The Iron Gate and Belgrade, Serbia

Note: My posts are a day late due to the woefully weak wifi signal aboard the ship.

Yesterday, we spent the entire day cruising the Danube coasting between Romania to the north and Bulgaria to the south. The picturesque stretch is famously known as the Iron Gate with the Carpathian Mountains to the north and the Balkan Mountains to the south. On the Bulgarian side, Trajan’s Tablet was laid to mark the construction of a Roman military road; on the Romanian side we admired the enormous rock sculpture of Dacian King Decebalus.

The Viking Lif went through the “locks” similar to that of the Panama Canal. It was fascinating to see the ship while eating breakfast raised by increasing the water level in the lock.

After breakfast, we joined the group tour to Belgrade, Serbia. Belgrade used to be the capital of Yugoslavia and is now the capital of Serbia and is one of the oldest cities in Europe. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Danube and Sava. Throughout history, the “White City” as its Serbian name translates, has been destroyed and rebuilt 20 times.

We went to see the citadel housing the Kalemegdan Fortress where it protected many of the structures that still remain intact like the Orthodox Church. The Cathedral of St. Sava is one of the largest Orthodox buildings in the world and is currently undergoing renovations.

Later that night a group of Serbian musicians and dancers gave us the best entertainment onboard so far! The show was marvelous with their colorful traditional costumes. The musicians, especially the drummer, showed off their talents and wowed everyone.

Today, we are docking in Croatia….