Vidin, Bulgaria
26 de marzo, Bulgaria ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F
We and another Viking ship descended on this poor little town of 30,000 people as we traipsed through their very large pedestrian zone complete with monuments (the Communist one was left because the sentiment was considered transferrable: "The greatness of the motherland is built on top of the bones for those who died for it.")
We saw lots of your average town homes and buildings, which was a nice glimpse. Are ours this rough at home? What these poor people have gone through with all their wars and occupations. 😢
Some facts we learned from our guide:
--Bulgaria has had their name of their country longer than any other European country.
--The prior generation speaks French and Russian, while younger folks speak English.
-- 1st country to adopt Cyrillic alphabet.
-- Eastern Orthodox since 9th century (but not very religious), some Muslim still and a lot of agnostics.
- The Bulgarians threw off the Turks in the 19th century after 500 years with help of Russians.
--Vidin was the capital for 30 years (it's Sofia now).
Walked to the Baba Vida (Granny Vida) fortress, an extremely well-preserved and original 15th and 16th century fortress that was never taken, with foundations that are 2nd century Roman. (It's the only entirely preserved medieval castle in the country.) Name is 10th century legend about an eldest daughter, Vida, who remained unmarried and built the castle in her city.
As we walked by this area they call the "triangle of tolerance," we learned some more interesting religious and WWII history about the Bulgarians. They joined the Axis (Hitler, Mussolini) with the promise they'd get Thrace and Macedonia back. But did you know that during WWII Bulgaria lost very few of their Jews? We didn't. Tsar Boris III put the country's Jews on work detail projects so few went to the concentration camps. They weren't completely immune but better than other countries. Rumor has it Hitler poisoned the Tsar because of his refusal. So even though Vidin's synagogue isn't used any more, they donated it to the city because the Jews moved away under Communism. See the picture of the "thank you" for helping them during the war.
It seems that these former Communist countries have really struggled to regain their footing in a more capitalistic world. But they seem to be close to one another and spend a lot of time drinking coffee with each other for hours. Who is to say they aren't doing the more important thing?Leer más
Pleven, Bulgaria
27 de marzo, Bulgaria ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F
Here we go with some more Bulgarian history...oh boy!
- Bulgaria became an independent country in 681 AD as a combination of Bulgaria, Slavs, and Thracians (Spartacus was a Thracian).
- Bulgaria created the first Cyrillic alphabet and is used by 350 million people in Eurasia (Russia makes up half of that). With Bulgaria's acceptance into the EU, that is now the 3rd alphabet accepted (in addition to Latin and Greek).
- Pensioners (retired folk) live on about 300 euros/month but fortunately most own their homes, thanks to their Communist past.
- During Ottoman occupation everywhere, young boys were taken to Turkey and converted to Islam and became the elite fighting force of the Janissaries.
- If you didn't convert to Islam during occupation you had to pay a special "blood tax."
- The Eastern Bloc was often called the "Second World," while the term "First World" referred to the Western Bloc and "Third World" referred to the non-aligned countries that were mainly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America but also included the pre-1948 European Soviet ally Yugoslavia.
- Primary export of Bulgaria is rose oil.
Apparently there was nothing to see along the Danube, so we were bussed an hour to Pleven, a town of 90,000 people, the 7th largest but shrinking. There are a total of 6 million living in the country, with the capital, Sofia, the largest with 1.5 million people. (Note: Chicago has a Bulgarian population twice as big as Pleven.)
The main attraction in this town was the Epopee (Epic) of Pleven 1877. The war for independence from 500 years of Ottoman rule happened for almost a year and only after the 1876 uprising was unsuccessful. In that uprising 30,000 Bulgarians - mostly women and children - were killed, causing anger and eventually motivated Russia to assist with the Ottoman Turk removal. (An American journalist working for NY and London papers helped with that empathy.)
This panorama shows the battle in a 360⁰ round (similar to Gettysburg and other spherical depictions). This was not the first or most important battle against the Turks, but was the last major battle to get the Turks out of Bulgaria. Many of the weapons supplied to the Russian forces were American - Springfield, Remington, Winchester, Smith & Wesson (America and England supplied Ottomans); world-wide arms supplying doesn't really change it seems. (Wonder if this was surplus from our Civil War.)
