Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

As we leave Bucharest the country becomes progressively depressing. Quaint county farms and villages that remind me of the west side of Calvert, back in the good old USA. For those who have never been to my home town, the west side is perpetually stuck in a time lock of the eighteen hundreds. After a two hour ride we arrive at Oltenita, Romania. Our river cruise ship, the Primadonna, is moored to a small dock on the banks of the Danube. Here I must point out that the word Danube, and all if it’s derivatives, means Brown. Forget about the “Blue Danube” that only exists in Schubert’s mind. As we board the ship and are handed our first glass of champagne, things begin to look up. The ship with it’s open atrium in the center is modern, spacious and comfortable. With room for only 140 guests we soon begin to meet everyone on board and at dinner time we all dine in the beautiful dining room with meals equal to any you will find on the large sea going cruise ships. The first nights cruise takes us to Russe, Bulgaria. The one problem with a cruise on this part of the Danube is that the sights you want to see are usually a two hour bus ride from the port. Today’s bus ride took us to Veliko Tarnovo. Veliko Tarnovo is one of the oldest settlements in Bulgaria, having a history of more than 5 millennia, as the first traces of human presence dating from the 3rd millennium BC are on Trapezitsa Hill. After a shopping tour of the town we had a traditional lunch in the village of Arbanasi. Goulash served with the local wine and beautiful dancing girls in their native costunes. After lunch it was a sleepy ride back to the ship on the Danube.