Viking European Sojourn River Cruise Day 11/27 - Vukovar and Osijek, Croatia
We awoke docked this morning. We were in Ilok, Croatia where passengers who signed up for some of the optional excursions were joining their tour. We grabbed breakfast as we sailed, continuing our ride up the Danube. After breakfast, we spent some time on the sun deck, taking in the sights as we sailed the Serbia/Croatia border.
In Ilok, local musicians came aboard and performed a concert of folk Croatian music.
They played for about 40 minutes and were entertaining and high-energy. It was a fun performance.
Shortly after lunch, we docked in Vukovar, Croatia, and headed out for our afternoon tour.
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| Our return to Croatia - our first time on the east side - previously, we visited the west coast |
Our first stop was at a church in Osijek, Croatia for an impromptu concert.
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| A soloist played piano and sang a series of songs, including Ave Maria, Amazing Grace, and Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah |
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After the concert, we were able to browse a small gift shop and sample locally produced plum brandy. I'm not sure whether it was brandy or paint thinner. The burn was incredible.
We continued on to Tvrdja Fortress and Osijek Old Town. The fortress doesn't exist any longer and some buildings have been restored. There wasn't much there and it was a hot walk with the temperature hovering around 100F.
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| The town hall |
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| HRVATSKA is "Croatia" in their native language |
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| Holy Trinity Square |
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| The Holy Trinity statue dates to the 1700s |
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| The only remaining fortress gate is called the Water Gate as it leads to the Drava River |
Next, we drove to Aljmaš where Viking arranged for personal visits with local residents.
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| Our hostess on the right and her interpreter on the left |
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| She talked about being displaced to a German camp for seven years during the 1990s war and coming back to a looted home |
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| She provided sweet cakes and pastries plus more local brandy |
After our visit, we drove through the town on the way back to the port.
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| The new church that replaced the one that was bombed |
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| The seating is outdoor |
Back in port in Vukovar, we took a walk around.
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| A steeple of a local church |
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| The Croatian flag |
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| Local art |
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| This building represents what was lost in the war but is rising from the ashes |
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| The building is featured on Viking promotional material for this area |
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| The Grand Hotel |
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| The Vukovar water tower |
That was enough of a walk given the triple-digit temperature. We headed back to Lofn for well-deserved (and needed) showers. We grabbed dinner and then attended a talk from the crew about what it was like growing up in Eastern Europe during communist times. It was interesting hearing their perspectives and it really helped humanize these hard-working folks.
Tomorrow, we will dock in Kalocsa, Hungary.
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