Amadeus Black Sea - Budapest -> Istanbul

We enjoyed the Christmas Markets cruise (Budapest to Prague) on the Amadagio last December and were looking forward to doing some of the things we missed.

We arrived in Budapest about 10AM & strolled down Vaci Utca to Big Market Hall - enjoyed seeing the produce and relished a couple Gosser with red cabbage and blood sausage (Hadn’t had any since my childhood).

We returned to our hotel (the Sofitel - ideally placed a block South of the Chain Bridge) to shed jackets and walked in shirt-sleeve sunshine across the Chain Bridge to the funicular which took us up to the Castle District wherfe we had stayed at the Hilton previously.

The afternoon sun was great for photos of Parliament, the river, & Pest from the Buda side. We relaxed at a nearby café after browsing the National Gallery, then returned down the funicular and crossed on the other side of the Chain Bridge to take better photos as we returned to our room.

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Spoon - a restaurant located on a boat docked a block from our hotel on the Pest side. It’s somewhat less expensive than Gundel’s (others on the tour paid $200 at Gundel’s while our Two appetizers(pate plate & peppered flamed brie), two entrees (duck breast w/ foie gras & venison saddle) & bottle of Portuguese Red was $150) Got some great night photos of the Castle and Chain Bridge. Finished the evening with a complementary drink at the casino attached to the Sofitel.

The next AM we took the Metro subway (2 blocks South by Café Gerbaud in Vorosmarty Square) up the M1 (yellow) line to the City Park - 10 stops, about 15 minutes. A one-way ticket on Budapest’s clean, safe public transit is 240HUF, or $1.37US. The Szechenyi Thermal Baths have three outdoor pools each larger than Olympic swimming pools with water temps of 86, 101, and 104 degrees. The 86 pool is for lap swimmers, the 101 has a circular pool inside it with a substantial current which will move you around and around until you choose the narrow exit, and the 104 has massage fountains - jets to massage neck & shoulders - and chess boards for entertainment. Unlike the touristy Gellert Baths, Szechenyi is mainly locals - everyone in a swimsuit (lots of Speedos) -both young and old, men and women - everyone having fun. You can rent everything - suit, towels, changing room locked by English-speaking attendant who hands you a numbered aluminum tag on a string. We charged the 5200 HUF ($30US) on our credit card, saved the receipt, and when we left a few hours later they refunded us 2600HUF in cash. Morning rates are the most expensive, with evening rates discounted by almost half. Lots of people ‘take the waters’ every day - I certainly would if I could.

We left the thermal baths in the late morning and a short walk thru City Park took us to the NW corner of Hero’s Square. West of the Square is the Art Museum with Gundel’s Restaurant right behind it. We crossed the Square and entered the Metro which runs down Andrassy all the way to Vorosmarty Square.

Halfway back on the Metro we got off at Ontonagon to see the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. Just a block from the Metro exit we walked 2 blocks down café-lined Liszt Square to the Academy in hopes of hearing a mid-day student concert. While that didn’t happen, we enjoyed the courtyards on Andrassy which reveal shops, offices, and residences around a small open area with gardens, pools, sculpture, or a fountain. Every block contained 3-4 of these courtyards, so our walk from Ontonagon to Vorosmarty Square brought us back well past lunch time.

Walking down Vaci Utca - a long pedestrian mall - we were reluctant to eat where overpriced and under serviced, so we turned towards the river at the 2nd opportunity onto Regi Posta and within a block found a place with a Gosser sign serving lunches. Four Gosser, two big plates of pork medallions with potatos, onions and carrots in a thick paprika gravy with more crusty bread than we needed cost us 2625HUF ($15US). Service could not have been more attentive. We did have to put up with a little cigarette smoke but you can get that in many places. One of our better meals in Budapest.

Weeks earlier we had purchased tickets to the Hungarian State Opera, so we took the Metro at 6PM and arrived right in front of the Opera a few minutes later (we had to be at the box office ½ hour before the performance to pick up our tickets). Wonderful presentation of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. The majority of the crowd was under 30 and included many children. Their opera is very inexpensive, offers great performances every day of the week, and was sold out, which disappointed a few in our group who hoped to pick up a ticket at the last minute. We had to wait a full three minutes for the Metro as they reduce service after 10PM.

We had done the city bus tour and excursion to Danube Bend & Szentendre last December, so we skipped those outings the next day and instead enjoyed a sunny, breezy walk of the city. We walked up the Danube to Parliament & discovered that tickets were already sold out. Fortunately, the Museum of History right across the street was hosting the World News Photo Exposition. One covered the demonstrations earlier this year in Hungary protesting the re-election of a government that had lied about economic conditions before the election. Great pictures on a variety of subjects.

We continued up the river to Margit Island, accessible via Margit Hid (bridge) where we walked it’s length. Besides being a large park used extensively for recreation, it also contains two Olympic sized outdoor pools, an indoor competitive swimming facility, and thermal baths.

