JOURNEYS FOR WOMEN :
Lower Danube Riverboat Cruise:
Budapest to The Black Sea
May 14 - 26, 2022
Lower Danube Riverboat Cruise:
Budapest to The Black Sea
May 14 - 26, 2022
Our group of 17 arrived in Budapest a day early, which allowed us some time to settle in. The next day, we enjoyed a private Jewish heritage tour before the cruise company's welcome reception and gala dinner at the lovely Akademia Club, overlooking the Danube.
The following two days, we toured both Buda and Pest, with their impressive architecture and monuments. We saw City Park; Heroes' Sq., designed in 1896 to mark the 1000th anniversary of the Magyar conquest of the Carpathian Basin; tree-lined Andrassy Ave; and the Parliament. We visited Dohany St aka The Great Synagogue, largest in Europe, and St Stephen's Basilica, named for the first king of Hungary. We traveled to Castle Hill and the Fisherman's Bastion and had a thorough tour of The Hospital in the Rock, a nuclear bunker constructed in the 1930's in preparation for WWII.. We also spent some time at Central Market Hall, shopping and sampling food from various vendors. On our own one night after dark, our group took an evening cruise on the Danube to see all the buildings lit up. A sight not to be missed!
We spent the next seven days aboard our ship, Ms Savor, which carried a total of 73 guests. Our first port-of-call was Mohacs, Hungary, where we motorcoached to Pecs and saw St Peter and Paul's Cathedral and visited the 4th century Early Christian Necropolis. Most of us went to the Zsolnay Museum with its impressive ceramics collection. Afterwards, we drove to Villany for lunch with wine tasting at Polgar Winery; the elderly owner was charming.
We sailed overnight to Vukovar Croatia, which was totally destroyed in 1991 during the war with Serbia, then rebuilt. After a morning walk through town, we were treated to small-group visits to locals' homes in nearby Aljmas, where they related tales of the war, its aftermath and life today. This was a true highlight of the trip! We then sailed to Novi Sad, Serbia where we took an evening walk in that lively town.
The following morning, we toured Belgrade, Serbia including the imposing Kalemegdan Fortress and the grand St Sava, largest Orthodox church in the Balkans. In the evening, we had a private tour of the Royal Palace followed by dinner at the White Palace--where we were greeted by Crown Prince Alexander and Princess Katherine. Sprinkled in with our touring of Croatia and Serbia were onboard talks from locals to bring context to our visits, and a Serbian folklore show.
We then had a break from touring with an all-day sailing through The Iron Gates Gorge, with periodic commentary from our guides. From the ship we saw Golubacs Castle, "guard of the Danube", dating from the 14th century, and one of the best-preserved castles on the river. We also saw the 130' Decebalus statue, a rock sculpture of the last king of Dacia in the first century AD.
In Bulgaria the next day, we took a walking tour in Ruse, with its 19th and 20th century neo-baroque and rococo architecture. We visited the regional historic museum, and the 17th century Church of the Holy Trinity. We also heard an onboard talk on Bulgaria's contributions to the world heritage and listened to a Bulgarian classical music performance.
On our last full-day onboard, we navigated the 40-mile Danube-Black Sea Canal. It took us to Constanta, Romania on the Black Sea, where we enjoyed a guided tour of that stunning town. And, finally, we visited the resort of Mamaia, where we spent some time at the beach, and most of us dipped our toes into the Sea.
After disembarking the following morning, we were driven to Bucharest, Romania, where we had a panoramic tour, including Revolution Sq., where Ceausescu was overthrown in 1989. This was followed by lunch at the beautiful, quaint Caru cu Bere restaurant, complete with live music from a violinist and accordionist. Afterwards, we took a walking tour of Old Town before heading to our hotel for the next three nights. Unfortunately for some in our group, the stay there was several days longer, as they were recovering from Covid, and needed to remain until they tested negative.
Our first full day in Bucharest we had a city tour and visited the Village Museum, an open-air ethnographic museum exhibiting traditional Romanian rural life from the 17th to 19th century and containing 346 structures from all over the country. That evening we toured the grandiose Parliament that the late dictator Ceausescu had built; with it's 1,000 rooms of indescribable proportion, it's the second largest building in the world, after the Pentagon. After the tour, we took part in a grand finale dinner accompanied with music from an all-female string quartet.
