Day 8, Bulgarian Danube and Belogradchik Rocks & Fortress

On June 10, our Viking Cruise day 8 of PASSAGE TO EASTERN EUROPE, we went by bus into the countryside to visit Belogradchik Rocks & Fortress.
A very special visit to Bulgaria, roughly the same size as Tennessee and almost half the size of the UK.
Bulgaria is situated in the Balkan area of southeastern Europe. It borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west and Greece and Turkey both to the south.
The eastern border of 234 miles or 377 km is formed by the Black Sea.

Quite a sight for getting up close to Belogradchik Rocks & Fortress!
Even though, both of us did not climb the stairs for health reasons, they warned us for the unsafe railing as it often got removed for filming.
Pieter's heart cannot handle such a steep climb and I'm careful since my double, closed pelvic bone fracture...
But it sure was a marvel to be there!

This is close to 9:00 in the morning as we got off our Viking Lif for boarding the bus to visit Belogradchik.

Starting out from Port Vidin, Bulgaria...
And again a beautiful day!

Only half an hour out from Port Vidin, my attempt to capture this huge Stork's nest from our riding bus.
Storks breed a lot in these countries and you quite often can see their enormous nests.

In about an hour driving we were reaching Belogradchik in the Vidin Province.
Can you see the Rocks at the top left?

In fact a beautiful area and you see some large rocks here in mid picture.

One hour and 15 minutes travel time and here we are getting very close to the Belogradchik Rocks!

The bus made a stop for letting people use some restrooms in the town Belogradchik and that's where I captured this way of transport from the bus...
Bulgaria is the poorest country within the European Union and it was often painfully visible!

LOVED the formation of these dramatic clouds forming against the walls of the Fortress!

Belogradchik Rocks in German: Die Festung von Belogradtschik

The fortress of Belogradchik

Formation of the rock phenomenon "Belogradchik rocks"

A view down into the valley... Lovely countryside!

Click Belogradchik Rocks for a lot of interesting information about its history! 

Click Belogradchik Fortress Kaleto ENG for a short areal video!

Belogradchik Rocks & Fortress info from Viking

Short Relive.cc video from Bus Tour and Walk to Belogradchik, Bulgaria

Short Relive.cc video Viking Lif from Vidin to Russe, Bulgaria...
See you there for next day's program.

Thanks for your visit and comment!

Related links:
Day 7, Serbian Danube with Golubac Fortress & Djerdap Gorge to Iron Gates | previous post
Day 6, Panoramic Belgrade, Serbia | previous post
Day 5, from Vukovar to Osijek, Croatia | previous post
Day 4, Kalocsa Baroque Cathedral with Organ Music and Puszta | previous post
Day 3 Departure from Budapest on Viking Lif | previous post

Day 2 Passage to Eastern Europe - Panoramic Budapest | previous post

My 3rd Trip with Husband Pieter to Hungary with stay at Párisi Udvar Hotel Budapest | previous post

The History of Bulgaria: Every Year 632-2021 | Impressive YouTube video

Day 7, Serbian Danube with Golubac Fortress & Djerdap Gorge to Iron Gates

On June 9, our 7th day of PASSAGE TO EASTERN EUROPE aboard the Viking Lif, we were seeing some of the most spectacular sights of Serbia and into Romania!

Golubac Fortress is seen here and the mighty Danube River being about 7 km wide there!

This was around 11:19 as we were pulling out already...

This is the spot where we were, away from the shore.
You also see the red line in the River Danube, marking the border of Serbia and Romania to the north.

This photo I took just 20 minutes earlier...

To give you an idea, we were closer to the shore still on our way out from Golubac Fortress.

And again here you see the spot where we were and you also see that the Danube River there is about 7 km wide!

THE SERBIAN DANUBE click for more info and click again to discover the Danube in Serbia!

This is husband Pieter's Strava walk, only the return of it.

They left the Viking Lif around 8:30 AM for a shore excursion to Golubac Fortress.