Leaving the bridge, we continued SE along St. Istvan and learned that most everything is either closed all day on Saturday or closes by 1:30PM. Hungry and tired, we decided Vaci Utca would still be open for tourists wanting lunch. We walked out of the first place after waiting too long, then by luck discovered Central Cellar & Wine Bar. What looks like a tiny store front becomes a large, well lit, clean, brick-walled place with an interesting menu. I had a perfectly done steak which came on a bed of fresh letchco (peppers) and which was topped by two large pieces of goose liver also done to succulent perfection.

The afternoon bus excursion the next day demonstrating Hungarian horsemanship was interesting - I didn’t know their bowmen could reverse saddle positions while fleeing pursuers who then became targets. The demonstration was followed by an included light lunch of spicy gulash (pronounced goo - yosh) with traditional music provided.

The bus returned us to board the Amalegro mid-afternoon. The only visible difference from the Amadagio is the different art above the reception desk and the piano in the main lounge is along the starboard windows. We were pleased to see Atilla providing drinks in the main lounge.

The boat cruised through part of the night to Mohacs, site of Hungary’s defeat by the Turks in 1526. The day consisted of two excursions: a morning ride to Pecs and an afternoon tour of a winery in Hungary’s wine country. Since each of these excursions involved an hour+ each way we opted for the morning tour and skipped the other. This allowed us time for a leisurely stroll of Mohacs, which has closed its main shopping street to cars and bustles with bikes and walkers. We returned to the ship which was docked just upstream from the ferry which moves people and cars across to Croatia. Some in our group were starting out on bikes (the Amalegro has 19) to explore the town.

While we relaxed in our room we watched what we had thought was a seagull swoop down to grab a fish with its talons. As it labored to fly another bird harassed it until the fish was dropped. At other times we have seen blue herron and loons on the river. While not blue, the Danube supports river life.

Pecs was interesting. Geothermal power heats 80,000 homes here - the pipes into town are above ground to facilitate repairs.

Today the ship arrived in Vukovar, Croatia after breakfast. The town’s buildings remain damaged from the civil war with Serbia in the 90s and many have left (especially young people). Also damaged is the peoples/ psyche. Our guide (now mid-20s) was a girl age 10 during the war. While the atrocities (on both sides) were horrible, the completely segregated society (Vukovar is 30% Serbian) which allows bad memories to stay unhealed is horrible now. Our guide described her personal effort to create balance in her life by interacting with Serbs. Her sadness was palpable.

Through lunch and the afternoon the ship cruised to Novi Sad, Serbia, a beautiful town straddling the Danube which is overlooked by a large fort started by the Romans and improved by every culture that has controlled the area since. After touring the fort (they bussed us up), we walked the busy old city pedestrian shopping area. We used our half-hour of unguided time to locate an ATM (lots around) and made a few small purchases with our Serbian dinars (62 to the dollar).

Tomorrow is Belgrade.

WIT

Great report WIT! Makes me feel almost like I am there. Wait a minute - I AM there!

Clarence:)

Wonderful report -- I really appreciate the level of detail.

We will be doing this itinerary (but in reverse) next year and I am definitely taking notes! Please keep us updated.

Thanks so much for the interesting info. And for the hints to get ones tix in advance. Please do tell us more about that process when time permits. Again, thanks for the report.

Thanks so much WIT for your wonderful trip report. We will be doing this trip in 2009 so will be looking forward to your reports.

Micked10

Thanks WIT for this great report. We booked this cruise for October 2008 and can't wait to hear more from you - especially Istanbul !

WIT

Thanks for bringing us such wonderful detail... almost like being with you!

Diane & Jerry

The review of your cruise is so helpful. We are considering taking the same cruise in 2008. Please keep sending your comments. I have read that some passengers have not liked the food on this Amadeus cruise. Please comment on the food.

WIT thank you for the review of your cruise, your comments are helpful. We are considering the same cruise in 2008. We have read that some passengers have not been pleased with the food on the Amadeus cruise. What are your comments about the food? Please keep sending your reviews.

Thanks for the initial e-mail. We are taking this trip next June. Especially interested in hotels, the bus leg of the trip (had bad review this summer) and info of Turkish visa.

Just a note to let you know that WİT is aware of all of your messages. He ıs working diligently on his detailed report of each and every day. İt is a tough job considering all of the activities that have been planned for us.

We leave for home on Thursday and İ suspect that his supplements will follow shortly thereafter as İ have seen him working on them on his word processor.

Hopefully İ will be able to address some of the direct inquiries when İ get home. Also, İ have preserved copies of each day's bulletins and plan to scan them and place them online for all to be able to read.

More later as İ am in an İnternet Cafe in İstanbul since İ am too cheap to pay 30 dollars a day to use the connection at the Ritz Carlton.

CLARENCE:)

Just a note to let you know that WİT is aware of all of your messages. He ıs working diligently on his detailed report of each and every day. İt is a tough job considering all of the activities that have been planned for us.

