Croatia

The next morning we sailed into Vukovar, Croatia, a town rather devastated by fighting between Serbia and Croatia in the 1990's. Our guide estimated that 90% of the town had been destroyed in the War of Independence. Local Customs officers required a passport "face check", after which we were entertained by a Slavonian tambura band playing local folk music on several sizes of stringed tamburica.

A short bus ride took us to the city of Osijek on the River Drava, and to the nearby village of Bilje, where we enjoyed one of the cultural highlights of the entire trip. Viking had arranged to drop off small groups of passengers to enjoy coffee and dessert with a number of local families, affording a glimpse into "real" life and the opportunity to ask questions.

We visited the Martinov family, an extremely kind older couple who welcomed us into their home, answered our questions, shared their food and showed us their gardens. We were aided in translation by a local university student. Their house had also been completely destroyed in the war, and their only son had been involved in the fighting, but thankfully survived. A very different and heartwarming experience.....and I don't just mean the shot of rakia they gave us!

Back in Osijek, we toured the old city and fortress, and were treated to a musical performance in the local church. Our one criticism was that we had very little free time (OK, none) to explore either Osijek or Vukovar on our own, beyond the tours themselves. No chance to look for a music store that might sell tamburica! We did manage a very quick beer at a riverside bar stand before we jumped back on the ship for the daily briefing and then dinner, as the Aegir cast off and slithered north now towards Hungary.

 Vukovar, Croatia

 Vukovar water tower - a memorial to the war with Serbia

 Local tambura band entertaining in the Aegir lounge

 Martinov home in Bilje

 Touring their gardens

Croatian hospitality

Scenes from Osijek

Cro-Cro-Cro(atia) your boat....

Sunset over the Danube