Now is the time to be visiting Bucharest and Romania to see history evolving as the country tries to shed it’s communist past and grow into the 21^st century and be a part of the European Union. The architecture is the visual story, but the people are young enough to have experienced both styles of life that they bring to you, the visitor, a story that seems impossible to our democratic minds. To the under 40 year old citizens, they have a vibrant enthusiasm to the future and were hard at work and eager to please. Over age 40 there is a mixture of remembering a world where they received a paycheck for whatever work they did, little or more. So, there is an attitude that we would call lazy in the job and things went fine so why make a change. But they also remembered there was nothing to spend this money on. They remember having to give up their apartments to share their space, or for the many women who committed suicide because they could not support their families. It was a very black time.

Romania is a jigsaw of economics and attitude as much as of ethnicity. This has given rise to tension between minority groups, but most people today are united in their struggle to make a decent living. While pensioners are often the ones that have the hardest time adapting to recent social changes, the younger generation is full of beans. In the cities, a sizable chunk of young drives fast cars and sport mobile phones; another chunk is driven by the dream of doing the same. Still others have embarked on a more difficult route: the questioning where their country is headed and is it really better.

Romania has a host of lingering social issues to contend with, from the high number of orphans complicated by a ban on foreign adoptions, or decriminalizing homosexuality; women’s or feminist movement is barely existent, and then there’s the question of what to do with all the forlorn, stray dogs!

All in all, a visit to Romania, and particularity Bucharest, will enlighten you to the reality of freedom and what we take for granted. It’s a safe country to visit, although watch for petty street crime, pickpockets and the children begging for money. It has only been a mire 15 years since the overthrow of Ceausescu’s brutality, but Romania will change and blend into it’s other family countries of Europe of today.

So, with this impression of Bucharest and the country of Romania, is were we start our seven night Danube River Cruise. We board our vessel in Oltenita, a small village of Romania that is typical of the countryside with horse-drawn carriages alongside cars and buses. In the fields, the corn is being harvested by hand.

Our group trip was the last voyage for the MS Artistry to sail from the Black Sea to Budapest for the season. The later date gave us a more fall season and diversified weather. We started in Bucharest, Romania and the mornings and evenings were a very pleasant cool, and the mid afternoon was actually warm in the sun. No rain at all for the 12 days. The first morning of the Danube River cruise the weather was cold and windy off the Black Sea, but that was only a short half day excursion. Because of the weather, we were not overly impressed by Constanta or the Romanian seaside resort of Mamaia. But, if it had been more pleasant, we would have a different attitude. Part of the reason the Black Sea gets it’s name is related to the blustery winds. Although the weather was colder than expected, you can never know what tricks Mother Nature would play with you. If we had been three weeks earlier, we would have suffered from the flooding rains the country experienced and which were still evident in fields and cities where it was still standing.

The MS Artistry is one of the newest and more luxurious river boats of Europe. Shore excursions, and wine with dinner are included in the trip price. 70% of the staterooms have French balconies and the ship’s public amenities include a gift shop, hair salon, massage salon, a spa with whirlpool and the outdoor sun deck has plenty of very comfortable lounging chairs. All staff are English speaking, the entire interior of the ship is non-smoking, and rooms are equipped with hair dryers, safes and TV’s.

Cruising along the Danube, our next port of call is Rousse, Bulgaria for a bus trip to Veliko Tarnovo. This ancient capital of Bulgaria on the banks of the Yantra River, is a wonderful destination visit. The Royal Fortress on the famous Tsarevits Hill, is home to the Patriarch’s Church. The views from the hill are spectacular but be forewarned the climb up is challenging. We bused on to the village of Arbanassi for a visit to the Church of the Nativity. Now, every tour guide will tell you that every church is different and spectacular, and I will have to admit I was skeptical. This one did live up to it’s promise. The church was built during the Turkish ruling of Bulgaria when churches were not allowed to be built with spirals or outside ornaments, nor could they be taller than a man standing on a horse saddle and reaching up. The inside was all hand painted and told biblical stories through pictures. It was indeed different. Today it is a museum and masses are not conducted.

The next morning we awake to a promising good day, it looks like the sun will come out which is great as this is a cruising day through one of the Danube’s most dramatic gorge called the Iron Gate. The Iron Gate or Portile de Fier is a monstrous, concrete hydroelectric power station conceived in 1960 and completed 12 years later. 13 settlements were swallowed up by this project created to curb this treacherous stretch of the Danube.

We begin the scenic gorge and the sun is now shining. This is what river boating is about, being on deck in lovely weather, watching the beautiful Danube coasts. We pass The Trajan’s Tablet, or Tabula Traiana. It is a double framed plate with two floating dolphins and an eagle floating on the ceiling. The tablet was erected by the Romans, to commemorate the construction of Trajan’s Road along the Danube, and although in a very dilapidated state, it is still a remarkable memorial of the wonderful works which now lie in ruins.

Further along, the stature of King Decebalus, at Orsova, stands out at 40 meters high and 25 meters wide. The statue of the heroic king, the last of the ancient Dacia, was realized on the model of Mount Rushmore. It is the biggest in Europe, only 6 meters smaller than the statue of Liberty, eight meters smaller than the Christ de Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, but ten meters higher than the Colossus of Rhodes in Greece. This was a truly wonderful day along the river!