 

We leave for home on Thursday and İ suspect that his supplements will follow shortly thereafter as İ have seen him working on them on his word processor.

 

Hopefully İ will be able to address some of the direct inquiries when İ get home. Also, İ have preserved copies of each day's bulletins and plan to scan them and place them online for all to be able to read.

 

More later as İ am in an İnternet Cafe in İstanbul since İ am too cheap to pay 30 dollars a day to use the connection at the Ritz Carlton.

 

CLARENCE:)

Clarence-someone mentioned in another thread that their internet was free on the Amalegro, due to technical difficulties. Were you charged on board for internet use in your room? If so, how much? Thanks

Debra

No, there was NO CHARGE for use of the Internet, either in cabin or via Wi-Fi that was located in both the forward and aft lounges. In fact, we had a mid-ships cabin on the 200 deck and could often get the Wi-Fi connection in the cabin although it was weak.

I think that the reason it is free is because they do not yet have all of the kinks worked out of it. For example, the in cabin system would work just fine then suddenly stop downloading. This was not a matter of reception as the Wi-Fi continued to work. These events required a re-booting of the cabin unit by the tech staff onboard almost daily and with 70+ cabins you can just imagine what a mess that became.

Interestingly, the server for the system is a company called Lantic Entertainment located in Denmark and that is where the server is located - not on the ship itself. Even the PA system in the public areas is under the Lantic System and to change the volume on the microphones they had to work with someone in Denmark online. What an Internet world it has become!

Although it became a nuisance to reboot I heard little complaining as the price was right!

I am still getting over 11 hours of flying from Istanbul to Washington and hope to have more posted later today. Please keep in mind that WIT and I have discussed a number of issues but you will not be getting a joint review. Our opinions may differ on some issues or be the same throughout. I am looking forward to the comparison myself! I am also looking forward to his day by day journal of the trip to help re-live the experience!

Clarence:)

Really looking forward to both your and Wit's review. Get some sleep!

Thanks so much for the interesting info. And for the hints to get ones tix in advance. Please do tell us more about that process when time permits. Again, thanks for the report.

Robyn - Clarence is correct - we both will share lots of detail, hopefully sooner than later.

For those going to Budapest soon here is the website for advance tickets. They post what is available about 3 months in advance and are almost always sold out by the night of the performance.

http://www.jegymester.hu

WIT

The review of your cruise is so helpful. We are considering taking the same cruise in 2008. Please keep sending your comments. I have read that some passengers have not liked the food on this Amadeus cruise. Please comment on the food.

I am not a gourmet and my wife describes my tastes as unadventuresome but I really did enjoy the food. I had hoped to obtain a set of menus to scan and publish but did not do so. As has been reported previously every dinner offered three choices PLUS several good old standbys if you did not like the menu. I did not resort to the standby list for a main course once. I did hit it for Caesar Salad several times though!

The servings are NOT the gigantic portions found (and frequently wasted) on ocean cruises. However, on numerous occasions the waiter returned to ask if anyone wished a second portion of anything. When we finished the meal we were always satisfied. I would give high marks to the food served on our voyage. I emphasize that because it can easily be different under a different chef. I got the feeling that the dining room staff was sensitive to prior comments about the food and did everything possible to see that the guests were happy.

I don't remember hearing anyone complain about the food other than what it was doing to their weight. Breakfast and lunch have been previously described accurately in earlier posts.

Clarence:)

Thanks for the initial e-mail. We are taking this trip next June. Especially interested in hotels, the bus leg of the trip (had bad review this summer) and info of Turkish visa.

Ah, you touched upon the only item about which I would have a negative comment. I felt that the bus ride was insufferably long. We departed the ship at 9 am on Sunday and drove to Veliko Tarnova, the ancient capital of Bulgaria, that was, IMHO, a place that could have been missed. We had a decent set lunch at a local hotel, visited a fortress and then drove until almost 6 pm to arrive at the Sunny Beach Hotel in Nessebar, Bulgaria. The hotel was fine for the function it served. We had one hour to unload, receive our luggage in the room and be back on the bus to go to dinner at a local restaurant in Old Nessebar that was quite nice. It was after 9 by the time we returned. We were the only guests in a 300+ room hotel that was closing for the season the next day. On Monday we departed at 9 am for the border crossing. It was supposed to be a 90 minute drive but turned out to be more like 2 1/2 hours. This was due to the route being basically 2 lane country roads in pretty rough shape. To our great joy it took only about 1 hr. 15 minutes to clear two bus loads of tourists at the border and we were then on our way to the next lunch stop. That was at a local restaurant where we had another set meal of kabobs that were pretty good. After that we drove another 90 minutes until having a "rest" stop which was greatly appreciated. We were expected at the rest stop and were offered complimentary beverages, no doubt arranged by the ground tour company. We then finally reached the first 4 lane highway for the remainder of our trip into Istanbul arriving about 6 pm at the Ritz Carlton.

