Oct 5 - Aljmaš, Croatia

First some background about Croatia (thank you Wikipedia):

Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe. Its coast lies entirely on the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, and shares a maritime border with Italy. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country has a population of nearly 3.9 million. It has had a turbulent history. Let’s pick it up after WWII.

In October 1918, the State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs, independent from Austria-Hungary, was proclaimed in Zagreb, and in December 1918, it merged into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Following the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, most of Croatia was incorporated into a Nazi-installed puppet state, the Independent State of Croatia. A resistance movement led to the creation of the Socialist Republic of Croatia, which after the war became a founding member and constituent of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On 25 June 1991, Croatia declared independence, and the War of Independence was successfully fought over the next four years. It became a country on November 12, 1995, as a result of the Erdut Agreement.

Croatia is a republic and a parliamentary liberal democracy. It is a member of the European Union. It adopted the euro as its currency in January, 2023.

Croatia is a developed country with an advanced high-income economy and ranks 40th in the Human Development Index.. Education is highly encouraged and is mostly free of charge for Croatians, even post-secondary education. Tourism is a significant source of revenue for the country, which is ranked among the top 20 most popular tourist destinations in the world.

We arrived at Aljmaš (AL-mosh) yesterday afternoon. The captain moored us with such delicacy that we didn’t feel even the slightest thump. We watched the almost balletic artistry of the mooring process. To our amazement, we found out later that it was the crew’s first time mooring here. Low water levels have caused major changes to many itineraries.

Aljmaš is a small community with a corner store, five bars, a tiny post office and an ATM. It is mainly a holiday home community, so this being the off-season, it was very quiet. Doug and I hoofed around yesterday afternoon before dinner, and took bikes out this afternoon to cover all the town.

Aljmaš was reportedly the sight of a Marian apparition and since 1704, a significant number of believers and tourists have made a pilgrimage here annually for the Feast of the Assumption on August 15. A Catholic Church in the name of Our Lady of Laus and Our Lady of Consolation was constructed in 1864. During the Croatian War of Independence in the early 1990s, the Roman Catholic church in Aljmaš was destroyed and rebuilt almost completely in 2006. The church has the most unique shape I’ve ever seen for a church – it’s designed to look like a wave, but others think it looks like a swan.

On our bike ride this afternoon, we rode up to the hill overlooking the town and the river. There is a statue of Christ and an outdoor set of Stations of the Cross. The Catholic religion is alive and vibrant in Croatia.

We have a special dinner invitation to dine in Portobellos Restaurant tonight. Everyone gets an invitation at least once during the cruise. Portobellos is a special, high-end dining spot on the front of the boat. We will enjoy superb service, carefully selected wines, and about nine meal courses. Eating is like an Olympic sport on this ship!

We had dinner with Carl and Janet from Stittsville, near Ottawa. We had a delightful time. Dinner was six courses, served with impeccable attention to detail, wonderfully good humour and a continual flow of wine. It was a fine evening!Read more