On to Serbia and Hungary
The next two days were cruising days, something we had looked forward to with great eagerness. There is nothing like a river cruise to soothe the mind and spirit. This wasn't like the Russian cruise where we could see all kinds of scenes from daily living on the bank and views of church spires and towns and villages in abundance. In Romania, Ceausescu had destroyed more than 3,000 villages and moved the people to block houses in cities where they could be better monitored. Seeing the spaces where there used to be villages was bleak and sad. As we cruised, Romania was on the right side of us throughout most of the trip (until we reached Hungary), and Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia were to our south. It gave us a better idea of the expanse of Romania. The two days of cruising remain in our memories as two wonderful days of peace and solitude. We much prefer this small ship traveling to large cruise ships and wide expanse of oceans.
The days of cruising were not without interesting sights along the way.
We passed through the Kazan Narrows and then the Iron Gates, the name that the area and the two large hydroelectric plants share. We got up at 3:00 A.M. to see these impressive structures and then stayed up through the day to watch the scenery as we cruised through the "Cataracts." This used to be the most difficult section of the Danube to sail. The area of large gorges is now flooded from the dams, making the stretch easier to cross. This was the most scenic part of our entire time on the Danube.
Customs
As we traveled from one country to another we had to go through customs. In each case our hotel manager handled the procedure. She was an attractive, charming, efficient and, (as we soon found out) tough young woman from Germany. She had everyone's passport in her possession from the beginning of the trip to the end. She carried them in a briefcase when presenting them to officials.
Going through customs as we entered and left Serbia was an experience we will shake our heads about for a long time.
Before arriving at the first port in Serbia, the passengers were given very clear instructions on how to behave as customs officials checked everyone's travel papers. We were told that the staff preferred that all passengers stay inside the ship. If anyone did want to go on deck we should not do anything that might upset the customs people. Above all, no one under any circumstances should take pictures. (Yes, there were some independent minded American photographers who were not going to be bound by any rules they thought unreasonable, even if it might have caused a major inconvenience for everyone on the cruise. We watched as they surreptitiously --they thought--snapped pictures.)We were warned that any breach in these guidelines could result in the ship being delayed many hours and, in extreme cases, the violators taken off the ship and detained. Oh, well...
With that introduction, we waited and watched. The customs agents boarded the ship and went immediately to a meeting room with the hotel manager.. It turned out that it was not to be a simple matter of checking about 90 passports. The "inspection" lasted several hours and was to involve lengthy and sometimes delicate, negotiations. "What could take so long," we wondered to conduct a simple and routine checking of documents. As we later learned, the discussions were not about passports, but about liquor and other goods that the agents would need before they could allow the ship to enter and leave Serbia.
Exiting Serbia was especially tense and lengthy. The officials were requesting special liquor brands. Several times we saw waiters from the dining room dashing urgently from the ship to a small building where negotiations were going that would allow us to continue our cruise to Hungary.
Later we were told by ship's crew members with knowing smiles, "It's the last cruise of the year. Christmas is coming up. The families and friends of the customs agents will need gifts."
Belgrade, Serbia
We arrived at Belgrade in the late afternoon and prepared for dinner at a local restaurant. The group would be divided to visit three restaurants. As with the home hosted meals, all the restaurants would prepare the same menu. We enjoyed tasting the local cuisine but enjoyed even more the irrepressible dancer/singer and the roving musicians. We were delighted when one of our favorite fellow travelers, George, (far left in the photo) was chosen to dance with this vital woman of an indeterminable age.
The following day we began our tour of Belgrade.
Grand Circle is one of only a few companies which has begun taking tourists to Belgrade, where people can see the rebuilding of this city, which is the political, economic and cultural hub of Serbia. Since "Belgrade" means "white fort," according to our
guidebooks, it is understandable that we would visit Kalemegan Fort. Located at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers this site has had fortifications since the Celts. As we entered the fort, our guide said she had limited time and would "only tell us important things." She then pointed out the basketball court used by a Serbian NBA player and a tennis court where Monica Seles practiced.
