International Destinations

Danube cruise a great way to see Eastern Europe

By Ann Campbell

Photo by Ann Campbell

I doubt that there was anyone in their stateroom when the River Princess passed Hungary’s spectacular Parliament House at Budapest.

Even though it was cool on deck of our Danube River cruise ship, with threatening clouds overhead, the cameras of most of the 72 passengers clicked incessantly to capture the splendour of the white neo-gothic arches and turrets that line 268 metres of the river’s shore.

The foreground for these photos was not the romantic blue river I’d imagined after dancing to Johann Strauss’ famous waltz. Instead it was a fast moving, silt-filled waterway that was rising by the hour as record early June rains pounded much of Central Europe.

Reports came in that the second longest river in Europe had even been closed at Vienna, a city where three days earlier our group had first settled into our cabins and later marvelled at St. Stephen’s Cathedral and the sights along the stately Ringstrasse. Although Vienna overflows with superb museums and classical music concerts, it’s fortunate that we didn’t get stranded there for we’d have missed out on walking ashore to explore the cobblestone streets in the charming historic part of Bratislava, Slovakia’s capital.

The Parliament wasn’t the only thing that caught our attention in Budapest. After our ship docked we drove along the grand Andrassay Avenue and walked Heroes Square to view statues honouring the leaders of the seven tribes that founded Hungary. Then we crossed the famous suspension Chain Bridge linking the two halves of the Hungarian capital, Pest and Buda, the more residential part of the city where the castle district is located.

That evening we viewed Budapest through a different lens. We attended a performance in which energetic and precisely-trained men and women in about half-a dozen colourful traditional costumes twirled, circled and danced their way into our hearts.

Afterwards our bus toured the city’s bridges and landmarks, now ablaze with lights. A steady, gentle rain made our walk-about stops pleasant and almost magical as the air was so fresh and “alive.”

The cooler temperatures and the rain interfered little with our enjoyment of the trip, except that some of us wished we’d packed a few more warm clothes.

When our ship was docked at Budapest, we had a good vantage point to watch the Danube rising hour by hour. Our captain was also keeping track of it so he suggested we leave a few hours earlier than planned so he could navigate a low bridge up ahead in the daylight.

No one objected as cruising before the sun went down was always fun, and people were eager to move eastward in search of sunshine, and to learn more about Croatia and Serbia, republics that were once part of the former Yugoslavia.

Only a small part of Croatia fronts the Danube but it was delightful to experience a local flea market and church in Osijek before driving to a nearby village.

At the village our river cruise group divided up so we could enjoy a tasty home-cooked meal in smaller numbers while our hosts talked about the trials and tribulations they and their families had experienced during the military conflicts that took place following the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.

The next day in Serbia’s capital Belgrade, we visited the Mausoleum of the Yugoslav statesman Marshal Tito, a man many of us remembered learning about in social studies class.

As with many other Eastern European spots, the city is a place of contrasts: spectacular buildings where top officials of the Communist party slept or worked stand not far from the stark Communist-built highrises where many of the general populace struggled to make ends meet.

I’ll always remember what our local guide told us about those historical times: “Life was awful. We were forced to work hard and when it came to food, we were left to eat the feet and neck of the chicken as the rest of the bird was exported. On the positive side, however, arts of all types were considered important so we were exposed to beautiful things”.

After viewing the parts of the former Roman settlement Viminacium, under sunny skies and in much warmer temperatures, we chose spots on the ship’s top deck to start a day and a half of relaxing scenic cruising.

The gates of a dam downstream had been opened in light of the flooding upstream. So when we arrived at the Iron Gates, a series of narrow gorges that provide a natural border between Serbia and Romania, and the site of two Romanian-Yugoslav-built locks and hydroelectric power stations, the Danube’s level was significantly lower than we’d previously experienced.

The last days of our 12-day cruise were spent in Bulgaria. With the ship as our base, we explored the country’s Baba Vidin fortress, Belogradchik’s fairytale sandstone formations, and the river port of Rousse. Some even took a day-long bus excursion to dip their toes in the Black Sea.

There’s no point in being in this part of Europe without a visit to Romania, so off we went by bus to Bucharest, its capital.

A tour of three percent of the opulent, marble-filled Palace of the Parliament left me speechless. What was the Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu thinking when he built a 12-storey, 85-metre-tall building with 3,100 rooms and a vast bunker underneath?

In the city the temperature was unexpectedly high – at least 37 degrees Celsius. Also unexpected were: a crew setting up for an outdoor Elton John concert for which we didn’t have tickets; the Triumphal Arch modelled after Paris’ Arc de Triumph; and fabulous tree-lined parks.

As darkness fell, an Australian conducted the Das Karussel Viennese orchestra as it played the music of Strauss, while men in tails waltzed their beautiful partners around a makeshift dance floor.

Those of us cheering in the audience agreed that there could be no more fitting way than this to end a wonderful sojourn in Eastern Europe.

Info to go

• Spring and fall are great times to visit Eastern Europe as it can get pretty hot in the summer.

• For information about Danube River cruising go to www.danuberivercruise.com.

• Consider a pre-cruise side-trip to Prague, a pleasant five-hour train ride from Vienna, ideally three or four days. A walk over the Charles Bridge and around the old part of the Czech Republic’s capital will help banish your jet lag. And an evening at the Image Black Light Theatre is a must.

• Following the trip you might fly from Bucharest to Istanbul, Turkey to see more magnificent sights including six minarets of the magnificent Blue Mosque. Later when you’re hunting for bargains at the Grand Bazaar, be sure to pick up a blue eye amulet.