We then went into the town square and yet another wonderful pedestrian zone (where we got Greg some cold medicine.) Here we saw
St. Nicholas church, built in 1834. On the other end of the mall was the Chapel Mausoleum of St. George - where soldiers are listed (and some buried) from war of 1877; 7500 Pleven soldiers were killed in battle.
Our bus took us to another port further down the river, back onto the boat, a lovely British tea (gotta love a scone with clotted cream and jam!) and then picking up some people from an optional two-day excursion before heading to our last stop on our cruise.Leer más
Constanta, Romania
28 de marzo, Rumania ⋅ ☁️ 50 °F
Went through our last bunch of locks as we exited the Danube and sailed into the Black Sea. Finally seeing some weather also. No complaints though, Vienna (where we started has had snow and Halstatt is below freezing. 🥶)
Apparently our ship was the 1st visit of the season into Costanta (pronounced kōstanza, like George from Seinfeld) so we were met by TV crews. The town was named after Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 4th century when Romans were here.
Factoids about Romania, the Black Sea, and Costanza (a pin drop of a town, which we all agreed was pretty boring):
- Romania has been part of NATO since 2004 and EU since 2007, but not using Euro yet.
- Country is 90% Orthodox (possibly Greek Orthodox), next largest is Moslem followed by Catholics and Protestants, all 3 with single-digit percentages.
- Romania is the only Latin-speaking country in this part of Europe; Slavs migrated through here but didn't settle, but continued through to Bulgaria.
- Romania was also saved from the Turks by the Russians in the late 19th century, and sided with the wrong side in both world wars.
- Black Sea is called that because Turks designated names of bodies of water based on where they were.
- The Black Sea is the world's largest anoxic basin, where over 90% of the deep water contains no oxygen and is filled with hydrogen sulfide from mixing with saline bodies of water that come into it. Oxygen is restricted to the upper 70–150 meters (where it's fresh), supported by surface mixing, while the denser, deeper layers do not mix, making them nearly lifeless and preserving ancient shipwrecks.
- Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the blockading of the Ukrainian Black Sea ports led to renewed interest in the port of Constanta as one possible outlet for transporting grain to the rest of the world.
- This is the largest harbor on the Black Sea.
- Costanta is one of the largest cities in Romania and the oldest continually inhabited.
- There are lots of Roman ruins but many archeological sites are still under the modern city.
- We saw yet another inactive synagogue, less than 50 Jews in Costanta.
- Roman poet Ovid, who wrote Metamorphosis and Art of Love, was exiled here. He thought he was sent here because of his less-conservative views on cohabitation in a time Rome was getting more conservative, (or maybe it was his secret love affair with the emperor's granddaughter).
- St. Peter and St. Paul Orthodox Cathedral, from late 19th century was bombed during WWII by Soviets and the harbor was destroyed (Romania partnered with Nazis...oops).
- In the cathedral we interrupted a private memorial service, apparently held 41 days after they die (giving the soul time to stop it's lingering).
- The casino was built 1910 to 1914; its heyday was in the 20s when this was a seaside resort. It's no longer a museum but is a historical piece, renovation finished last year for 40 million euros (half from EU, half from Romania).
- Queen Marie of Romania, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, apparently loved the Romanian people (after she died, she left her heart here), and loved the sea and spent time here.
Last night on the boat and off to Bucharest tomorrow.Leer más
ViajeroI don’t know if you remember I spent quite a bit of time in Romania when I worked for Innerchange. Would fly into Bucharest, but then took a little puddle jumper to the town of Iasi. Enjoying your photos!
Goodbye boat, Hello Bucharest!
29 de marzo, Rumania ⋅ 🌧 50 °F
We said goodbye to our floating hotel and then everyone boarded buses with zero leg room to the capital, Bucharest or București (pronounced būecharest, not boocharest). Located on the River Dâmboviț, it was first mentioned in 1459 in a document written by Vlad the Impaler (commonly called Dracula). There are 1.7 million inhabitants in the city (more includinf adjacent suburbs); it's the largest city in Romania, and 9th largest in the EU. The name of the city theoretically came from a shepherd named Bucar who settled here.
