2005 Danube River Cruise

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Day 20, November 10, 2005 - Danube Gorge
Up and downstream of Orsova, the Danube’s Gorge is affected by the settlements of Bazias (west of Carpathians) and Gura Vaii (situated in the eastern part of these mountains). On a distance of 130 km (81 miles), the Danube forms the most powerful cross section from all of its entire length of 2860 km (1,773) miles. This is also the most interesting part of the valley as a geological structure (it belongs to the Meridional sector of the Carpathians orogenetic system). There is a great variety of igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, but above all these, along the Danube’s Gorge we can see the most interesting geological phenomena: the unnatural superposition of huge geological formations as a result of thrusting and sliding of older deposits over new ones. This arrangement is the consequence of the Alpine orogeny.
Day 21, November 11, 2005
Uniworld version: Depart by motorcoach for a full day tour of Veliko Turnovo, the capital of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom from 1187 to 1393. The city formed a natural fortress, located on three hills surrounding the Yantra River. A palace, fortifications and churches were build into the terrain. Across the river, ancient stone houses seemingly perched on top of each other rise up the steep riverbank. On Tsarevets Hills, see the old fortress walls, royal palaces and patriarchal church. After lunch in a local restaurant there will be time to shop for handicrafts in the town market. Visit the museum town of Arbanasi on the way back to the ship in Rousse, where you will see examples of traditional Bulgarian dress and costume.
My version: Our bus departs at 8:15 and almost immediately we have to wait for the trains to sort themselves out before we can proceed. Who managed this great planning? We have a long bus ride on bumpy roads. The Bulgarians are very poor. The cities seem a bit more modern but the villages and country seem to be using horses and carts for transportation. They are going to need huge amounts of money to get their economy up to the rest of Europe.
We were warned about pick-pockets and so I did not take anything along. I changed the CF card in my camera, just in case I lost my camera, I would not lose my photos. In actual fact, I saw no evidence of pick pockets and I don’t believe anyone lost anything at all. At our first coffee stop one of the vendors was selling her Grandfather’s wood carvings on ebay. That was just super to hear. So there appears to be pockets of some wealth in the country.
Our guide was David, from Scotland, who married a local girl who had been his guide on a climbing expedition. They have moved back to Bulgaria. He says this country is going to be the garden of Europe. The wildlife is returning as well as the flora in the fields that are going uncultivated. Unfortunately I could not get any photos from the bus of the hawks and other wildlife we saw in the fields.
Situated on three hills (Zarevez, Trapesiza and Sveta Gora) circled by the River Jantra and having about 60,000 inhabitants. Veliko Tarnovo contains extraordinary collections of historic works of art, including church relics. It was also the ancient capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire (1197 – 1393) The oldest part of the city is situated around the Tsarevets Citadel, strategically build on a hilltop overlooking the city encircled by the river and accessible only by a drawbridge.
After the liberation from Ottoman domination in 1876 until the wars in 1912 – 1913 and in 1915 – 1918 Tarnovo played a significant role in the political, administrative and cultural formation of independent Bulgaria. In 1990 the 7th Grand National Assembly was established in the same Town Hall where the Constituent Assembly was in session in 1879. The 7th Grand National Assembly drafted the new constitution of Bulgaria – the nation’s fundamental laws for modern, democratic changes.

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