Wednesday October 19, 2011

The Danube River Cruise continues: Sunday October 8, We arrived in Belgrade, Serbia while we were eating breakfast. At 0900 we got in our bus and headed on a tour of the city. Belgrade is the capital of Serbia and has a population of 1,275,000. We toured the Tito Museum, St. Sava Church and then walked through the old part of the City. Belgrade is just recovering from all the troubles they had in the 90s and although there are some really nice sectons it looked depressed. Serbia's main religion is Russian Orthodox. At 1800 the boat left Belgrade and headed to Croatia. Just a comment on the Ottomans (Turks). The Ottoman Empire either controlled or marched through all the countries we visited. Their influence in Eastern European history is immense.. This winter I plan on reading more on the Ottoman Empire. I am using Goggle's new format and I cannot find a spell check. I am using my 1956 Webster's Dictionary but I cannot catch everything. Please overlook the misspelling. Monday October 10, 2011: We are docked at Vukovar, Croatia. Vukora was nearly destroyed by the Serbians in the early 1990s. Today we departed at 0900 for a tour of Osijek, Croatia. We visited an elementary school that is supported by Grand Circle. The children in the school put on a program for us. It was really very good. The one thing I noticed was the dress of the kids. They were wearing the universal kid's clothing of jeans, Tee shirts and Nikes. The same outfit worn by the grandchildren of the tour group. Nancy and I and three other couples had lunch with a local family. We had the local fare and got to talk to the family. The folks in this town had to leave because of the 1990 war. They were gone for about 8 years and when they came back their home was destroyed. The home we visited had been rebuilt. They had state of the art windows and all the appliances were new. I was surprised that they burned wood. Their property was long and narrow. 50' x 400'. They had a great garden with fruit trees. They also had chickens and rabbits. It was interesting. As we moved up the Danube each new country seemed more prosperous than the last. Croatia was no exception. The main religion in Croatia is Roman Catholic. Tuesday October 11, 2011: The boat sailed overnight and we reached Kalocsa, Hungary in the morning. It was an easy day for Bob and Nancy. We spent the morning in the boat's lounge reading our books. In the afternoon we walked around the town of Kalocsa. Kalocsa is a town of about 18,000. We liked our walk around town. Cobblestone streets and very old scenic buildings made the walk very pleasurable. Wednesday October 12, 2011: We arrived in Budapest at 0630. After breakfast we went on a tour of Budapest. Budapest was the highlight of our trip. The city has a population of 1,700,000 and is loaded with old historic buildings and churches. The architecture was spectular. Pesta is located on one side of the Danube and Buda is on the other. Today we were berthed on the Buda side. The tour last until 1300. After lunch Nancy and I walked along a 1 mile pedestrian mall. We especially liked their covered marketplace. It is kinda like Clevelands "Westside Market". After another great evening meal we listened to a lecture on Hungarian traditions. Thursday October13, 2011: Nothing was planned for today but Nancy and I had a very special day. Melissa's college roomate, Adri, lives in a suburb of Budapest. Adri picked us up at 0930 and took us on a walking tour of Budapest. Adri is very knowledgeable about the architecture of Budapest. We walked into buildings like the Four Seasons Hotel and Adri would point out their unique features. We enjoyed walking through the old Jewish secition of the city. Adri showed us several old buildings that were being restored. We stopped at the National Museum and walked through their section on the History of Hungry. We had lunch at the oldest cafe in the city. We had a typical Hungarian business man's lunch, complete with a glass of Hungarian beer. It was a very pleasant lunch. We got back ot the boat about 1330. After spending several hours relaxing, Zolton, Adri's husband picked us up and drove use to a small suburb of Budapest for dinner. We were met by Adri and their two children. The restaurant, I think, was a typical small town eatery. It had about 10 tables. We had what I would consider a typical dinner that a Hungarian family would have on a night out. Zoltons and Adri's live style is not that much different than a professional couple in the USA. The kids were typical youngsters with interests similar to our grandkids. Eddie the son recommended that I get my grandson, Lucas, a toy Tarbant car. The Tarbant was manufactured in East Germany during the Soviet era. It had cardboard components and was the laughing stock of the auto industry. However, the model car is a must have for six year old boys. Nancy and I enjoyed our time spent with Adri and her family. The are a lovely family. Friday October 14, 2011: Today is our last full day on the tour. At 0900 we got in our bus and took a tour of Szentendre. Szentendre is a thousand year old town famous for its 18th century architecture. We ended the day with the Captain's Farewell Dinner. The cook's pulled out all the stops. It was great. We said our goodbyes to our boatmates. Saturday October 15, 2011: Travel day. We got up at 0230 and headed to the airport. Our flight left at 0615. We stopped in Amsterdam and got into Chicago about 1400. We got the C2 and headed for home. We arrived in GR about 1800. Saturday October 16, 2011: We had jet lag so getting up at 0700 was easy. We swam for 30 minutes and then headed to Meijer's for groceries. I took my afternoon nap and even went on a 3 mile walk. I fell asleep before 60 Minutes and woke up about 1.5 hours later. We were in bed early. Monday October 17, 2011: Back to normal. I did every thing at 50%. In the afternoon I mowed the grass. I hope it is the last time this year. After dinner I fell asleep watching TV. Another early night. Tuesday October 18, 2011: I did my row, run, swim routine. I spent a lot of time at the Kava House reading my papers. In the afternoon I got my winter wardrobe out. I took my wool pants, sweaters and coats to the dry cleaners. Nancy attended a OHNA meeting in the evening. Wednesday October 19, 2011: Today I attended Breakfast Clubl. The speaker was GR's Police Chief and he gave a presentation on the terrible shooting in July. Seven folks were shot and killed and the Chief played the 911 calls and showed the videos that were captured by the cameras mounted on the police cars. They had a wild car chase through GR. It was very interesting. After the meeting I got the C2 serviced. This afternoon Nancy is working at the Gardens and this evening she is working at a Volunteer Dinner. I will not see her until about 2100.