28th of June 2025 – Belgrade

Today we entered Serbia to visit Belgrade which is one of Europe’s oldest cities.  I was surprised at how modern and lively the city was with modern shopping centres and the street lined with cafés.  Our guide Izabela made no mention of the Croatian War of Independence.

Our coach took us through tree lined streets to the Karadjordjevic Dynasty Palace and through the palace’s spacious grounds.  Serbia’s royal family, which is related to most of Europe’s royalty, has a strictly honorary position in modern day democratic Serbia however Crown Prince Alexander and his family still live in this palaces.  Izabela showed us some of the public rooms of the palace followed by the adjacent chapel.

 

Nikola Tesla was a Serbian born engineer and inventor known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system.  There was a bust of Tesla int the Karadjordjevic Dynasty Palace library.

We then visited Belgrade Fortress.  Ancient Romans built the first fortress here the successive conquerors and defenders (Slavs, Byzantines, Ottomans and Habsburgs) continued to build and destroy fortifications on this site for another 1,500 years.

From the grounds of Belgrade Fortress there is a view of the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers on which modern Belgrade stands.

Before dinner we were treated to some local folk dancing in the ship's lounge.

27th of June 2025 - Osijek and Vukovar

Today our ship docked in Croatia which has made a remarkable recovery from the brutal civil Croatian War of Independence from 1991 to 1995, commonly called the Homeland War In Croatia.  It has been bizarre to visit places that were often in the news in the UK around thirty years ago.

Our tour started with a drive through the streets of Osijek which is the cultural heart of Croatia’s Slavonia region.  This region is the breadbasket of Croatia with many crops including sunflowers and corn.  I was surprised to hear that canola was also grown here as I thought that  this was only grown in North America.

We then went up to The Vineyard of the Hill on the hillside overlooking overlooking the town of Karanac.

After visiting the vineyards we drove down into Karanac to visit the Baranjska Kuća museum which holds a number of historic farm buildings of the area.  A number of these buildings could be entered and we were told about life and crafts in times gone by.  

A very convivial lunch followed at the Baranjska Kuća family restaurant adjoining the museum.

After lunch we went to Vukovar which has been rebuilt after the bitter Homeland War.  We visited the Vukovar City Museum housed in the Baroque Eltz Manor which is an 18th century palace.

Outside the Eltz Manor on the banks of the river was the old water tower.  This was shot at very many times during the Homeland War.

Our last stop was at the more modern Vukovar Water Tower which is a symbol of Croatian unity that was established to manage the memorial site of the Homeland War.  It has also become a cultural and historical monument of modern Croatian national identity by preserving the memory of the sacrifice made during this war.

26th of June 2025 - Budapest

I had visited Budapest back in 2023 so today covered old ground for me though shown through a different perspective, i.e. that of our local guide Neka.  Buda and Pest are located on opposite sides of the Danube.  They officially merged with Óbuda to form the city of Budapest on the 17th of November 1873.  This unification brought together the historic capital of Buda, the rapidly developing commercial hub of Pest and the older settlement of Óbuda on the western bank of the Danube.

Our tour started with a drive down Andrássy Avenue, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is a example of neo-Renaissance architecture and city planning.  Our first stop was in Budapest’s former Jewish quarter to visit the Dohány Street Synagogue.  Dohány Street Synagogue, also known as Central Synagogue or the Great Synagogue, is the largest synagogue in Europe and the second largest in the world.  The interior is very ornate with a combined floor and gallery space that can accommodate thousands of worshippers.

The centre piece of the garden of the Dohány Street Synagogue is the Heroes' Temple raised in the thirties in memory of the ten thousand Hungarian soldiers of Jewish birth who have given their lives in World War I.  Since World War II this garden also honours the victims of the Holocaust.

In the rear courtyard of the Dohány Street Synagogue is a memorial that is known by many names including The Tree of Life, The Holocaust Memorial Tree, The Emanuel Tree, and The Memorial of the Hungarian Jewish Martyrs.  The sculpture commemorates the at least 400,000 Hungarian Jews murdered by the Nazis and their Hungarian collaborators during World War II.

We then visited the Castle Hill area where we walked through the cobbled streets to the Matthias Church which is also known as The Church of Our Lady.  This Baroque style Roman Catholic church was built on the site of an 11th-century church and was completed in 1269.  The church served as a mosque during the Turkish reign.

 

There was a great opportunity to take pictures of Budapest from the Fisherman's Bastion where the local fishermen's guild built their defence installations in the Middle Ages.

Chimney cake is a popular Hungarian street food.  I didn't try it as I am getting more than enough to eat on board the ship.

I did however stop in a rather lovely café in my spare time where I rehydrated and then had a glass of Tokaji Aszú wine which is a classic Hungarian dessert wine made from the furmint grape.

In the afternoon I had intended to take a walk along the banks of the Danube to see one of Hungary’s best known Holocaust memorials.  This memorial is sixty pairs of cast iron shoes standing abandoned as an eerie monument to the Hungarian Jews shot beside the river.  With the outdoor temperature at 36℃ I regretfully abandoned this plan.