Since I was not feeling well, I did not join him...

Pieter walked twice this 1 km distance to the Fortress as he did not climb the stairs leading up to its towers. Not with his weak heart condition.

Look at the gray area bottom for the surface level, not the surrounding, much taller rocks.

Unless the previous day spent in Serbia, where we could not enter the Saint Sava Church as it still was under construction, we were lucky here!

This is Golubac Fortress seen from above video taken in November 2015

The European Union invested in its reconstruction!

Click this link above...

Opening of the Golubac Fortress video, just click to see this marvelous video with lots of info from March 2019!

Yes, it also shows you the incredible width of the mighty River Danube on its way to the Black Sea!

Now tourists from all over the world can admire this 11 millennia old history...

On the upper deck around 11:30, I captured Pieter during our Wheelhouse Tour with lots of information by Cpt. Aleksandar about the Viking Lif and this majestic water way of Eastern Europe!

You can already see that some very SCENIC SAILING is about to start...

All done while enjoying terrific weather every day!

Photo taken at 16:30 from the upper deck as we sail along the Kazan stretch...

Indeed this would be sailing through one of Europe's most dramatic natural wonders, the picturesque stretch famously known as the Iron Gates.

Photo got taken at 16:38

These spectacular narrow gorges, a series of four, slice through the Carpathian Mountains to the north and the Balkan Mountains to the south, marvel at the towering white limestone cliffs draped with forest.

Photo got taken at 15:45 and is in Romania now with one hour time difference!

Monastery Mraconia in Romania from 1452...

Photo taken at 15:53

Now closer to this marvelous medieval Monastery Mraconia in Romania 

Looking back here, where we came from, past Monastery Mraconia now and one minute later...

The Iron Gates show clearly the Danube at its wildest!

Spectacular views of Iron Gates...

The Iron Gates were once treacherous, filled with rocks and rapids. The Serbian name for it, Djerdap, means 'whirlpool'. Passage was eased in the 1st century when the Roman emperor Trajan built canals, then again when the first Iron Gates Dam opened in 1972.

Dam construction impacted the ecology, and both Serbia and Romania have added some protection by creating national parks on either side of the Danube. With a landscape boasting thick coniferous forest, 4 spectacular gorges, 2 canyons, 3 valleys and more than 1,000 caves, the area is one of staggering biodiversity. 

Large perch and catfish can be found in abundance, along with sturgeon and salmon. On land, mammal species include lynx, bears, wolves and jackals. 

Seeing the carved face of Dacian King Decebalus, who fought the Romans and is hailed as a Romanian hero. His 141-foot or 43 m high likeness is carved into a cliff overlooking the Danube near the city of Orşova.

Some interesting facts about Serbia!

My Relive.cc video Viking Lif from Belgrade to Golubac Serbia.

Once again, the signal got completely lost at times and the straight line connects between the two areas with signal. Sorry for that, but you DO see in the end the VAST WIDTH of the RIVER DANUBE!

Golubac Fortress along Kazan stretch via Relive.cc

Thank you for your visit and comment!

Related links:

Day 6, Panoramic Belgrade, Serbia | previous post

Day 5, from Vukovar to Osijek, Croatia | previous post

Day 4, Kalocsa Baroque Cathedral with Organ Music and Puszta | previous post

Day 3 Departure from Budapest on Viking Lif | previous post

Day 2 Passage to Eastern Europe - Panoramic Budapest | previous post

My 3rd Trip with Husband Pieter to Hungary with stay at Párisi Udvar Hotel Budapest | previous post

Day 6, Panoramic Belgrade, Serbia

On June 08, we started our day 6 on Viking Cruise PASSAGE TO EASTERN EUROPE.

Besides Hungary, both of us had never been to the other four countries.

After Croatia, we now were going to visit Serbia.

Church of Saint Sava, Serbian Orthodox Church and one of the largest Churches in the world!
More about it later...