The "Ritz", as it is known worldwide, is truly deserving of its 5 star rating. It is a beautiful hotel with great rooms and staggering prices. By now we were on our own for lunch and dinner until the farewell meal on Wednesday.

The Ritz is semi-inconveniently located about a 15 minute walk (don't believe those who say 10 minutes as I timed it!) from Taksim Square. The problem is that the walk begins with a STEEP uphill section of about a long city block followed by two more city blocks to get to the beginning of the action known as the "pedestrian street".

Fortunately, on the way in we noticed that Taksim Square had McDonald's, Pizza Hut and Burger King. I say fortunately because if you ate at the Ritz you would spend a fortune! One of our fellow travelers remarked that she had the best $30 hamburger that she ever tasted! A quick look at the menu (posted outside of the restaurant entrance) made it clear that dinner would cost around $30-50 per person. I am sure that it was a nice dinner but Pizza Hut sounded better to us!

I will leave to WIT the description of our organized activities in Istanbul. My general assessment is that 2 days on the bus was a high price to pay for just 2 days in Istanbul. Many of the group had a 6am flight on Thursday with a 3:30am departure for the airport. We did our own air with a 2pm departure that was much more civilized and allowed us to sleep in and pack on Thursday morning. If I was doing it again I would fly home from Bucharest. Istanbul might be better visited from one of the many ocean cruise lines calling there.

As to the Turkish visas, about half had them and half not. For those who didn't, our tour manager Peter collected the completed forms and cash and the Turkish guides who joined us in Nessebar where we changed from Bulgarian to Turkish buses (the buses were great by the way) expedited the visas. We were only permitted to leave the bus to visit the WC at the border. Incidentally, the visa cost bought in the States was $29 and only $20 at the border for US citizens. I thought it interesting that our Canadian fellow passengers were required to pay $60 each for their visa.

Keep an open mind about this extension until you hear what WIT has to say. He may see it differently!

Clarence:)

Ah, you touched upon the only item about which I would have a negative comment. I felt that the bus ride was insufferably long. We departed the ship at 9 am on Sunday and drove to Veliko Tarnova, the ancient capital of Bulgaria, that was, IMHO, a place that could have been missed. We had a decent set lunch at a local hotel, visited a fortress and then drove until almost 6 pm to arrive at the Sunny Beach Hotel in Nessebar, Bulgaria. The hotel was fine for the function it served. We had one hour to unload, receive our luggage in the room and be back on the bus to go to dinner at a local restaurant in Old Nessebar that was quite nice. It was after 9 by the time we returned. We were the only guests in a 300+ room hotel that was closing for the season the next day. On Monday we departed at 9 am for the border crossing. It was supposed to be a 90 minute drive but turned out to be more like 2 1/2 hours. This was due to the route being basically 2 lane country roads in pretty rough shape. To our great joy it took only about 1 hr. 15 minutes to clear two bus loads of tourists at the border and we were then on our way to the next lunch stop. That was at a local restaurant where we had another set meal of kabobs that were pretty good. After that we drove another 90 minutes until having a "rest" stop which was greatly appreciated. We were expected at the rest stop and were offered complimentary beverages, no doubt arranged by the ground tour company. We then finally reached the first 4 lane highway for the remainder of our trip into Istanbul arriving about 6 pm at the Ritz Carlton.

 

The "Ritz", as it is known worldwide, is truly deserving of its 5 star rating. It is a beautiful hotel with great rooms and staggering prices. By now we were on our own for lunch and dinner until the farewell meal on Wednesday.

The Ritz is semi-inconveniently located about a 15 minute walk (don't believe those who say 10 minutes as I timed it!) from Taksim Square. The problem is that the walk begins with a STEEP uphill section of about a long city block followed by two more city blocks to get to the beginning of the action known as the "pedestrian street".

 

Fortunately, on the way in we noticed that Taksim Square had McDonald's, Pizza Hut and Burger King. I say fortunately because if you ate at the Ritz you would spend a fortune! One of our fellow travelers remarked that she had the best $30 hamburger that she ever tasted! A quick look at the menu (posted outside of the restaurant entrance) made it clear that dinner would cost around $30-50 per person. I am sure that it was a nice dinner but Pizza Hut sounded better to us!

 

I will leave to WIT the description of our organized activities in Istanbul. My general assessment is that 2 days on the bus was a high price to pay for just 2 days in Istanbul. Many of the group had a 6am flight on Thursday with a 3:30am departure for the airport. We did our own air with a 2pm departure that was much more civilized and allowed us to sleep in and pack on Thursday morning. If I was doing it again I would fly home from Bucharest. Istanbul might be better visited from one of the many ocean cruise lines calling there.

 

As to the Turkish visas, about half had them and half not. For those who didn't, our tour manager Peter collected the completed forms and cash and the Turkish guides who joined us in Nessebar where we changed from Bulgarian to Turkish buses (the buses were great by the way) expedited the visas. We were only permitted to leave the bus to visit the WC at the border. Incidentally, the visa cost bought in the States was $29 and only $20 at the border for US citizens. I thought it interesting that our Canadian fellow passengers were required to pay $60 each for their visa.

