Because our Australia Trip had to be postponed until next year we decided to take a Danube River Cruise this year. We started with 3 nights in Romania, 15 nights on the Vantage River Explorer, and ended with three nights in Prague, visiting 8 European countries.
Usually you don’t confuse Adventure Travel with a Package Tour, but apparently no one bothered to inform the airlines of this. We showed up at the airport and found out our Delta flight to JFK was delayed and we would be rerouted through Atlanta. It took the incompetent agent 30 minutes to reroute us and our bags on this new itinerary. In Atlanta we had to take the train from Terminal A to Terminal E and just made the connection. We were lucky to get an Airbus for our trans-Atlantic flight. Each seat had an individual screen for movies, TV and games on demand. They even fed us for free!
The good times ended when we landed at Charles DeGaul airport in Paris. Here we had to go from terminal E to B. Despite what you hear about high speed trains in France, all they had were slow buses to get you between the terminals. By the time we found our assigned gate, the boarding was closed. The security line was going nowhere.
We gave up and went to the Air France desk to get rebooked on a later flight. The agent checked the scheduled flight and discovered that there was only one seat on the assigned flight for us. (Thanks, Delta!). We passed on the opportunity to split up going into Romania. The agent then rebooked us on a Romanian airline, but at the gate they refused to honor the code share ticket. Air France upgraded us to Business Class because of Delta’s screw ups. Finally after a 5 and 1/2 hour wait, we departed on a flight to Bucharest. I was looking forward to a big fat seat and drinking champagne, but the only difference from Economy was a better meal and silverware in lieu of plastic ware. With all these delays, we figured that at least our bags would be waiting for us in Bucharest. Of course, there were no bags for us in Bucharest. One bag was due in 3 hours later and the airline could not locate the second bag. Since we missed our scheduled pickup at the airport, we grabbed a taxi and headed for the hotel without our bags. The traffic was worse than in DC, and the drivers cut in and out of the traffic lanes, like OJ on the LA freeway. After a total of 26 hours of traveling we reached the J W Marriott Hotel.
The Communists ruled Romania for 45 years and the last 30 years were the most damaging. This is most evident in Bucharest where many communities were leveled to build “Stalin gothic” ugly and poorly built apartment buildings. In contrast, the dictator built the “People’s House” for the Parliament. This is the second largest building in the world, after the Pentagon. With its drab architecture and horrific traffic, we have little desire to return to Bucharest. One day we did take a bus ride into the Carpathian Mountains and visited the Pelisor Palace and the Peles Castle. Both were impressive, but it was a long drive in and out of Bucharest. The most interesting thing about Bucharest was its history, particularly the overthrow of Communism during the Revolution in 1989.
The dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife were both executed by firing squad after a mock trial. After the execution they found ten times more bullet holes in her than in him. If behind every good man is a good woman, then I guess behind every bad man is a bad woman. I guess we know who wore the pants in that family!
After leaving Bucharest, we boarded our river boat, the Vantage River Explorer (170 passengers max.), and headed west to the Black Sea. The next day we arrived at Cernavoda, Romania. The Danube Canal starts here and was built as a short cut to the Black Sea. Due to low water levels, we had to take a one hour bus ride to the coast. We toured the seaside towns of Constanta, a large port city; and Mamaia, a resort town.
From the coast we headed east into Bulgaria. We expected more “Stalin gothic” architecture in Bulgaria but were surprised that their Communist dictator had not destroyed all the houses to build apartment buildings. The town of Ruse was our first stop. It was a pleasant city to visit and walk around. That night I started to feel sick. (Stalin’s Revenge; OK, I made that up, but everything bad here is blamed on Stalin). Actually about half the passengers got sick. The next day, I didn’t stray too far from the bathroom. Pat, who had been suffering with a cold (or allergies) for the first few days, was now felling fine so she took the full day tour to Veliko Turnovo and Arbanassi, Bulgaria. This included a home hosted lunch by a Bulgarian family and later a Orthodox choir performance. She told me what a great time I missed.
The next day we cruised through the Iron Gates of the Danube, a beautiful limestone gorge cut through the Carpathian Mts. In Belgrade, Serbia we were entertained on board by eleven local performers with their dancing and music. It was outstanding. Our Balkan history lesson continued as we learned more about Tito and the breakup of Yugoslavia.
We toured the city fortifications and visited Tito’s grave. Each day, before we landed in a new country, a local would come on board and give us a briefing of the history of their country. So after hearing the Serbian explanation for the war with Croatia, we were able to hear Croatia’s side of the story the next day.
