BLOG # 9:  FROM BUDAPEST TO CROATIA

On Wed., Oct 26 we boarded the Viking Vigar, our riverboat, that will take us down the Danube River to Romania.  The sail out of Budapest that the evening was spectacular.

We docked in Kalocsa, Hungary the next morning and took a tour of the Puszta (flat prairie).  Our first stop was at the Kalocsa cathedral where we enjoyed a short organ recital.  This church (Italian baroque style) has a magnificent organ that was first played by Franz Liszt.

We then drove to the Bakodpuszta Equestrian Center where we were served wine and bread with pork fat and onions prior to watching the show.  The horses and riders were in wonderful harmony and the feature was a single rider with 10 horses.  After the show we were served Hungarian brandy before leaving the seating stands.  All of this before lunch.

The next morning we docked at the small city of Vukovar, Croatia.  Vukovar was the first city in Croatia to be invaded by Milosevic and the Serbs at the beginning of the Balkan War, with the result that 81% of the city’s buildings were destroyed.  Despite the war having ended in 1995 the result of the bombing is still evident.

 

We then visited the larger city of Osijek (also heavily bombed) and attended a recital by a young soprano in the local church.

We drove to the tiny village of Oslovo where we visited a private home and talked with the owner (via a translator).  Our hostess works in a factory but shows cruise guests through her home as a way of supplementing her income. 

Most of the inhabitants of these three places became refugees during the war and only returned 7-10 years later.  Our guide on the tour told us that she was four when the war broke out.  Her father fought as a guerrilla and died after the war as the result of his wounds.  During the war, she and her mother lived in a basement, and sometimes in a tunnel, depending on the severity of the bombing.

This is the third day of our second river cruise (and probably our last) as we much prefer the bigger ocean ships.  We recognize that some tourists prefer river cruising to ocean cruising (such as some drink tea rather than coffee).  Ocean cruising offers nicer staterooms, infinitely better food, evening entertainment, etc.  River cruises do offer a chance to visit small places that are not on the ocean.  Our particular river cruise offers included excursions and wine and beer with meals.  Although the wine has been good in the evenings, all three lunches offered only Austrian or German wine.  Betty managed a teaspoonful the first day and I am developing a taste for beer.