The Romanian tour guide, when speaking about the country's history, kept referring to Moldova as a region of Romania. It's not. It became an independent country after the Soviet Union crumbled. They do speak primarily Romanian there and are one of the poorest countries in Europe.
Since we were on a bus and it was raining (1st day of the entire trip) the pictures aren't so great so I did download some. Now for the history lesson:
- The Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, ranks as the largest administrative building for civilian use in the world and the heaviest building globally. It is the second-largest administrative building overall (after the Pentagon).
- As usual, it was easy to distinguish between the Communist-era apartments and the new ones. Any nicer pre-Communist buildings still need a lot of love.
- Nicolae Ceaușescu’s rule in Romania (1965–1989) is remembered for extreme repression, a bizarre cult of personality, and severe economic mismanagement that caused widespread hunger and poverty. Key issues included exporting food to pay foreign debt, and using the Securitate secret police to terrorize citizens.
- Ceaușescu was killed in 1989; he isn't as poorly thought of as before, but who knows.
- Victory of Socialism Boulevard from 1985 (now renamed Union Boulevard), which leads to the parliament, was designed to be longer and wider than Champs-Élysées (there's very little comparison).
- We passed a mini-Arc de Triumph, smaller than the real one in Paris, called the Arcul de Triumf originally erected of wood after WWI. Medallions of Ceaușescu and his wife were of course replaced.
- The 1989 Revolution started at the university in Bucharest; people were promised money if they didn't revolt but no one believed him, and well, he ended up dead and Romania ended up free from Communists (though the replacement party is very popular).
Lunch was at a giant old restaurant, Hanu Lui Manuc, that Viking arranged for us after a brief, rainy bus tour through Bucharest. The inn’s story starts in 1806 when it was built on Bucur’s land, on the riverside of Dambovita. Some good Romanian food and entertainment and then some of us went and walked in the rain around Old Town.
Finally we got to our hotel, the 5 star JW Marriott Grand Bucharest. Wow, we could get used to this. Viking had us checked in already and bags in our rooms - nice! We walked around some and ordered pizza and I took a bath. On our own tomorrow so I've arranged a Get-Your-Guide.Leer más
Beyond Bucharest
30 de marzo, Rumania ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F
Today was all to ourselves. We could have booked a very expensive Viking tour, but Get Your Guide once again came to the rescue. We got a full day (like 12 hours, we had to get up so early!) day of travel to Wallachia and Transylvania. Romania has 3 parts: Wallachia in the south, Transylvania that used to be part of Austria-Hungary empire, and Moldova (not part now). Fortunately all three places were Rick Steves-approved, ha ha.
Our first stop was in Sinaia for a royal residence, Peles Castle. The town leading up to it looks like it's a resort in Winter or Summer (not in the cold Spring when we're here); lots of Airbnbs it looks like.
King Carol I who built Peles Castle (pronounced "pelesh") actually came from Germany. It was built in 1874 and meant to rival Schönbrúnn, because when he came to Romania he had to travel like a peasant so it was to get even (so we were told). It was one of the first to have electricity and central heating. Unfortunately it was closed inside but we have seen sooo many castles, we didn't cry too much.
Back on the bus to Brașov (pronounced "broshov," which is the 6th most populous town in Romania with 230,000 people and ringed by the Carpathian mountains. Super cute town and each adorable building looked completely different from the one next to it.
There were 7 fortresses built to protect the border when Hungary took over Transylvania in the 1200s; Brașov was one of the most important. Old town Brașov is where public happenings - fairs, markets, executions - were held. There is a new, large, modern Brașov, which we completely ignored.
The "Black Church" was finished in 1700s and dedicated to St. Mary, but after it burnt, they left the walls the charcoal color. 3 years ago the city cleaned it up and it's no longer black (but still cute). Next to church was a statue of Johannes Honterus, 1498 to 23 January 1549), and was born and died in Brașov. We'd never heard of this renaissance humanist, Protestant reformer, and theologian, as well as his geographic and cartographic publishing activity. There is a school there dedicated to him next to the church.
14 miles away was Castle Bron, commonly called Dracula's Castle. Hmmm.
