Monday, 14 October 2024

Saturday 12 October.

 Today we are in Mohács Hungary. It is a little cool this morning around 9 degrees, but clear and sunny with temperature expected to get to 21 degrees.

After breakfast we have a tour starting at 9 am and we are off to a winery! But our first stop is at a mill. This was a mill that was used by the farmers from surrounding areas and even further away. When the communists took over and confiscated everything it fell into disuse and ruin. The current owner bought the property and decided to rebuild it to its original state. He developed a passion for mills and began collecting all different tools and items and built from scratch a large treadmill for grinding. He also has a water wheel mill and a hand driven one among other fascinating implements. He was really passionate about his “hobby”.

We then moved onto the winery called Bock. By now it was 20 degrees and sunny and clear. We first tasted a white wine outside and then entered the cellars while tasting a red wine. As we moved from area to area we were offered different wines. It was a unique way to have a wine tasting and explore the cellars. The last stop was amazing, it was like an underground crypt. Our host tells us that Placido Domingo had sung in here. After that we headed back to the ship and a relaxing afternoon. We have noticed that coughs are starting to make an appearance, some worse than others. We are now taking our masks with us and at the first sign of someone coughing putting them on. Not too much time left now but still do not want to catch anything!

 




Photos from winery to follow






Sunday, 13 October 2024

Photos Golubac Fortress

 






Friday 11 October.

 Quiet morning as our tour is not until 3.15 pm. It is clear but a cool 13 degrees when we wake up back in Croatia. We have a late breakfast and decide to have a look at the town - Osijek. It is the fourth largest city in Croatia and the area we walk to is busy with eateries and people everywhere. Some of the buildings still have bullet holes in from the war with Serbia. We spend an hour there and head back. I want to try and upload some photos. Partially successful, but it is a slow process. Sometimes I can upload two but then I have to revert to one at a time, and I never know whether it is going to work until I review the post! 

We head off at 3 pm and it is a pleasant 25 degrees. Our first stop is the nature park for a boat trip around the canal and marshland where there is supposed to be abundant wildlife and birds. We saw cormorants, a couple of ducks and a heron or two! We then had time to walk on a boardwalk through the reeds! What a totally underwhelming event.

After all that excitement we head off to our home dinner, which was fantastic. We had a great time with Nada our host.

After dinner and back on board the opal, the tour director has arranged a special event. His cousin belongs to a three piece traditional Croatian group and one plays a Tamburica, looks like a miniature mandolin. The other two play a guitar and a piano accordion. We sat there stunned as did the rest of the audience. The songs seemed to roll into one, the voices were terrible and the melody hardly changed. At least they seemed to enjoy themselves, no one else did. Maybe the words were funny, nothing else was. It was a relief to go to bed!












Photos St Sava

 










Homeward bound 18 October

 I had a good nights sleep. Went to bed at 7.30 pm. Everything goes well walking to the airport although it is still blowing and a very cold...