(UPDATE: Dule, whose hometown is Belgrade, asked us to give a more accurate meaning for the city: " "White fort', which is not exactly what it stands for. The real name of the city is Beograd (but in English, they came up with Belgrade as the translation, not sure why). Anyhow... "Beo" means white and "grad" means city. It is a long explanation of why they called it the White City.")
During our city tour we visited St. Sava Orthodox Cathedral, one of the largest in the world, and watched as workers were busy making repairs and totally renovating the interior of this massive building. There was so much hustle and bustle in this hard hat area that we wondered if the workers minded the intrusion of tourists. It must have been difficult to work around all the the visitors who gawk at this overwhelming site, with it huge slabs of marble lying in piles and vehicles transporting building materials all around and inside the premises.
When we arrived at the Cathedral, we noticed several policemen using a digital camera to photograph an illegally parked car. As we left, the car was being carted away on the back of a flatbed truck No challenging that ticket! Other sites on our tour included Belgrade's version of the Statue of Liberty and the Town Hall. While driving around Belgrade, our local guide pointed out to us the very nice city run buses. They seem to belie the economic challenges confronting the city and the nation. Our guide said the buses were given to Belgrade by the government of Japan. The gift was conditional on the buses being kept clean and well maintained.
Our guide was quite open about the recent history, politics and especially her hopes for the upcoming election. We saw large posters of a candidate on many billboards. At first glance it looked like Milosevic but we quickly realized it wasn't him. When we inquired about the posters, our guide said, "This is the man who we hope will be elected to lead our country." The election was to take place 5 days later (November 16, 2003). She told us that an election is only valid if a majority of qualified voters vote, and that there were many people who still support Milosevic's party
As we traveled through Belgrade, we saw remains of buildings that our armed forces bombed right in the center of town on Orthodox Easter in 2000. We were informed that Belgrade is the only city bombed 5 times in the last century. We also saw the square where Zorna Djindjic, the first democratic leader since WWII, was assassinated, allegedly by local crime bosses and Milosevic-era henchmen. Without a doubt, Serbia was the most depressing place we visited. We felt heavy. Many people on the tour shared the same sentiment. Everything felt gray and foreboding.
One person in our party couldn't understand why people didn't just buy flowers to put in their windows to cheer themselves up. Tom had unsettling thoughts as he looked at the young men in Belgrade. He kept wondering if any of them had taken part in the horrific actions of "ethnic cleansing" against Muslims and other minorities.
None of us had a clue about what it must feel like to experience what these people have lived and are living. The closest anyone could come, other than our excellent local guide, were those among us who were first generation Americans and had made trips back to see their homeland. One of them, Slavka Mattern, taught us a lot about Eastern Europe from her travels there to visit relatives and from her own life. While we were in Belgrade she told how it affected her relatives and friends back in the US when Yugoslavia was broken up and Serbia-Montenegro became a separate country.
In the 40's I joined a group of young people (first generation Yugoslavs) Our parents received mail from relatives, so we were well informed on the politics there. The group consisted of Serbian, Croatians,Slovene. I was the only Macedonian (my parents came from the Northern part of Greece but we spoke the Macedonian language - and is a Slavic language).The group met every week and we talked about what our parents heard that week and about the politics over there .We became as one family and everyone was there if anyone needed any help in any way. We had picnics and our parents joined and helped us prepare the different ethnic foods. They spoke to us in their language but when one understands the Slavic language it is not difficult to understand another.
Since the breakup of Yugoslavia the first generation (I knew in Detroit) have gone their separate ways. The Serbian and Croatian (second generation) had a band that played for both dances - it did not matter whether it was Serbian or Croatian. While the first generation had this group to bring everyone together the older ones had separate dance but they still attend the other ones activities. I have heard since the breakup the band has split up and the Serbians decided they did not want to have the band together and old friends for many years have gone their separate ways.I don't know why it should effect first generation here in America but it certainly has. I am speaking only of this particular area and cannot speak for other ethnic areas.
Since I no longer live in Detroit, but have family and dear friends there, am in close contact with my friends have heard my friends from our club have drifted away from one another and I feel very sad because of the very close friendship I have had with these people and many fond memories.