 

Keep an open mind about this extension until you hear what WIT has to say. He may see it differently!

 

Clarence:)

The busses were improved since Medic101's report earlier this year. They were new, clean, and fast enough to pass several slow cars despite the 2-lane patched asphalt road in the rain (expert driver - got a bigger tip than the guide). The Turkish bus the second day was larger and newer.

The bus, however, is a much larger part of this cruise/tour than other European cruises where the attraction is close to the port du jour. I cruised upstream from Budapest last December - other than the day trip to Salzburg, the attraction of the day was either right there or a short ride by bus. The river ship cannot go into the Black Sea, so hopping a bus before the river turns North makes sense, but I would recommend flying from Bucharest to Istanbul.

The food was the same quality I experienced last December - good given the realities of serving 140+ while not knowing which of the three entres they will select. I judge chefs by how they do eggs, and ordered a poached egg with hollandaise on the side three times on the cruise - all were done properly. I also appreciated the effort to showcase local food specialties in each country during lunch. I have criticized other line's food on this board but liked the fare on the Amalegro. More on this later.

WIT

I have tried photographing the Daily Notes (as they are called) in hopes of being able to post them somewhere so that anyone with interest could just click a link and look at or copy them. Unfortunately, my amateur photography could not produce an easily readable result.

Therefore, I have scanned each one into Adobe .pdf (portable document format) and they turned out fine and easily readable. If you do not have Adobe Reader on your computer it is available for free online at http://www.adobe.com. The problem is that there is no place to post them online in that format. Suggestions anyone? Most album sites with which I am familiar take only photos.

The total size of the scanned documents is about 13MB which is entirely too large to attach to a single email. It will require a 2 part email to receive all 8 days and I would NOT recommend it for anyone with a dial-up connection. I cannot attach it to a post in this forum as the maximum size here is only 19KB or about 1/8 the size of one day!

So, if you are interested in receiving a .pdf copy of each you may send me your request at ClarenceThomas3 at gmail dot com. I am going to be off-line until Wednesday (Oct. 30) relocating to my winter residence in Florida so please be patient. I would prefer to respond to multiple requestors (should there be any!) at the same time so I may only email them out after receiving four or five requests or once a week, whichever comes first. Please be patient.

Clarence:):confused::D

Interesting that only about 50% of passengers had the visas ahead of time. I would have thought that the line would have required ahead of time. What reason did the people have for not having ahead of time?

You say that visas are cheaper at the border, not to mention the additional processing fee companies charge. Pending your answer I am rethinking getting my visa ahead of time. Thanks for all of your insights.

The passenger list was made up of 144 people and most of them were associated with one of 4 different groups. A total of 77 participated in the post-cruise extension to Istanbul. The one that WIT and I were with was a U.S. based travel writer and consisted of 21. We received a recommendation from our group leader that we obtain the visa in advance if it was convenient to do so as there had been delays on previous voyages relating to the small border station having to process such a large number of people at one time.

There were also two fairly large groups of Canadians and I have no idea what their group leader advised them before departure. The fourth group was small and I am uncertain if they were U.S or Canadian and then there were some additional people not affiliated with any group.

The cruise line brochure makes it quite clear that visas are the responsibility of the traveler and that you may obtain them in advance if you like or at the border. In the spring of this year there was a 7 1/2 hour delay at the border. It was said (that means I don't know who said it or if it was based on accurate information) that the problem arose when the small border station ran out of the actual visas and someone in Istanbul had to drive a supply to the border before the buses could proceed.

We were only a little over an hour at the border and I suspect that if everyone had a visa in their Passport the time would have been shortened a bit but it was not a big thing for our group. It was pouring down rain the entire time that we were there so no one really wanted to get out of the bus unless it was to visit the WC. Nothing else there to see except guards with rifles.

By next June it should be a prettier time of the year to drive through the area, although having done it once I sure wouldn't do it twice. You can fly from Bucharest to Istanbul for $165 and have additional days where you can really use them.

Clarence:)

Interesting that only about 50% of passengers had the visas ahead of time. I would have thought that the line would have required ahead of time. What reason did the people have for not having ahead of time?

You say that visas are cheaper at the border, not to mention the additional processing fee companies charge. Pending your answer I am rethinking getting my visa ahead of time. Thanks for all of your insights.

Al - Our TA advised us to to get visas in advance because of the the delays at the Turkish border. Given the tensions between the Turks and the Kurds and our government's recent political moves (recommending soft Iraq partition and deploring Armenian genocide), we were all expecting slow treatment. We couldn't have been more wrong - the processing was quick and friendly. The border guard even pronounced all our names correctly.

WIT

We are considering a Russian cruise in 2008. What could we expect with the weather there at this time of year? Perhaps someone who is presently on that cruise or who has just returned could tell us about the weather that they experienced. Thanks.

