite the temperatures in the mid-nineties and brilliantly clear skies. The Old Town area is many, many blocks and includes shops, hotels, restaurants, churches, many squares, and fountains. They were preparing for a big music festival being held this weekend, one of nearly weekly festivals held in the summer. 

Side street in Pecs

"Sails" hung for shade

Jewish Synagogue now used as a cultural center

Church rebuilt as Mosque then rebuilt again as a Roman Catholic Church.
Note the cross with a crescent moon at the base

Looking down into a middle class person's tomb (private entrance)

7 apse worship space which was within the cemetery 

Our guide is at the bottom right, explaining the cemetery layout

The beautifully restored cathedral

Ornate "front door" of the cathedral

The Cathedral of  Saint Peter and Paul

Franz Liszt leaning over the balcony at the Bishop's residence to greet his
adoring fans. He was a bon vivant with Rock Star stature in his time.  

A tower gate at an entrance to Pecs

One could spend days or weeks seeing all it has to offer. But instead our group enjoyed a typical lunch of chicken paprika and beer at one of the restaurants before making the drive back to ship. We set sail almost immediately at 3:30 and they had activities as we sailed including Tea Time in the lounge, and a Disembarkation briefing followed by a Pre-extension briefing for some of us to learn more about our trip to Prague.  Before dinner Marv and I played another game of Five Crowns with Sim and Phyl. After dinner we docked near the city of Kalocsa and a Hungarian Folk Dance group did a presentation of traditional dances that included much percussional boot and leg slapping by the men. At the end they called up 8 or 10 passengers including Phyl to do a dance with them. It was after 10:00 when they finished and we headed back to our cabins.

You know.....

A Water Park near the dock in Mohacs

This large facility reminded us of nephew-in-law, Nick 

Gateway to the Black Sea-#8: Vukovar-Osijek, Croatia

Fri. June 12--Vukovar-Osijek, Croatia: We arrived in Vukovar soon after breakfast. Alina was worried about Customs Officials and told us to expect some demands for face/passport matching but as it turned out we weren't held up at all. Vukovar was heavily damaged in the Homeland War, as was 2/3 of Croatia, and what buildings remain are either pockmarked with bullet holes, or gutted and empty, or have newly plastered and painted facades. The large water tower in town is still standing and hasn't been repaired, serving as a memorial to the many people who died. In this highly depressed country rebuilding is happening very slowly and low birthrate and "brain drain" is resulting in population drops and small villages. We only passed through Vukovar on buses to get to Osijek, on the Drava River that enters the Danube up river from Vukovar. The drive through the countryside was very nice with acres of farmland growing corn, sunflowers, soybeans and other crops. In old Osijek there is a huge fortification that was built in the 17th century by the Habsburgs to keep out the Ottomans and protect the rest of the huge Christian Kingdom from falling. It was large enough to hold houses, a monastery, shops, several streets, businesses; everything needed to live for years, if necessary. The walls along the Danube remain but as the village grew the other walls were taken down to allow growth. During the Homeland War people from nearby villages moved into the fortification in Osijek and lived there again for as long as 6 years when so much of the country was destroyed (partly to punish Croatia for siding with Hitler, partly by Serbia to retaliate for how Orthodox Serbs were treated in Roman Catholic Croatia. Ethnic cleansing happened on both sides and it is hard to imagine the animosity between two so closely tied societies.) Most Croatians now are trying to forgive, forget and move on but as our guide told us "misunderstandings" remain, especially among older people. 

Leaving Vukovar

Our guide for the old walled part of Osijek

16th century buildings now used by a university

Memorial statue for the Croatian Jews

Gate into the walled city

Fortifications on the river side of old Osijek

In Osijek, too, we saw many buildings riddled with bullet holes. The buses took us to a nearby primary (7-14 years old) school called Dobrisa Cesaric (for a Croatian poet) where the award winning choir put on a wonderful performance for us. 

We were then taken to a small village and broken into groups of 7-10 people and we were served a home cooked meal. Our group ate with a family of 4 in an open air brick gazebo in the side yard of the house. The man works for a local winery and also makes wine at home and the woman is a baker for the local hospital. We enjoyed their homemade plum brandy, cherry liquor, and wine, and the meal made with home grown vegetables and fruits while we chatted with the family and learned about their life in Croatia. It was another 91 degree sunny day but it was very pleasant to sit and enjoy the breeze and the home of these folks. 