Slavka continues to feel great angst as she mulls over the history of her homeland, what has became of the relationships among her dear friends, and the suffering that people all over the world continue to inflict on one another, the US being no exception.
Slavka's husband, Frank,a decorated veteran of WWII has put together a book about war and government's reasons for going to war. We would like to share his conclusion with you:
Throughout my travels in North and South America, Europe and Africa and observing people,I have come to the conclusion that all human beings are basically the same. Regardless of creed or color, we all want a loving family, adequate food and housing and some enjoyment.
However, in all societies there are some people who seek power and money and stir up hatred and provoke incidents that lead to war. These agitators prosper while others suffer.(To the above we would like to add all regions of Asia where we have traveled.)
As we sailed away from Belgrade to continue our journey, we stayed up very late to see the remains of three NATO bombed bridges that used to cross the Danube . At the present time, Serbia has only one bridge spanning the Danube River. It is a pontoon bridge built by the United States. Our sailing schedule was predicated on arriving at the bridge during the few early morning hours it is open each day. Our ships captain turned on the search lights so that we could better view the pontoon bridge and the other bridges. It was a memorable moment.
Upon returning home we read that the election, five days after we left Serbia, was the third failed election, with only a 38.5% turnout. However, Milosevic's party received 46% of the votes cast.
On Sunday, December 28, 2003, with a 60% turnout, the vote was valid. The Associated Press headline read, "Serbians back Milosevic". An extreme nationalist party closely allied to Milosevic led the elections while failing to get a majority of the vote. They won 82 of the 250 parliamentary seats. Four indicted war crimes suspects were on the ballot. It is uncertain whether they will be able to take their elected seats in parliament. No party or coalition controls a majority of the seats so the possibility of continued economic and political chaos has increased significantly. This is all taking place while Milosevic is on trial at the Hague for crimes against his own people and against the backdrop of the bombed-out buildings from NATO's intervention in the country to "help" the people. All of it causes us to pause and wonder...
Hungary
Upon reaching Hungary we were struck by a dramatic difference from the scenery in the other countries we visited. It was so much brighter. Buildings were colorful and inviting. There were more road signs and each village had churches. The ravages of war and oppression were not visible, even though all the bridges and 73% of all buildings in Budapest alone were destroyed in WWII and Hungary was under communist rule for over 40 years. It gave us an invaluable opportunity to see the contrasts among the four countries on our tour.
Hungarians are a vital people in spite (maybe because) of over 500 years of occupation. The country was first occupied by the Ottoman Turks, then the Austrian Hapsburgs, Germany, and finally the Soviet Union. Hungary lived under communism until 1988 and had its first free election in 1990. Political conditions are still unsettled, but Hungary is now in NATO and is scheduled to join the European Union in May 2004. Economic conditions were the best of the countries we visited. The average monthly salary in Budapest is $700 to $800 but only between $300 and $500 in the countryside.
In an effort to help the economy by boosting tourism, Tony Curtis (of Hungarian descent ) did a series of commercials that will appear on US TV in 2004. He did the commercials gratis and was given the royal treatment while in Hungary. The theme of the commercials revolve around "Some Like it Hot." We understand that he also has donated a great deal of money to help with the rebuilding of the glorious city of Budapest. One major project in which he was instrumental was the restoration of Nagy Zsinagoga (Great Synagogue). Some in our group were disappointed not to have time to visit this synagogue which is the largest in Europe. However, since visiting hours are limited, it just wasn't possible on this trip. As we say... "Next time."
Kalosca
For our first stop in Hungary, we drove to the town of Kalosca, (or Kalocsa according to some natives of the town and pronounced Ka lo chaa), a Magyar village, which is known as the paprika capital of the world. Here we visited a paprika museum and then walked to the twin-towered baroque cathedral where we enjoyed an awe-inspiring organ concert. The organ had 4700 pipes and had been played by Franz Liszt on several occasions. The music, compositions by Bach and Boëllmann, was so beautiful and powerful that Marie cried throughout. Besides being moved by the music itself, memories of her mother's playing evoked deep emotion. By coincidence, one piece, Toccata from the "Gothic Suite" was the last piece that she performed on the day that she officially retired at the age of 81. Marie knew that she would never be able to hear her mother play with that kind of magnificence again, although we all marvel at how well she still plays even at the age of 95.
