Another beautiful sunny day and not too hot. We first had a quick bus tour of Novi Sad, which is Serbia’s second largest city and then a walk through the central town. Novi Sad was rebuilt in the late 1800s after the town was flattened by the Hungarians that were occupying the fortress across the […]

We had a morning bus and walking tour of Belgrade in the morning and free time on board in the afternoon.  Our guide in Belgrade was excellent. He had a great sense of humour, laced with irony, but was able to provide context to many of the characteristics of Serbia and the Balkans more generally.  […]

It was a spectacular sailing morning as we went through the Iron Gates and a narrow gorge before the Danube opens into a large artificial lake beyond. We still had Romania on the right bank until we got to Golubac in the afternoon. More importantly, it rained the previous evening so the daytime temperatures are lower […]

Another hot day!  We had a morning on the boat and then a trip around the town of Vidin in the afternoon to see a fortress combined with castle. The only castle in Bulgaria in fact.  Then it was back on the bus and off to see some rocks. We were not sure what that […]

It was Canada Day so many of the Canadians were in red. July 1 is also a big day for Bulgarians, many of whom travel to the Black Sea to be there for sunrise.  Our boat was heading away from the Black Sea!  The Danube is the border between Romania and Bulgaria so we essentially […]

After breakfast we all boarded buses for a guided tour of the northern part of Bucharest. It’s the leafy, wealthy part that includes the central administrative part as well as the older pre-Soviet buildings. Our guide was good but a bit hazy on some of the detail. What came through was the recency of the […]