The REAL story of Dracula, Vlad II, ruler of Wallachia: he had to make a deal with the Ottomans when they were invading because they took his kids to raise them as Turks, so he got reinstated over Wallachia. Transylvania asked him to join the Order of the Dragon to help them to defend the border, so he became Vlad Dracul, Vlad the demon.
After Vlad II died, the Turks placed Vlad III on the throne (the kid they took and tried to indoctrinate) and he also was asked to join the Order of the Dragon, but to distinguish him from his dad, they added some letters so he became Vlad Draculia, from whence Bram Stoker took the name.
Though the Turks hoped they could control him, he hated them and so he waged war on them. He learned they especially hated the torture of impaling (driving a large stake through the body, missing vital organs, and taking 2 days to die). He impaled between 8-10,000 Turkish soldiers, completely demoralizing them and became known as Vlad the Impaler.
The Turks sent Vlad's brother to make an alliance with nobles in Brașov to get his brother off their backs. After some more politics, a story about Vlad's blood-thirstiness, and a pope, he got dethroned and never had the same power as before.
Bran Castle was built in 1377 by Hungary as a defense, until it passed to the royal family. The Communists confiscated it during their time, but at the end of the 20th century a member of the Hapsburgs proved it was his and now he owns it. There is really no association with Vlad or the Dracula of the book.Leer más
Istanbul!
31 de marzo, Turquía ⋅ ⛅ 54 °F
Early wake up and bussed to airport with 30 people from our cruise. How can there be almost no one we knew from the prior 2 weeks?
Out of Bucharest on Turkish Air complete with meal for only a 1 hour flight to the ginormous Istanbul airport, 18 million people and you can just feel it throb with life!
After checking in to our new lovely hotel we immediately went shopping for some snacks and also found a travel bag (been looking for one). There is just every kind of person on the street and wonderful bargains and fun stuff.
Then Wendy went for a Turkish bath at Cinili Hamam, in operation since 1540. WOW!!!!! I've had spas before but this was very different; lots of water, lots of soap, lots of scrubbing. Men and women were separate, but otherwise maybe not as modest as I thought it would be. (See me for details.)Leer más
Istanbul - Day 2
1 de abril, Turquía ⋅ 🌬 55 °F
This continues to be the most amazing city - breakfast was a display of so much we've never seen before (or expected at breakfast).
Off on our Viking included tour: Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia, and then Grand Bazaar. And always, the history...
Istanbul and Turkey:
- Founded as Byzantium around 660 BCE, is a historic metropolis straddling Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus Strait. It served as the capital of the Roman/Byzantine (330–1453) and Ottoman (1453–1923) empires, acting as a pivotal trade and cultural hub. Renamed Istanbul in 1930, it remains Turkey’s largest city and economic center.
- Ataturk (who Turkey is named after) moved the capital to Ankara in 1923
- 15 to 20 million live in Istanbul, 85 million is population of entire country, 12 million live on Europe side and 8 million on Asia side and 3 million commute to the European side
- In 1492 during the Spanish Inquisition 400,000 Jews moved to Istanbul (Moslems were historically more tolerant) but now only 3000 Jews.
- Istanbul has more high rises than any European city (65 to London's 50).
- Istanbul is on 2 continents - Europe and Asia, Turkey has 93% of the country on Asia side.
- Istanbul has all kinds of sea passages that are important: Black Sea, Sea of Marmar, Mediterranean. And the Golden Horn is a bay connecting old and new towns of the city.
- The new airport was built 6 years ago and is expecting to hold more flights than Atlanta in a few years.
- Sultan Mehmed in 1453 conquered Constantinople and allowed the Greek Orthodox patriarch stay in Istanbul (still here)
- Isnik - we know it as Nicea - Pope Leo was here 2 months ago and met with the head Iman and head of Orthodox Church on 1700th anniversary of Council of Nicea.
Hippodrome:
- Although the Hippodrome is usually associated with Constantinople's days of glory as an imperial capital, it actually predates that era. The first Hippodrome was built when the city was called Byzantium, and was a provincial town of moderate importance. In AD 203 the emperor endowed the city with a hippodrome, an arena for chariot races and other entertainment that could hold 100,000.
- The bronze horses of Venice? stolen from Istanbul.
- Only 3 monuments remain from the historical Hippodrome - a couple of columns and an obelisk from Egypt, which was split apart - on a Roman foundation - all 4th century.