Our 5^th day on the Danube brings us to Belgrade, Serbia, a city of very tumultuous history, having been bombed and destroyed more than 20 times! But today, it is a thriving, busy European city. There is prosperity, and peace. As of 2002, Belgrade has been the capital of the newly formed State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

Our ship docked in to the city, although with a climb of about 100 stairs! But, after the city tour by bus, we elected to stay on the "top of the hill" and walk our way down through the pedestrian streets. This is the life of the city, many shops, wonderful architecture, outdoor cafes. Six of us stopped for a lunch of soups, salads and sandwiches, and two bottles of local wine. The cost is very inexpensive, averaging about $10.00 per person. Our ship remained in port until 9:30 this evening so we decide we want to find a classy local restaurant for dinner.

We found the Langouste Restaurant just at the top of the 100 stairs, a seafood only restaurant. In this style of restaurant, you are shown the fish for it’s freshness, and you purchase the entire fish based on it’s weight. We picked a local fish, which is similar in texture to a sea bass. As it was over two kilos, all six of us were going to have the same meal. We added fresh, raw oysters and sauteed prawns. The meal also included potatoes, spinach and with three bottles of wine, the cost was only about $35 per person. We were all extremely impressed with the atmosphere, food and price!  All in all, Belgrade was a wonderful destination and Serbia would be a good destination country on its own.

We were due for another day of cruising, but to our surprise we had an added port stop at Novi Sad, Serbia for a couple of hours. This was a wonderful addition to our itinerary, and it had not been added because a bridge had been under construction which interfered with the dock space. The bridge had been opened only three days prior to our arrival so the captain added Novi Sad at the last minute! What a terrific man!

As with much of Serbia, Novi Sad has a very interesting history. As late as 1988 changes were happening in the political face. 1996-1997 was marked by students’ civic demonstrations against the ruling regime. NATO bombardment left Novi Sad without bridges, communication and water supply. The city was quite exhausted but a new process of building started. Many of the buildings were finished in their historic structure and today the city is a great tourist port. Our walking tour was an easy two hours through the pedestrian square, and the city park. The Petrovaradin Fortress occupies 112 hectares and today is an at center.

Life on board the MS Artistry is very relaxed and easy. Our cabin is one with a French balcony so we are able to have the door open at night and huddle under our down filled duvets. During the day the curtains are open to the wonderful river views.

Meals are incredible, great food, great service and more then enough. Seating is open, so we mingle and meet fellow travelers from the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The traveling experience of our ship mates is impressive! The average age is probably 55 and up. There are no elevators on board so passengers must still have their mobility. And the countries we are traveling in have a long way to go to be handicap accessible. The 180 passengers all seem to be enjoying themselves and the crew’s service at all levels is impressive. If there was one complaint it is the internet access rate of an astonished rip off of three euros per minute! Fortunately, there are internet cafes when we have the time in the ports of call.

There’s life on the river too, barges passing with coal or whatever their loads, people fishing from the river bank and many villages marked by their church steeples. There is not any leisure boating probably for the main reason that although these countries are growing in prosperity, there is not a lot of discretionary income yet. There are not a lot of bridges crossing the river as in most of this trip, the river is the border between the countries. Romania/Bulgaria, Romania/Serbia, and Serbia/Hungry.

Getting back to our daily schedule, we arrive in Kalocsa, Hungary. Pronounced Kal-o-Chaa. Hungary produces a large volume of Paprika, and Kalocsa produces 4-5% of the world exports. It’s a pretty little town of about 18,000 citizens. We arrive on a foggy Saturday morning and the outdoor market is buzzing with activity. Wonderful fresh vegetables and fruits, flowers, and of course bags of paprika.

It’s only a few hours that we can spend in Kalocsa as we have to get back to the river in able to make it to Budapest by evening. The MS Artistry is a very exciting and impressive way to approach this magnificent city. It’s just dusk and the city lights are beginning to come on. Budapest calls itself "Paris of the East" and is most breathtaking. It was actually two cities, the elegant Buda on the hill which today is mostly residential (high end) and Pest, the bustling modern city on the other side of the river, flat and sprawling. The river banks are flanked by magnificent architecture, most predominately the House of Parliament. There are numerous buildings, monuments, and squares that are the splendor of Budapest, but I’m not going to put it all here. Please see our photos.

Allow yourself some extra days in Hungary and head out of town about an hour to St. Andrews, a remarkably cool place that is under promoted. St. Andrews is a Bohemian Artist’s Village. It’s a small country town with quaint museums, such as the Marzipan Museum, everything is candy, and the Miniature Museum, items are as small as a pin head. There are many wonderful shops of local crafts and tasteful souvenirs. I hope you can be as lucky as us and had a perfect weather day! After shopping, we even have a few minutes to share our purchases over a glass of local wine, sitting outside in the sun!

This entire trip was a wonderful success and extremely enlightening. I enjoyed the direction we went as well, from the Black Sea to Budapest. Starting in a country that is still struggling to over come it’s history and progressing through three other countries in different stages of this transition to Western Europe. The opposite direction may be more depressing seeing the decline in economies, but it would have an impact on you to appreciate what we have in America and to forever thankful. But also to remind ourselves that there is much in the world that is different.

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