Later we visited a horse farm in the Hungarian steppes and were treated to a magnificent horse show. By then it was dark and it was raining, as you can see from the spots on our lens, but it did not detract from the magnificent performance. The climax of the show was a man standing on the bare backs of two of five horses that he rode around the open field at a full gallop. Perhaps you can make out the whip, which is quite long and makes a fearsome noise but does not hurt the animal. The horses are controlled by the noise of the whip and not by physical contact with it. After the show, a daring young tourist among us, hopped on one of the horses but was disappointed when she was led by the handler.
Then our good friend, the octogenarian Adele, also decided to ride. She was sorely disappointed when they put her on a donkey and led her around the ring. Little did they know that she is probably in better shape than most people on the tour. She is an avid hiker with the Sierra club and swims competitively with the Senior Olympics. She and her friend, Janet, are inspiring women and we grew very fond of both of them. (Thanks for the picture, Janet.)
For dinner that evening we went to a restaurant where we enjoyed local dishes in an informal setting and experienced folklore entertainment. The embroidery of these costumes was incredible. There were hand worked aprons available for sale, but the price of over $100, although quite reasonable for all the work that went into them, was more than we wanted to pay. People in our group were pretty loose by this time and it was not difficult to get a volunteer to go on stage to count the petticoats of the women dancers.
Budapest
When we arrived in Budapest and disembarked from the ship it was a cold day and the exit ramp was covered with icy frost. We were quite impressed to see everyone helping to move the luggage from the ship. The captain, Victor, crew, waiters, tour directors, ship's doctor, and several passengers all took part with great good spirit and teamwork. We thought that made quite a statement about how the ship's team worked together.
Budapest is a grand city. We could easily have spent a least a week there and not run out of things to see and do. Modern Budapest is actually the union of three entities: Buda, Obuda (Old Buda) and Pest. Buda, on the west bank of the Danube, and dominated by Palace Hill, was long the site of power while Pest (on the east bank) became the commercial and cultural center of the city. Buda and Pest are linked by seven bridges. The oldest and most famous is the Chain bridge. Destroyed by the Germans, it was rebuilt in the its original form in 1949. The photo shows an overview of Pest as seen from Buda.
This photo is a view of the Budapest Parliament as one looks from Buda to Pest from the vantage point of Fisherman's Bastion Here we also enjoyed watching several enterprising young men near St. Matthias Church showing off their hunting birds to any interested tourists.
During our tour of the city we visited the imposing Heroes Square, (seen on the left) and enjoyed watching ice skaters on a nearby large frozen surface. In the winter it serves as an ice rink and in the summer it is a soccer field.
Following our city tour, the afternoon was given over to a visit to the state opera house. After viewing the spectacular interior, we were treated to a 30-minute recital by an excellent soprano and an accomplished pianist. This "extra" may have been, at least partially, the result of Grand Circle's longstanding financial support of this opera house. We commend them for supporting this worthy institution.
Our second day in Budapest was interrupted by a trip to Caprice Jewelry Shop. Shades of Bangkok! We wondered if Grand Circle had some financial interest in this glittery tourist trap. It seemed terribly incongruous within the context of the rest of the trip. After a short introductory film and cursory look at the showroom (no prices displayed! Uh, oh!), Tom went to the waiting area and bought some candy bars. Marie soon followed. A few people actually bought diamonds. For most of us, we'd rather have been in Budapest.
That evening was spent at local restaurants. (Again we were divided into three groups to go to three different restaurants, all having identical menus.) Thanks to the luck of the draw we went to DUNA CORSO. The highlight was the spectacular illuminated view of "Castle Hill" across the Danube in Buda that we saw after leaving the restaurant. This view of the magnificent Royal Palace sitting on a plateau above the Danube is one of the great views to be experienced. Coming from the Pittsburgh area we were interested to learn that the area is accessible by an incline car, much like the two that exist in our city.
