20240809 Viking European Sojourn River Cruise Day 8/27 - Vidin Bulgaria and Belogradchik Fortress - stairs and more stairs

Viking European Sojourn River Cruise Day 8/27 - Vidin, Bulgaria - Belogradchik has it all - rocks and a fortress

We awoke this morning still underway on The Danube. We were surprised by this as we were awakened at 3:30 by what sounded like engines doing something - we assumed docking. That's one thing about room, 118. It is loud. Whatever that was early this morning was very loud. In addition, we have something else that cycles on and off all the time. We hear it going on and off whenever we're in the room. Since we're on the docking side and at the water level, whenever we dock, our window becomes useless as it is right up against the pier. I am not a fan of the rooms on this level, but the suites on deck 3 carry a huge premium price. We'll see as we get through this cruise whether river cruising will be in our future.

When you dock an ocean cruise ship, docking is an event with a pilot, a slow approach to the dock, six to ten ropes get tossed to secure the ship, and local officials have to clear the ship - an entire process. Docking a river cruise ship is a non-event. They pull up to the dock, toss a couple of ropes, and you're good to go ashore. Our excursion meeting time was 8:45 outside of the bus. We docked at 8:20 and people were getting off the ship at 8:30. 

This morning's included tour was a short bus tour of Vidin and then a drive out to Belogradchik to visit the Belogradchik Fortress and Belogradchik Rocks. The drive through Vidin was unremarkable. Our guide was quite vocal about her disdain for the period when Bulgaria was under communist control and the negative effects Bulgaria suffered. She pointed out a few highlights but offered no time for photos.

We continued on for the roughly 45-minute ride to Belogradchik. We rode past endless fields of sunflowers. They weren't very picturesque as they were about ready to be harvested to produce sunflower oil. The plants were facing down and dry. I imagine that in the prime growing season, the countryside is spectacular.

Approaching the Belogradchik Fortress

The fortress, built in an area surrounded by the imposing Belogradchik Rocks, dates back to the first or second century when this area was part of the Roman Empire. It was enlarged during the control of the Ottoman Empire and now is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Entry to the fortress is through a series of gates

The view of the fortress wall and the naturally occurring iron-rich limestone rocks is visually interesting

This second gate leads to a performance theater where shows are regularly produced.

There are roughly 200 steps, both metal and stone to reach the top

The natural rock formations were very interesting

You can see folks at the very top

The views into the valley were striking as well

Getting to the very top provided views of Belogradchik below

A nice view of Arlona and The Balkans in the distance

A church down below

Working our way back down

On the way back to Vidin, we drove past the St. Konstantin & Elena Church. This Christian Orthodox church has a most unusual paint scheme given that most have more muted tones. 

St. Konstantin & Elena Church

We arrived back at the ship and grabbed lunch. Arlona decided to take a walk and take in the sights.

A small heritage museum just up from where we docked

Vidin, written in the local Cyrillic alphabet

A statue in the town park, facing out to The Danube

Monument of Freedom

Another statue 

The Bulgarian flag

Baba Vida Fortress - a medieval fortress in Vidin

The Cultural Center "Jules Pascin" - a local synagogue

The Vidin Gate, built between 1740 and 1750

Downtown Vidin

A fountain in town

There was some interesting architecture and decorations

The Bulgarian Coat of Arms

Peoples' Friendship University of Russia - can you tell this is a communist-era building?

Viking brought two high school students on the ship for a Q&A session. It was interesting to hear their perspectives on life. hey followed it with a folklore session where younger dancers and adult musicians performed traditional dances.

Tonight, they had a Viking Explorers Society gathering for all returning Viking guests. We usually don't attend these but did tonight. It was a nice affair and we met other guests who have cruised Viking in the past.

Ivan, our program director, gave a talk about the Balkans followed by a talk about upcoming optional excursions. That ran up until dinner. We continue to meet new guests each day and dinner was enjoyable. 

After dinner, Ivan conducted a ten-question music trivia game where you had to guess the artist name, song title, decade the song was released, artist's country, and the exact year of the song's release +/- two years with a bonus point for getting the exact year. out of ten questions and a possible 60 points, we scored 32 along with our Australian partners. It was a respectable showing but far out from the 48-point winners. It was all good fun.

We have crossed north of the Bulgarian border and are now cruising the Danube line separating Romania and Serbia. Officially, we're in Serbia and tomorrow, we'll dock in Golubac, Serbia.  We will transit the Iron Gates Locks tomorrow morning around 6:00 AM. If I feel inspired, I'll get up for some photos, but the odds aren't good. We gain an hour tonight as we move from UTC+2 to UTC+1 overnight, so there's a slim chance.