The Blue Mosque:
- Blue Mosque is really called Sultan Ahmed Mosque (in Turkish: Sultanahmet Camii) and tourists started using the nickname because of the 3000 blue tiles inside on the second level.
- It was made in 1607 within 7 years and is directly across from the Hagia Sophia as competition.
- The blue tiles are made from crushed quartz.
- Older designs were geometric and later flora was added. Tulips were used in designs starting with the Ottomans (they are the ones that gave tulips to the Dutch).
- For mosques in Turkey, the Iman and muazzin (the guy who calls people to prayer) are appointed by the government (so not so much separation of church and state).
- Minarets purpose has been as a call to prayer; they used to climb up but now they just use loudspeakers; the more Minarets the more powerful the mosque. (The Blue Mosque has 6, Hagia Sofia just got her 4th.)
Hagia Sophia:
- The current Hagia Sophia (the third to occupy the site) was built between 532 and 537 AD under the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. Designed by Isidorus of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles, it was completed in just five years, serving as the seat of the Eastern Orthodox Church until 1453, when it was converted into a mosque.
- Hagia Sofia ("holy wisdom" in Greek) the 1st by Emperor Constantine was made of wood, 2nd by Emperor Theodos (of obelisk fame), before that there was a Greek temple to Artemis.
- It was 1054 when Catholics and Orthodox separated (the great schism).
- 1204 to 1261 was made Catholic church when crusaders came through here.
- It was converted to a mosque by Sultan Mehmed II in 1455 until 1935, when he covered the images.
- Ataturk converted it to a full-time museum and only recently it became both a museum and a mosque (lucky us).
- They left the mosaics covered with the plaster on the 1st level where people pray, and some of the images are uncovered on the 2nd floor, which is more museum. There is a mosaic of Jesus and Mary, but since it would be seen by those praying when they come on Fridays, it's covered with a curtain that day.
- Up on a balcony on the 2nd floor is the name "Halvdan" in graffiti; a name from a 10th century Viking visitor.
- The scaffolding is part of 50 year restoration (their own La Sagrada Familia, our guide said).
- Istanbul in 1999 had an earthquake of 7.9; Hagia Sofia can take an 8.4 because of construction added during Ottoman occupation.
- There is an 11th century mosaic of emperor and empress with Jesus; he financed some mosaics, but this is a photoshop - empress kept beheading her husbands when they cheated and she just replaced their heads (5 times).
- 3250 mosques in Istanbul...so far.
From there we went to a hotel from the 17th century that now houses the country's oldest rug manufacturer and the only one sponsored by government. We learned a ton about rugs, had some Turkish coffee and plum brandy (yuk), and then got a hard-sell on rugs.
After that it was a short jaunt to the Grand Bazaar, the oldest market in the world, since. 1461 where there are 4000 shops. Seriously. Greg went back to the hotel as this isn't his jam, and try as I might, I couldn't find anything I couldn't live without. Give me more than an hour and I'm sure I could be more successful!
A little later we learned the public transportation system and went back to Old Town for more walking around general neighborhoods and to the park between the 2 giant mosques, in time to hear the call to prayer, like they were calling and responding to each other. So beautiful! As was the baklava to cap off the day. Definitely coming back hereLeer más
Last day in Istanbul 😢
2 de abril, Turquía ⋅ 🌙 57 °F
Off for another early Viking tour; this time to Topkapi Palace. It's good we've been going early as we miss a lot of crowds (and being in the off-season doesn't hurt).
Last history lesson for this trip:
- Istanbul is a new name (1930s) and means "to go to downtown," named by Ataturk who took over after WWI.
- Turkey has always spoken Turkish but they used to write Arabic until the country's founder, Ataturk, changed it to Latin letters. Turks don't use Arabic except for religious purposes.
- Ataturk (from Thessaloniki when it was an Ottoman vassal) reforms - abolished caliphate, sultanate, changed dress code to be more modern (lose the fez and black burkas), alphabet (but with 29 letters), added surnames for people.
- Saw 14 miles of Roman walls, facing the sea (and protecting Topkapi); longest second only to Great Wall.
- Topkapi means "cannon gate" palace.