Thanks to all for being patient - Here is the remainder of my cruise notes. I will later cover our transit to Turkey and our experiences in Istanbul. Later I will post a new webalbum with photos and video clips.

to continue......

We awoke to find the ship docked in Belgrade, Serbia. While dressing for breakfast I decided to switch to a light breakfast for the rest of the cruise. This is a big sacrifice for me because the Amalegro staff has found a way to make high quality, crispy bacon to go with their eggs-to-order. I’m also going to do without the fresh-baked croissants and pastries, the cheese table, the cereal bar and also the hot buffet with scrambles, sausages, potatoes & French toast. Light breakfast for me is a bit of smoked salmon with onions, capers & lemon, then cold oatmeal improved with dried fruit & cream, and finally, some fresh fruit.

The bus takes us from our dock on the Danube through Belgrade. While the streets are free of debris, all the building are dingy gray. Our guide, a young Serbian man in his 20’s explains how the disintegration of the Yugoslav federation has hurt each of the affected countries economically - especially Serbia. While driving through the center of Belgrade we see wrecked buildings from NATO cruise missles - in each case a military building. We all appreciate the precision of our weapons and wonder why rebuilding hasn’t happened. Some of us remember the wrecked buildings in Vukovar, Croatia the day before and suspect that both cultures leave the broken buildings as reminders to educate their young. Our guide directs us to notice Belgrade’s unfinished new railway station - first floor concrete floor poured - rebars for the second floor support columns rust in mid-air - it was started 30 years ago and our guide thinks funds for that are more important than rebuilding military buildings. Sadly, no EU money is coming this way any time soon.

Our destination this morning is Marshal Tito’s tomb. Tito ran Communist Yugoslavia independently from the Soviets because of Western financial aid which Serbs today remember and appreciate. The tomb is in Tito’s former greenhouse - a favorite place where he kept his office.. We also toured galleries of gifts given by world leaders to Tito. We were unable to see the main residence and other buildings because those had been appropriated by Milosevic (our guide calls him a thug who stole much of Tito‘s wealth). Each of those buildings was NATO target and have (surprise) not been rebuilt.

Lack of money has also kept Serbia’s St. Sava’s Cathedral from being finished since it’s start in the 1930’s. Obviously the Communist regime delayed any construction , but it shocked us to see the beautiful exterior and the mostly bare interior - many of us wanted to donate but no collection system existed. The contrast was especially dramatic as we all had just walked through a completed but small (house-sized) Serbian Orthodox church immediately next to St. Sava’s - those icons vibrated with color.

Lunches on the boat have offered a choice of three entrees plus a full hot and cold buffet - today I had a broiled plaice filet on a bed of veggies with a spicy ragout. The lunch buffet changes each day to feature regional dishes so each lunch becomes an adventure, but small portions are in order so you can try each dish.

Friends who went on the afternoon bike ride (all 19 bikes went) reported that Belgrade has a beautiful island park on the river (large enough to have lakes). The ride was an easy 4-5 kilometers, the bikes all worked fine and nobody got hurt.

Serbia has two rules that didn’t apply in other countries on the cruise/tour: (1) passports must be carried on your person whenever one is off the boat; and, (2) all transactions we made had to be in Serbian dinars. We had found an ATM just off the Main Square in Novi Sad, Serbia the day before. Many in our group found that the US dollar was readily accepted by vendors but nobody challenged the passport rule.

Amadeus ran bus shuttles every hour from the Amalegro’s dock to downtown Belgrade (only a few minutes but up a steep hill), so a small group of us ate dinner in Old Belgrade at a traditional Serbian place recommended by our morning guide. Nima Daha was four blocks from our drop-off point, the last two down seriously cobble-stoned streets. Food was delicious and portion sizes enough for two hungry people. Two in our party ordered scallops and (we all) were amused to see them get an enormous veal scallopini on their plate. I enjoyed a grilled pork (very juicy) cutlet with clotted cream that came stuffed like a crepe with small chunks of ham over a bed of vegetables.

Prices were in the $9-11US range (580 dinars). The evening was marred by the restaurant requesting that we pay for entertainment which our group had not requested. Out TA (who had organized the dinner) paid for the entertainment but withheld the 10% tip. It was nice to have an advocate in an unfamiliar place - the local guide got an earful.

We returned to the boat to learn that we had missed one of the best dinners of the cruise.

The next day was a full day on the boat cruising to and through the Iron Gates - a series of gorges with currents and rapids sufficient to frustrate river traffic until locks were finished in 1974. We saw a huge face built into a cliff on the North side of the river - built by the Dacian leader Decebalus to mock Roman Emporer Trajan (who responded by building a suspension bridge).

At breakfast we are docked in Vidin, Bulgaria a town that was originally a Celtic settlement and which became the largest Bulgarian town under the Turks. Vidin today has many poorly maintained houses. We find the Bulgarian economy collapsed since the fall of Communism - they had been an industrial powerhouse supplying other Iron Curtain countries, none of which sends orders today.