Many of the people on our tour had been to Budapest before and felt comfortable foregoing some of the tour and instead got tickets to the opera and theaters. We were jealous. We would have loved to attend performances. Later we asked several people how the opera was. One person waxed eloquently about the story of Mozart's life presented through his music and ballet. Another person said, "Oh, I guess it was okay. The costumes were nice." Interesting contrasts. We would love to return to this city and take advantage of some of the cultural opportunities. But at this juncture, we didn't want to miss the scheduled itinerary of the tour, especially the trip to Holloko the next day.
The indoor market was something that we dearly wanted to see and we wanted to have time to browse. After coordinating the three buses, it was agreed that we could be dropped there and have some time to explore.
It is massive. Within the blocks-long building were three floors of every kind of possible shopping item. Groceries, restaurants, clothing, butcher shop items, cheeses, crafts, pastries, etc. The best part was that this is where the Hungarians actually shop. It wasn't a tourist area. We only had an hour or so but we certainly enjoyed the time we had there.
Holloko
The most spontaneous and authentic moment of the whole trip...
Perhaps the best stop of the tour was Holloko. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a village where people live in thatched-roof homes and work as they did years ago. It was a foggy, damp day but somehow that only seemed to add to its charm. It almost had a "Brigadoon" feel about it.
Our delightful guide introduced us to the customs of the people of the village as we made our way on the walking tour. We learned that the way to let people know how many eligible daughters live in the home is to hang that many pots on a special tree in the yard. We saw all kinds of crafts and handmade items that we were assured were made by the local people and that the profits would go directly to them. We bought several items from the woman above, including a doll. At this point we had broken away from the tour and had a special one-on-on heartwarming moment with her...something that was rare on this trip.
At the end of our tour we were entertained by villagers who demonstrated some of their customs and then performed some folk dances. The flame you see beside the barrel was used to pop the popcorn that we were served at the end of the performance.
After our tour of the town, we experienced another home visit. This lunch felt a little more authentic than the previous home visit. Although we were informed that the people at these homes had enough souvenirs from American tourists that they could open their own stands, and that they were paid by Grand Circle to host us, this was a real home lived in year round.
Our hostess was a warm woman who seemed pleased to model an elaborate hand-stitched headpiece for us. It was a good visit and we were happy to have the time to get to know some of our fellow travelers who we hadn't had a chance to spend much time with before.
Return Home and Final Thoughts
We were delighted that new friends from our tour accompanied us to the airport. These employees of Grand Circle had become special to us and had gone out of their way to help us and our fellow travelers have the best possible travel experience that anyone could have. Once again they made the transition smoother than it would have been if we were traveling on our own. Their personal touch and kind helpfulness will be among our most lasting memories of the trip. And so, it was good to have them at the airport so that we could say a final "good-bye."
Once in the air...
Our return trip was a nightmare. We realized prior to leaving Budapest that our connections for the return flights were simply not going to work. If every flight was on time we would have a little over an hour after arriving in Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC, to go through security and customs, claim and collect our luggage, travel to a different terminal, and board the plane to bring us home. We knew that, even under the best of conditions, that would be almost impossible. We had arranged for a wheelchair, which we knew would help, but with Tom's metal leg brace we knew that going through security would take extra time. We mentioned that to the head program director. The response was that Grand Circle knew what they were doing and, therefore, we should just relax. We had no choice regarding the routing for the trip. Since we didn't know what our route would be until a week before leaving home, we were a little uncomfortable. When we expressed concern to our flight attendant on our flight from Frankfurt to DC we were told that more than half the people on the flight had the same problem. In fact, as the connecting flights were shown on the screen overhead many of their departures were even closer than ours. We were bemused. We wondered why in the world would so many flight arrangements be made that would be impossible to carry out!