From the Viking Lif we got onto a bus for a ride towards Kalemegdan Fortress.
Here you see the early 15th Century Nebojša Tower (Nebojša meaning Fearless in Serbian).

To the left of the River Sava you see Great War Island

Click on this link for informative history via my Pinterest to video: Belgrade, Serbia - 15th Century Kula Nobojša / Nobojša Tower

Entering Kalemegdan Fortress and you also see the ClockTower

Kalemegdan

The Inner Stambol Gate, named after Istanbul and built in 1750.
It was the main gate of Kalemegdan Fortress and within the second city wall with the Clock Tower visible again.

A better view  of the Clock Tower and its centuries old walls.
Yes, the weather was perfect!

Serbia has survived about 20 wars... Belgrade is therefore called Europe's most resilient city.
Ravaged and rebuilt 20 times in its history, many of the city's finest buildings have been gloriously restored.

Overlooking the confluence of the River Danube and Sava.
To the left, closer to the Sava River you still can see the Nebojša Tower from the photos above so you see what distance we walked and climbed.

View from Kalemegdan Fortress over the River Danube to New Belgrade

The towering statue from the 1928 Victor with a falcon in his left hand and a sword in his right hand... but naked.

After walking through Kalemegdan Park we reach Belgrade's city center.

Old Belgrade is a beautiful city but traffic with its trams etc. can be quite hectic as there is only one street level.

So we found us a nice spot on a terrace for a cappuccino and a tea for me, with some linden honey!
Pieter is wearing his t-shirt: I DO MORE BY 7 AM THAN MOST OF YOU ALL DAY

Saint Michael's Cathedral, Belgrade click for more info about this Serbian Orthodox Cathedral.

The confluence of Sava and Danube rivers good visible here.

From above it looks more like a city...

By bus we pass over the Sava River and you see another view of the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral or St. Michael's Cathedral.

Sava River

Such a lovely day and this is almost the end of the bridge passing the Sava River.

This beautiful building is the House of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia just click link.

Church of Saint Sava... Serbian Orthodox Church with its 82 m tower and the gold plated cross alone is 12 m from that total height.

With its 49 bells... Patriarch Pavle consecrates bells for Belgrade's St Sava Cathedral in November 2001 and were ringing for Christmas 2002.

National Library of Serbia with a statue of Nikola Tesla
Only a week later we would be riding in a Tesla electric car... click link above for more.

Karadordev Park and National Library

Too bad, the Church of Saint Sava was closed, due to still ongoing completion.
President Putin did lay some mosaic tiles early this year.
So instead we walked around the building and entered the Crypt where they also have massive wall and ceiling frescoes!

The Russians donated 5,000,000 Euro for the Church's completion...

By the end of 2020 it should be done...

Viking Lif from Vukovar, Croatia to Belgrade, Serbia (when I did not have any signal, later Google Earth connects the dots - hence over land and straight...
We left Vukovar by 23:00, close to midnight on June 7.

Relive 'Touring Belgrade and Walking Sections'

Our Bus Tour through Belgrade with walking the sections where photos were taken.

Our Morning City Walk in Belgrade, Serbia

Belgrade, Kalemegdan where we walked...

Belgrade Kalemegdan satellite view from our walk...

Belgrade Kalemegdan walk in different heights, looking at the bottom gray area! Thanks for your visit and comment, stay tuned for the next segment... Serbia: Parishioners pack world's largest Orthodox Church for Easter - Would LOVE to be there during such Mass!
Related links: Day 5, from Vukovar to Osijek, Croatia | previous post Day 4, Kalocsa Baroque Cathedral with Organ Music and Puszta | previous post Day 3 Departure from Budapest on Viking Lif | previous post Day 2 Passage to Eastern Europe - Panoramic Budapest | previous post My 3rd Trip with Husband Pieter to Hungary with stay at Párisi Udvar Hotel Budapest | previous post