We would all be wondering where to find an ATM in this place except that Amadeus has arranged for a Bulgarian to come on board in Vidin with enough Bulgarian cash to give those who wish the equivalent of $20US (to be added to our bill). Now we can purchase small items, pay for toilets, buy a beer, tip our local guide.

Our bus trip today takes us an hour up into the hills overlooking the river to Belogradchik, a former Roman fortress with amazing rock formations. The climb to the top was not easy but the view was definitely worth the effort - the two tallest rock spires are separated by a tiny slit which clearly shows the main gate to the fortress through the slit when you are atop the rock spires.

We ended the day’s excursion with a visit to Baba Vidin Castle - the locals do a dramatic performance of their defeat by the Turks.

We awake in Giugiu, Romania - more a dock than a town, we are here for our excursion to Bucharest, Romania. Amadeus has once again made it easy to get Romanian money. We drive though immense fields listening to our guide’s stories of lack of motivation and drunkenness under Communism. The structures is this country are vastly better maintained than in Bulgaria. Our first stop in Bucharest is a 4 story shopping mall on one side of a large central square with a large fountain that rivals Chicago’s Buckingham Fountain. Boulevards with statues radiate from the square to all parts of the city - some call Bucharest the Paris of Eastern Europe - it is certainly the Paris of Romania. We enjoy listening to our guides speak Romanian (it’s a Latin derivative), sometimes like Italian or Spanish.

We had the best lunch of the trip at a nearby restaurant owned by a former Communist who combines great food, lively entertainment, and military precision to the serving of food. You will have to wait for my web album video clip to appreciate the energy of this event.

After lunch, we return to the boat, cross the river, and spend the evening in Rousse,Bulgaria. We leave the boat tomorrow morning.

Since only 77 of us were going on to Istanbul, we were asked to identify our luggage before it was loaded on the bus right after breakfast.

The bus ride through Bulgaria to their prior capitol Veliko Tarnovo was on a two lane patched asphalt road. The town’s hills, tile roofs and quaint shops on cobbled streets reminds me of Ceske Krumlov in the Czech Republic - very photogenic. We all ignore the slight drizzle and follow the guide up Tsaravets Hill to their ancient fortress. This town appears to be small enough to explore in a day, but we have just enough time to walk up and down their cobbled tourist strip before lunch. The hotel in which we eat lunch has a spectacular view of the fortress.

Our bus ride through Bulgaria continues up through low mountains which divide the Danube plain from Southern Bulgaria. I realize that we are about to spend our 3rd night in Bulgaria - Vidin, Rousse, and tonight Nesebar.

Our bus driver knows the road well and passes slower vehicles when conditions permit, but the ride into Nesebar consumes the rest of our daylight hours so our first view of the Black Sea is from a hilltop a half hour from the hotel. The bartender at the hotel is happy to take dollars or Turkish lire and gives change in either currency - the rate is $5US to 6TL.

We bus into Old Nesebar for dinner at a restaurant directly on the narrow peninsula that was the original settlement. The meal is good, surroundings spectacular, but we are all tired from the long day’s ride & retire early.

At breakfast we learn that today is the last day of the season for the Iberostar (and Nesebar generally). Instead of a scaled-down service, we experience one of the better breakfast buffets of the trip. The Iberostar is a short walk from the beach so we are able to look East to the Black Sea - a beautiful stretch of hills, water, waves & beach. Our view West as we walk back is that of an overbuilt resort strip.

Although the original trip materials call for a morning walking tour (past some churches and a Basilica on the Beach), we have heard that Turkish border control is extremely slow and do not mind the revised 8:30AM departure.

Going South along the coast we notice large evaporation ponds for harvesting sea salt.

During the week we cruised down the Danube, we followed news reports saying that Turkey was displeased by US actions in the week before our arrival: (1) the US administration promoted ’soft partition for Iraq’ - which means a separate ‘Kurdistan’ - an encouragement to Kurdish Eastern Turkey; and, (2) the US House passed a resolution deploring the Turkish massacre of Armenians years ago as genocide. Turkey then recalled its ambassador to the US and massed troops on the Iraqi border in preparation for a military operation in Northern Iraq to wipe out the Kurdish terrorists who attack then hide in Iraq.

Into what we feared might be a tense environment, bussed in from Bulgaria. Our fears of bad treatment were unfounded. Our processing at the border was (relatively) quick and friendly - about 70 minutes during which we used their WC.

We arrived in Istanbul about 5:30 PM and about 45 minutes later at the Ritz-Carlton. We had a drink in their lounge while our bags we being taken up to our room - a gin & tonic plus one local beer (Effes, a bottled Pilsner) was 39TL! That translates to $32.50 US. We dined in the RC restaurant a bit later - spectacular view of the city and water - and decided that sharing a 110TL bottle of wine was less expensive than ordering by the glass. We had planned to walk up to Taksim Square (both US fast food and inexpensive Turkish available), but the evening rain changed our plans. The more costly dinner at the RC was worth the price.