Our guide and the hosts with the house in the background

Our lunch hosts, minus the 6 year old boy who mostly avoided us

Peggy tries the plum brandy before the meal

The gazebo where we ate lunch. Note the roses climbing
the posts on each side and spreading across the entrance.

It was about half an hour ride back to the ship where we relaxed and had a lecture on Croatian history in the lounge. The evening entertainment was a combo called the "No Jazz Band" playing mostly American standards. I listened from the library and worked on the blog until my battery died and then finished in the room as the ship set sail for Hungary. 

Leaving Croatia

Gateway to the Black Sea-#7: Belgrade, Serbia

Thu. June 11--Belgrade, Serbia: We arrived in Belgrade around 7:00 in the morning after sailing all night. Right after breakfast we had a marvelous and intense lecture on "Modern Serbia" to prepare for our time there. It was followed by a bus tour of the old city, including time to walk at Kalemegdan Fortress and learn its many-century history high on the hill at the confluence of the Sava and Danube Rivers.  People from across the area have taken and razed the city 54 times since B.C.E. Like the rest of the Balkans, the written history pretty much began with the Romans for the first three centuries of the Common Era, followed by the Ottomans for five centuries, then the Habsburg royalty of the Austro-Hungarians. For many years the Moslems and the Serbs took turns ruling and destroying each other’s mosques and churches. World War II found Serbia on the Allies' side and next door Croatia on the side of the Nazis. The Balkans became united as Yugoslavia under the Communists and life was actually pretty good with Tito, who was revered for being willing to say "NO" to Moscow, in charge and Belgrade as the capital. However, everything fell apart when Tito died and rule was supposed to be shared by the leaders of the 7 states of Yugoslavia. Milosevic was in charge in Serbia and he was, in the name of our afternoon guide, "Cray-cray" (crazy) and so the Homeland War broke out in 1991 with much ethnic cleansing taking place and many hard feelings especially between Serbs and Croatians. (More on that later). NATO finally took control of things by scheduling bombings in Belgrade (so people could get out of the buildings) and Serbia and Croatia became free and separate countries. There are still some buildings remaining that show the effects of the bombings. Our tour ended at Republic Square where we walked a short way to the shopping district where an entire street has been closed to traffic for many blocks for people to shop and eat and drink. Belgrade today is a hustling, bustling, modern city and it seems very European although it is not yet part of the European Union. The bus continued driving around to show us the sites of the city before returning us to the ship for lunch.

One of the gates into Kalemegdan Fortress

Ancient Fortifications

View of New Belgrade and Zemun

Saint Sava Cathedral

In the afternoon the Macks and Dunns had one of the highlights of our trip when the concierge helped us arrange a biking trip. Our guide, Stephan, took us on a 10 km. tour across the river to New Belgrade and the old village of Zemun, which still shows the Austro-Hungarian influence in its buildings and cobblestone streets. The Danube channel that runs along between the land and the island is lined with parks, floating restaurants, carnival rides, vendors, etc and was full of people and life. Stefan took us by the building Tito had built so that he could gather the leaders of other independent countries and form a League of Nonaligned Nations. We also saw the empty lot where the "accidentally" bombed Chinese Embassy stood, the once fabulous Hotel Yugoslavia, and more. About halfway out we stopped at "The Anchor" for a beer on Stefan’s favorite floating bar. It was an absolutely wonderful way to spend the sunny, 91 degree afternoon. We were all drenched with sweat and tired but happy when we got back to the ship and took long cold showers. 

Black line shows our bike trail

Tito's nonaligned nations meeting building

Ross, Peggy, Marv, Pat & Stefan raise a glass at Anchor

Timber buildings and cobblestone streets of Zemun

Trudging up the long steep hill to the lookout in Zemun

View from the lookout over Zemun and New Belgrade to the
fortifications of Old Belgrade

Biking through the park in the triangle between the Zava River and the Danube Canal

The Talija Ensemble of dancers and instrumentalists entertained us after dinner with an energetic set of dances from across the regions of Serbia. At the end of this very full day Marv and I went on deck to watch the lights of Belgrade recede as the ship set sail once more, this time to Croatia.

Looking over the boat decks to the lighted fortification above

Good-bye to beautiful Belgrade