The following day, we day-tripped to the resort of Sinaia in the Carpathian mountains for a visit to Peles Castle, constructed in the late 19th century for royalty, and inhabited until 1947.
Though this journey was not without its cloud of illness, it was a most interesting trip through a lesser-known part of Europe.
The following two days, we toured both Buda and Pest, with their impressive architecture and monuments. We saw City Park; Heroes' Sq., designed in 1896 to mark the 1000th anniversary of the Magyar conquest of the Carpathian Basin; tree-lined Andrassy Ave; and the Parliament. We visited Dohany St aka The Great Synagogue, largest in Europe, and St Stephen's Basilica, named for the first king of Hungary. We traveled to Castle Hill and the Fisherman's Bastion and had a thorough tour of The Hospital in the Rock, a nuclear bunker constructed in the 1930's in preparation for WWII.. We also spent some time at Central Market Hall, shopping and sampling food from various vendors. On our own one night after dark, our group took an evening cruise on the Danube to see all the buildings lit up. A sight not to be missed!
We spent the next seven days aboard our ship, Ms Savor, which carried a total of 73 guests. Our first port-of-call was Mohacs, Hungary, where we motorcoached to Pecs and saw St Peter and Paul's Cathedral and visited the 4th century Early Christian Necropolis. Most of us went to the Zsolnay Museum with its impressive ceramics collection. Afterwards, we drove to Villany for lunch with wine tasting at Polgar Winery; the elderly owner was charming.
We sailed overnight to Vukovar Croatia, which was totally destroyed in 1991 during the war with Serbia, then rebuilt. After a morning walk through town, we were treated to small-group visits to locals' homes in nearby Aljmas, where they related tales of the war, its aftermath and life today. This was a true highlight of the trip! We then sailed to Novi Sad, Serbia where we took an evening walk in that lively town.
The following morning, we toured Belgrade, Serbia including the imposing Kalemegdan Fortress and the grand St Sava, largest Orthodox church in the Balkans. In the evening, we had a private tour of the Royal Palace followed by dinner at the White Palace--where we were greeted by Crown Prince Alexander and Princess Katherine. Sprinkled in with our touring of Croatia and Serbia were onboard talks from locals to bring context to our visits, and a Serbian folklore show.
We then had a break from touring with an all-day sailing through The Iron Gates Gorge, with periodic commentary from our guides. From the ship we saw Golubacs Castle, "guard of the Danube", dating from the 14th century, and one of the best-preserved castles on the river. We also saw the 130' Decebalus statue, a rock sculpture of the last king of Dacia in the first century AD.
In Bulgaria the next day, we took a walking tour in Ruse, with its 19th and 20th century neo-baroque and rococo architecture. We visited the regional historic museum, and the 17th century Church of the Holy Trinity. We also heard an onboard talk on Bulgaria's contributions to the world heritage and listened to a Bulgarian classical music performance.
On our last full-day onboard, we navigated the 40-mile Danube-Black Sea Canal. It took us to Constanta, Romania on the Black Sea, where we enjoyed a guided tour of that stunning town. And, finally, we visited the resort of Mamaia, where we spent some time at the beach, and most of us dipped our toes into the Sea.
After disembarking the following morning, we were driven to Bucharest, Romania, where we had a panoramic tour, including Revolution Sq., where Ceausescu was overthrown in 1989. This was followed by lunch at the beautiful, quaint Caru cu Bere restaurant, complete with live music from a violinist and accordionist. Afterwards, we took a walking tour of Old Town before heading to our hotel for the next three nights. Unfortunately for some in our group, the stay there was several days longer, as they were recovering from Covid, and needed to remain until they tested negative.
Our first full day in Bucharest we had a city tour and visited the Village Museum, an open-air ethnographic museum exhibiting traditional Romanian rural life from the 17th to 19th century and containing 346 structures from all over the country. That evening we toured the grandiose Parliament that the late dictator Ceausescu had built; with it's 1,000 rooms of indescribable proportion, it's the second largest building in the world, after the Pentagon. After the tour, we took part in a grand finale dinner accompanied with music from an all-female string quartet.
The following day, we day-tripped to the resort of Sinaia in the Carpathian mountains for a visit to Peles Castle, constructed in the late 19th century for royalty, and inhabited until 1947.
Though this journey was not without its cloud of illness, it was a most interesting trip through a lesser-known part of Europe.