- Topkapi was made into a museum in 1924 by Ataturk after dissolution of the monarchy in 1923.
- Surveyed by British to be most beautiful palace in the world (I didn't check that, but it was very beautiful.)
- Mehmet, 7th sultan, finally conquered Constantinople in 1453 (he converted Hagia Sofia) and built Topkapi on top of a Roman acropolis, reusing Roman columns.
- Sultans were in power for 620 years, from 1299 to 1923, 36 sultans.
- Osman I was the first, from which came name of Ottoman Empire; he came from Asia.
- Topkapi used to cover 175 acres, now 17.
- At the height of the empire was Sultan Suleiman where they were on 3 continents.
- The downfall came through normal domestic problems - late 19th century - "sick man of Europe."
- Balkan war was the start of heavy rebelliousness against empire; Greece was the first of the countries to gain independence and then it cascaded.
- After WWI they lost 2/3 of territories; Ataturk exiled the sultan family to Paris and they haven't let them back in, Osmanoğlu is their current surname.
- Harem (pronounced hareem - means forbidden) life - only for the Sultan; women.were brought from non-Muslim places when 10-15 to be trained, not necessarily to be the sultan's wife, only the beautiful and smart ones would be introduced. Usually more than 700.women, only 3-4 wives, rest were servants or concubines (once they birthed a son they became a wife and got a private apartment), daughters would marry ministers - 2 strikes and then you're out of you only birthed girls.
- Crown princes were sent to different parts of empire to help rule; smartest and best relationship with sultan (dad) might become sultan, not necessarily the oldest, and they might kill competitive siblings
- Mehmed who built Blue Mosque started imprisoning the crown princes (opulently) instead of killing them. He conquered Istanbul at 21.
- 2 types of eunuchs - black and white - and the black ones served the harem, most from Sudan, about 150.
- So much blue tile! Very reminiscent of azulejos in Portugal, but Portugal never fell to the Ottomans. The Imperial Hall had Delft tiles and all of them originated from China.
- And there were so many associations with Bible stories that related to how the Sultans lived: Nehemiah, a wine taster; Esther; urns like what Jesus would have turned water to wine.
- Spoonmakers diamond - 17th century 86 carat diamond, called such because supposedly a spoon maker found it and didn't know what he had, so he sold it in the Grand Bazaar for spoons, then the Sultan heard about it. In addition to a boatload of other gems!
There was a separate relic area (the guide didn't tell us about it) where they had a bunch of improbable relics, which just goes to show you that even the Muslims fall for that stuff: staff of prophet Moses, plus footprint and cardigan and letters and tooth and sandals of Mohammed, John the Baptist arm and skull bone, pot belonging to Abraham, sword of David.
After lunch at a local place, Wendy took the Metro to the Spice market - dangerous for shopping but not for anything else - and bought some souvs. The walked across the bridge to Taxsim Square and a 1 mile pedestrian walk back to the hotel to pack.Leer más
Home again
3 de abril, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F
34 days, 16 cities, 8 different hotels, 6 capitals of Europe, (and 279 busses...it felt like) = 1 amazing trip! It was a lot, but learning new things and experiencing new cultures is tiring and exciting.
We realize how blessed we are to get to do these things, though we weren't feeling it at 1:30 am when we left Istanbul for the airport. (Huge, beautiful, and one of the world's busiest - all the swanky stores are 24/7.) A stop in Frankfurt and then 11 hours to LA.
As we flew in beside our mountains it's easy to see there are pros and cons to America vs. other parts of the world. Our freedoms and standard of living soared over so much we saw in Central Europe, who seems to still be figuring it out. But there are blessings to a slower, intimate way of life that feel more of what God has probably called us to. Traveling with old people amongst cobbled streets and old buildings reminded us of the patience we need, and the beauty of old construction made us simultaneously thankful for building codes.
Being in Catholic and Orthodox and Muslim-majority countries showed us that there is not only one way to worship, and that there is beauty in people praising God in different languages and ways; we don't have a lock on it in America, and God is an omni-present God, whether in Europe or America. Grateful for the experience and grateful for our home in our corner of the world.Leer más
Viajero
A squat church
Viajero
So cool!
Viajero
I’d love to see that - wow
Viajero
That smoker dome is a cool concept