In Croatia we drove through Vukovar, a town which had been totally destroyed by three months of Serb army occupation. We also toured Osijek and had an excellent home hosted lunch. A Croatian band came on board and entertained us that evening.
Our first stop in Hungary was Pecs. This was the home of Victor Vasarely and we toured his fascinating Optical Art Museum. Pecs will be the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2010. It’s a fascinating small town to visit. While exploring a street fair, we found a fence with hundreds of padlocks attached to it. Initially we thought this was some kind of political statement, but found out it represented love. Lovers would close the lock and throw the key away.
For something different we went to a ranch and watched Hungarian cowboys perform tricks on their horses. One cowboy stood on the back of two horses as they raced around the field. I learned how to crack a whip and brought one home to the RV. Something that should come in handy next time we argue about whose turn it is to do the dishes.
The next morning we were in Budapest along with the President of South Korea. Security was tight at the Parliament Building - the sign said it was closed for public tours but somehow our group got in. There were riot police and surveillance vehicles preparing for a planned demonstration due to the government reduction in fuel subsidies. (Apparently some aspects of Communism were hard to give up). We saw a lot in one day, but could have spent several days here. We left after dark and enjoyed seeing the city lights along the river. In contrast to the big cities, we stopped in Neszmely, Hungary where we were greeted by the mayor and many of the townspeople. We watched a strudel demonstration and then Pat made one from scratch. I told her I would be expecting one everyday. I’m still waiting!
Our last stop on the river was Vienna. We toured the Treasury Museum and Schonbrunn Palace which was similar to Versailles, but not quite up to that standard. We spent one afternoon in the House of Music and still didn’t see it all. We attended a wonderful classical music performance and drove thru the Vienna Woods. This was Pat’s favorite city.
After we departed the boat, we took a 5 hour bus trip through the beautiful country side of the Czech Republic and checked into the Prague Marriott. After a short bus tour, we were on our own and toured many of the sights around the city including the Charles Bridge and the Astronomical Clock. We attended a black light theater show for which Prague is famous. The Museum of Communism covered the mass demonstrations in Prague in 1989 which led to the resignation of the Communist leaders. For the last night of our trip we attended the Folklore Garden dinner theater. The dinner and entertainment were great. I learned how to do the broom dance. The next day we had an uneventful trip home. This time we did not get an Airbus, and got to watch the three movies that the airline picked. Even though it was a great European trip, with nearly perfect weather, it was still good to get back home.
Usually you don’t confuse Adventure Travel with a Package Tour, but apparently no one bothered to inform the airlines of this. We showed up at the airport and found out our Delta flight to JFK was delayed and we would be rerouted through Atlanta. It took the incompetent agent 30 minutes to reroute us and our bags on this new itinerary. In Atlanta we had to take the train from Terminal A to Terminal E and just made the connection. We were lucky to get an Airbus for our trans-Atlantic flight. Each seat had an individual screen for movies, TV and games on demand. They even fed us for free!
The good times ended when we landed at Charles DeGaul airport in Paris. Here we had to go from terminal E to B. Despite what you hear about high speed trains in France, all they had were slow buses to get you between the terminals. By the time we found our assigned gate, the boarding was closed. The security line was going nowhere.
We gave up and went to the Air France desk to get rebooked on a later flight. The agent checked the scheduled flight and discovered that there was only one seat on the assigned flight for us. (Thanks, Delta!). We passed on the opportunity to split up going into Romania. The agent then rebooked us on a Romanian airline, but at the gate they refused to honor the code share ticket. Air France upgraded us to Business Class because of Delta’s screw ups. Finally after a 5 and 1/2 hour wait, we departed on a flight to Bucharest. I was looking forward to a big fat seat and drinking champagne, but the only difference from Economy was a better meal and silverware in lieu of plastic ware. With all these delays, we figured that at least our bags would be waiting for us in Bucharest. Of course, there were no bags for us in Bucharest. One bag was due in 3 hours later and the airline could not locate the second bag. Since we missed our scheduled pickup at the airport, we grabbed a taxi and headed for the hotel without our bags. The traffic was worse than in DC, and the drivers cut in and out of the traffic lanes, like OJ on the LA freeway. After a total of 26 hours of traveling we reached the J W Marriott Hotel.
The Communists ruled Romania for 45 years and the last 30 years were the most damaging. This is most evident in Bucharest where many communities were leveled to build “Stalin gothic” ugly and poorly built apartment buildings. In contrast, the dictator built the “People’s House” for the Parliament. This is the second largest building in the world, after the Pentagon. With its drab architecture and horrific traffic, we have little desire to return to Bucharest. One day we did take a bus ride into the Carpathian Mountains and visited the Pelisor Palace and the Peles Castle. Both were impressive, but it was a long drive in and out of Bucharest. The most interesting thing about Bucharest was its history, particularly the overthrow of Communism during the Revolution in 1989.
The dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife were both executed by firing squad after a mock trial. After the execution they found ten times more bullet holes in her than in him. If behind every good man is a good woman, then I guess behind every bad man is a bad woman. I guess we know who wore the pants in that family!
After leaving Bucharest, we boarded our river boat, the Vantage River Explorer (170 passengers max.), and headed west to the Black Sea. The next day we arrived at Cernavoda, Romania. The Danube Canal starts here and was built as a short cut to the Black Sea. Due to low water levels, we had to take a one hour bus ride to the coast. We toured the seaside towns of Constanta, a large port city; and Mamaia, a resort town.
From the coast we headed east into Bulgaria. We expected more “Stalin gothic” architecture in Bulgaria but were surprised that their Communist dictator had not destroyed all the houses to build apartment buildings. The town of Ruse was our first stop. It was a pleasant city to visit and walk around. That night I started to feel sick. (Stalin’s Revenge; OK, I made that up, but everything bad here is blamed on Stalin). Actually about half the passengers got sick. The next day, I didn’t stray too far from the bathroom. Pat, who had been suffering with a cold (or allergies) for the first few days, was now felling fine so she took the full day tour to Veliko Turnovo and Arbanassi, Bulgaria. This included a home hosted lunch by a Bulgarian family and later a Orthodox choir performance. She told me what a great time I missed.
The next day we cruised through the Iron Gates of the Danube, a beautiful limestone gorge cut through the Carpathian Mts. In Belgrade, Serbia we were entertained on board by eleven local performers with their dancing and music. It was outstanding. Our Balkan history lesson continued as we learned more about Tito and the breakup of Yugoslavia.
We toured the city fortifications and visited Tito’s grave. Each day, before we landed in a new country, a local would come on board and give us a briefing of the history of their country. So after hearing the Serbian explanation for the war with Croatia, we were able to hear Croatia’s side of the story the next day.
In Croatia we drove through Vukovar, a town which had been totally destroyed by three months of Serb army occupation. We also toured Osijek and had an excellent home hosted lunch. A Croatian band came on board and entertained us that evening.
Our first stop in Hungary was Pecs. This was the home of Victor Vasarely and we toured his fascinating Optical Art Museum. Pecs will be the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2010. It’s a fascinating small town to visit. While exploring a street fair, we found a fence with hundreds of padlocks attached to it. Initially we thought this was some kind of political statement, but found out it represented love. Lovers would close the lock and throw the key away.
For something different we went to a ranch and watched Hungarian cowboys perform tricks on their horses. One cowboy stood on the back of two horses as they raced around the field. I learned how to crack a whip and brought one home to the RV. Something that should come in handy next time we argue about whose turn it is to do the dishes.
The next morning we were in Budapest along with the President of South Korea. Security was tight at the Parliament Building - the sign said it was closed for public tours but somehow our group got in. There were riot police and surveillance vehicles preparing for a planned demonstration due to the government reduction in fuel subsidies. (Apparently some aspects of Communism were hard to give up). We saw a lot in one day, but could have spent several days here. We left after dark and enjoyed seeing the city lights along the river. In contrast to the big cities, we stopped in Neszmely, Hungary where we were greeted by the mayor and many of the townspeople. We watched a strudel demonstration and then Pat made one from scratch. I told her I would be expecting one everyday. I’m still waiting!
Our last stop on the river was Vienna. We toured the Treasury Museum and Schonbrunn Palace which was similar to Versailles, but not quite up to that standard. We spent one afternoon in the House of Music and still didn’t see it all. We attended a wonderful classical music performance and drove thru the Vienna Woods. This was Pat’s favorite city.
After we departed the boat, we took a 5 hour bus trip through the beautiful country side of the Czech Republic and checked into the Prague Marriott. After a short bus tour, we were on our own and toured many of the sights around the city including the Charles Bridge and the Astronomical Clock. We attended a black light theater show for which Prague is famous. The Museum of Communism covered the mass demonstrations in Prague in 1989 which led to the resignation of the Communist leaders. For the last night of our trip we attended the Folklore Garden dinner theater. The dinner and entertainment were great. I learned how to do the broom dance. The next day we had an uneventful trip home. This time we did not get an Airbus, and got to watch the three movies that the airline picked. Even though it was a great European trip, with nearly perfect weather, it was still good to get back home.
