2013-7-6 to 7-8 - Cruising the Danube to Vidin, Bulgaria

At 8pm on the 6th, the Aegir left Giurgiu for Russe, Bulgaria which only took an hour. We had a welcome toast in the lounge, met the officers & had a wonderful dinner. Most everyone was exhausted but excited at the same time. It was an early night for most of us.
The next morning, we had a choice of taking a bus tour to Veliko Tarnovo & Arbanasi from 8:30 am to 6pm - or NOT.   We & many others stayed on board to relax & enjoy the sights to Nikopol where the tour group met the boat.
7/8 ..We arrived in Vidin, Bulgaria. "For over 2,000 years the Vidin region has been an important military, transport & commercial center.  The area was first settled by Celts who called it Dunonia or 'fortified hill'.  It evolved into a Roman town called Bononia & grew in importance".  We took a shore excursion to Belogradhick rocks & fortress.

Sights on the old Roman road to Belogradshick

 

 

Old church & new school

 

 

Old Roman road as seen from the bus (surprising to see an 18 wheeler)

 

I've never seen a stork in the wild

 

 

 Miles & Miles of sunflowers

 

 

After riding through the beautiful country side, we stopped at a hotel close to the fortress for a snack & potty break. It was here where we began to see the majesty of the rocks.

 



 

 

"The Belogradchik Rocks are a group of strange shaped sandstone and conglomerate rock formations located on the western slopes of the Balkan Mountains near the town of Belogradchik in northwest Bulgaria. The rocks vary in color from primarily red to yellow; some of the rocks reach up to 200 m in height. Many rocks have fantastic shapes and are associated with interesting legends. They are often named for people or objects they are thought to resemble. The Belogradchik Rocks have been declared a Natural Landmark by the Bulgarian government and are a major tourist attraction in the region...The central group of rocks is situated just to the south and adjacent to the town of Belogradchik. Located here are the most interesting and impressive formations: Adam and Eve, the Mushrooms, the Schoolgirl, the Bear, the Dervish, the Shepherd Boy, the Lion, the Camel, the Madonna, the Horseman, the Monks, the goddess Bendida, the Rebel Velko, and many other stone figures."

Drawing of the fortress

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After an awesome day at the fortress, we returned to the city of Vidin. We were greeted by the Wolf dog you see here, owned by our guide. He breeds these scary looking but loving & gentle dogs. You can see this pup & his sibling about 20 minutes into the movie, The Expendables 2. 

 

 

War memorial in the city

 

I thought the disparity here interesting

 

 We returned to the air conditioned boat for lunch which was a relief from the hot sun. (Europe was experiencing a hotter than normal summer)  We were pleasantly surprised & enjoyed a Bulgarian children's folk performance on board.

 

 

 

 

 

After several dances, the kids picked out passengers to dance with them...they picked Wayne who (says) he doesn't know how to dance - yea, right.

 



I think he agreed to dance because of the beautiful girl who asked him

 



 After the enjoyable program was cocktail hour, dinner (& more red wine) we participated in a music quiz, live music & dancing.

We casted off at 9pm, to sail for Belgrade.