Breakfast our first full day in Istanbul was in the same restaurant as dinner the evening before - it is on the same level as the hotel lobby. We learned that the top floors of the hotel are entirely private residences - thus no chance of a great view of the city from the lounge on the top floor. Fortunately the hotel is itself on a slope overlooking the water so lobby-level dining still provided a nice view.

Breakfast choices were the best and most diverse of the entire trip. Their toasted bagel sections with sesame seeds were a treat when spread with some ‘kaymak’, a very light unsalted butter with a sprinkle of pistachio crumbs. We found vendors everywhere thoughout Istanbul selling those sesame bagels.

The morning tour consisted of a city tour by bus followed by a walking tour of the Hippodrome, the Egyptian Obelisk (much like the one outside the Louvre) and Blue Mosque. They give you a plastic bag for your shoes. See captions on my web album photos for Blue Mosque descriptions) For lunch we walked to Taksim Square (10-15 minutes depending on your legs), had a very nice thin crust pizza and a couple Effes. As we left we noticed that the opposite side of the street was filled with people carrying red flags and shouting. Students were protesting (got a short video clip) terrorist attacks on their troops. They were orderly, stayed on the sidewalk (none in the street), and were peaceful.

Throughout our time in Istanbul, Turks (many speak English) were friendly to us despite the political situation.

Turkey is conflicted. They want to join the EU but don’t want to give up the death penalty. A majority recently elected a government that wants to move towards a more Islamic society, but conservative moves by that government were met with strong protests. Earlier this year a 28 year old woman wearing a knee-length tunic and leggings was fishing with a friend off the Galata bridge when she was detained by the police for ’indecent exposure’ and now faces charges of resisting authorities. (from the 9/29 Economist) We crossed that bridge at least four times daily while in Istanbul - hundreds of people fishing - no police anywhere. Upon closer inspection of my Galata bridge photos it appears that the only women on the bridge are tourists or Turkish women using the bridge to cross. Not one woman with a pole in her hands.

Our guide said that we should consider that seeing so many women in public with various traditional coverings means that women who previously had never left the home are now going about in public. He also explained how Turkey, a 97% Muslim nation, has Raki, a powerful alcohol, as it’s national drink. Since it is forbidden to have ‘one drop of alcohol’, you dip your finger in the Raki, flick off the forbidden drop and enjoy!

In the afternoon we bussed to the Hagia Sophia, which is at the other end of the Hippodrome - a former Roman race track. (my web album will provide descriptions) We were amazed to discover the still intacte underground cistern system built by the Romans to stockpile a 2 year water supply for the city. The optional tour finished with shopping time at the Grand Bazaar - 64 square blocks holding over 4000 shops, and every item’s price is negotiable.

Bargaining styles vary from culture to culture. In China the vendor puts a price on his calculator and hands it to you. You put in your price. If you can’t agree you bow slightly and leave. No words are needed. In Turkey every vendor speaks English and they do not drop their price substantially (for example, 7.50TL for a baseball hat became 6TL) until you walk away and go to another vendor selling the same item. It is sort of like the price moving down the street with you until you finally part with your cash. I did not like being told I was a wealthy American and should pay more (a good strategy on their part).

We skipped the evening belly dancing show/dinner and instead walked to Taksim where we had a nice Italian meal with friends.

Our tour the next morning at the Tokapi Palace (the former Sultan’s residence) was also in the same general area as the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. We have probably crossed over the Galata Bridge eight or ten times during our days here. I think doing them all in one day would be overwhelming. The palace has so many rooms displaying jewels, pottery, etc. that we ditched the last (and most crowded) display and enjoyed a nice lunch in a restaurant built on the site of the Sultans favorite area overlooking the Bosporus (web album photos). The bus dropped many of us off at Taksim Square on the way back as lunch was on our own.

Afternoon consisted of an optional visit to the Spice Market and cruise of the Bosporus - many great photos. Leaving the Spice Market we experienced the ‘call to prayer’ played on loudspeakers from every minaret in Istanbul - it was generally ignored by everyone in the street. The included evening dinner of traditional Turkish food was OK - I tried and enjoyed the Raki. It comes as a clear ounce of liquid in a glass. Water and ice are added and it become a white licorice-flavored drink.

The Ritz-Carlton is right next to Istanbul’s soccer stadium and as luck would have it, Liverpool was playing a Turkish team when we returned for the night. The crowd was so loud that we stayed up for the first half - you could see much of the game from our 8th floor window. The Turks won 2-1.

As we left Istanbul (Amadeus has a bus transport for several of us) at 3:30AM we approached the Galata Bridge for the last time to discover that the floating bridge was temporarily taken apart to permit a tanker to pass. We were able to use the Ataturk Bridge to make our plane and return to the US. How appropriate.

WIT