Early departure from Vidin by bus to Belogradchik for coffee and éclairs (Yum!!). Afterward we wandered up the hill to view the red rock formations and a town square where a band was playing. We danced a bit to the great interest to those around us.
At the beautiful fortress at Belogradchik rock we climbed to the very top to enjoy the view of the amazing rock formations and down into the town.
In all the villages we could see wonderful private gardens - tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, grapes and much other food. They try to be self-sufficient. Buildings are rough brick or stucco, often whitewashed Drystone walls and red tiled roofs and chestnut trees everywhere on narrow rough roads and streets. Our guide explained that they try to maintain authentic Roman roads :)
The Danube Valley is fertile and the climate moderate.
Under communism there were attempts to introduce heavy industry-those failed after communism ended [ and factory derelicts are evident ].
The city of Vidin lost half its population when the chemical industries shut down and is returning to its roots as an agricultural, fishing, tourism and administration centre.
The communists left Bulgaria with a huge debt with which they've struggled ever since. They are receiving EU funds for infrastructure projects. Sitting in our cabin after lunch I could see many barges and ships plying the Danube.
My Uncle Max warned me that the Danube is not blue, and most of the time that's true, but yesterday evening for a few moments it was blue. In any case it flows through beautiful country.
This afternoon, while Larry napped, I walked into Vidin and through the open air market. Some very tempting produce as well as a lot of clothing, shoes, toys and so on. We had no local currency so it was all window shopping.
The town centre is a very large open square with a war memorial and fountain. There's a lovely church and long pedestrian street. Kids were out with firecrackers, celebrating Independence Day.
Later in the afternoon we attended a ship lecture on the Eastern Orthodox Church and icon painting. The icons were gorgeous and they were for sale, but we resisted[ like where would you put it ].
After dinner most of the Intrepids headed for the music quiz in the Lounge. We danced up a storm, but sadly didn't snag any prizes.
Photos 22 Sep
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