Nikopol

Back at the boat, we were treated to a fabulous BBQ lunch served on the top deck in the glorious sunshine. There was chicken, sausages and burgers all being grilled right there, along with salads and breads and every drink imaginable. Beer for Doug and Sangria for me for lunch.

Then we went for a long walk through Nikopol so Doug could show me the sights that he spied on his bike ride yesterday. It’s just a sad-looking little town. There is a ramshackle plant that makes wooden pallets. In a curious juxtaposition of the old and the new, the plant has a huge bank of solar panels and is clearly set up to being sending electricity back to the grid.

Nikopol used to be a major shipping port, but the building of two bridges (located 400 kms apart) across the Danube between Bulgaria and Romania, combined with chronic low water levels have taken away the need for a major port. Recently, however, the lineups for trucks at the two bridges have been averaging 72 hours because of all the customs/passport checks being done to curb human trafficking. So now, trucks come to Nikopol and line up for about 24 hours to cross over on a little ferry that can hold about 5-6 trucks and that can make the crossing in about 15 minutes. Last night on the return trip home, I counted 100 trucks in line – the ferry stops running at dusk. The whole thing just seems to inefficient and wasteful of time and energy.

Tonight we had the farewell dinner. Tomorrow night is the last night on the boat, but everyone will be busy packing for disembarkation on Friday morning, hence the reason for doing the big dinner the night before. It started with champagne and little hors d’oeuvres served in the lounge. The captain then presented to us the entire crew of the ship, right down to the lowly scullery boys “who work in a rain forest environment”. Then we all sat down for a six-course meal. The main dish was beef tenderloin – my favourite dinner of the entire cruise. Dessert was a chocolate lava cake served with ice cream and vanilla sauce. Fabulous! The wine, as always, flowed freely.Read more