As it happened, our flight was late, our luggage was not in the luggage area and after looking for it for about 10 or 15 minutes, an announcement was made that a number of bags had been left back in Frankfurt, Germany. No one was willing to look at our luggage claim tickets so that we could report them missing and no one could tell us which gate our connecting flight would be leaving from. It was mayhem and they just wanted to herd us through. Our airport attendant, thank heavens, knew which gate to take us to and rushed us through the terminal, pushing Tom in a wheelchair. As we looked at our watches we realized that we had a few minutes to spare. We arrived at the gate 10 minutes before the plane was scheduled to depart and started to breathe a sigh of relief, when the desk clerk shouted, "Which plane did you want?" When we replied, "Pittsburgh," he responded, "It already left, go stand over there and I will be with you." (We suspected that they had overbooked the flight and left as soon as it was full.)
An hour later we were still waiting and were basically ignored but so were the handful of other people waiting for help. There were two other women who had missed the same flight we had. Another woman was quite distraught. Her plane had also left early, her father had just died, and her mother was waiting for her at the airport in Detroit. She had no way to contact her mother and no one working for the airline seemed to be helping her. Marie intervened and asked the agents at the US Air desks to please help this woman and asked if they were not aware that the woman's father had just passed away. They were visibly annoyed with Marie for intervening and seemed oblivious to the woman's plight and emotional state. However, after that, they did take care of her and Marie helped the woman place a cellphone call to contact someone in Detroit to advise them of her flight change.
Finally, after pleading with the agents to help us we were told that our tickets were non-transferable so we could not be routed through a different airline; there were no other flights that we could take that day; and that we would have to wait until the next day to return home. They could book us on a flight in the morning. Only after asking if they would pay for a hotel room was an offer made to do so --- with the statement, "We will only pay for it because he is handicapped." We were told that the two women who also missed our flight would not be accommodated because they were not handicapped. After the agent made arrangements for us to stay at a hotel, she told us where to wait for the hotel bus and said it would pick us up.
We went to the place where she told us to wait. After an hour of waiting outside in very cold weather and watching many other hotel buses come and go, we asked several drivers about our hotel bus. At this point we were told that a phone call should have been placed to our hotel to request a bus. Finally... we were able to get the hotel number from one of the drivers and made the call so that we could be picked up.
You can imagine our frustration and discomfort by this point.
In the morning, when we checked in at the US Air desk, thanks to the help of a very kind and informative agent, we discovered that our luggage was already in Pittsburgh. It hadn't been left in Germany after all. Since it wasn't in the luggage area in DC we wondered what route it took to arrive in Pittsburgh ahead of us! Further we were told off the cuff that the Frankfurt flight is "always late." Later, when talking to a supervisor about our difficulty the night before, we were ushered into the US Air VIP lounge, where we would be out of earshot and sight of other customers. We were apologized to by airline personnel and given vouchers for $50 off the regularly published price for our next US Air flight. We knew that we were entitled to meal vouchers or at the very least being reimbursed for our meals the night. We also are aware that airlines are authorized to give $400 for what had happened to us. However, we just wanted to get home.
In retrospect, we were aware, even before leaving for our trip, that the arrangements for our return home connecting flights violated every precaution that we have taken when making our own travel arrangements and every bit of advice that we give others when planning trips. However, we had no say in which airlines we would take or what our route would be. With no autonomy regarding the flight portion of our tour and no assurance that this wouldn't happen again, we wondered about using Grand Circle in the future. In addition, as a result of the nightmarish return trip, we vowed that we would never make connections through Dulles Airport again. All of this left a very bad taste in our mouth.
It could have had a happier ending. Sorry about that!
However, we don't want to leave you on this down beat note. We are definitely glad we made the trip, are grateful for the experience to see this part of the world and come to a better understanding of the region and of current events. It helps put into perspective many of the things that are going on in the world around us every day.
In addition it is a priceless experience to have met and made many new friends, both people from the areas we visited and from among our traveling companions.
We know that some will be in our lives for a long time to come.
Once again we want to thank everyone who made the trip special.
"La revedere" -- That means "Good-bye" in Romanian. Hope to see you soon in future travels.
Back to Beginning of Eastern European Trip.
