G & J away from home

Thursday, 30 April

Onboard
Although we were supposed to dock at 8am I was awake at 5am when the engines were throttled back and we slid to a stop ... beside another river cruise ship.  We had been advised that this double docking would happen (and warned to use caution when throwing open the curtains if we were in a state of undress ;o) but it was fun to have it actually happen.

As soon as it was light I raced up onto the Sky Deck and took a photo of us snuggling up against the River Princess.

River Princess to deck (left) and our Sky Deck (right)

On the way back downstairs I came across the 'early breakfast' which is served in the lounge.  Not for me - breakfast is an awesome meal aboard and this looked like a 'light' version of the buffet which starts at 7am.

Early breakfast

Russe

I'm going with the spelling on the map handed out by the local guide, Anna.  Alternatives are Rousse and Ruse - both from the data sheets the cruise company hands out so we can swat up where we're going the next day.

When offering us the choice of a (very) full day tour or a half day one the cruise director said that Russe was a tired, run-down city and it was the perfect description of the place.  As with the Bucharest and Constanta the building 'boom' came after they came loose from the Ottoman Empire in the mid-1800s.  Where in Bucharest the buildings were cared for the ones in Russe were all rather dilapidated.

We visited another Orthodox church, this one not quite as frantically decorated as the one we saw in Constanta and, curiously, the stained glass in the windows was distinctly modern.  (I liked the stuff but it was clear that our guide did not!)

Orthodox church with modern stained glass

In the churchyard were two graves of English soldiers from the Crimean War.  This is something of a challenge to my geographical knowledge as I thought the Crimea was a long, long way away, and as I'm writing this without the help of my friends Messers Google and Wikipedia so perhaps I'll never get it sorted out in my mind.

One of the things I regret not getting a photo of was an apartment building where the popluar grape arbour was achieved by growing a grape vine up from a small patch of dirt at ground level, and training a branch over each balcony as it went.  How clever is that?

? (Possibly the Opera House of Russe)

As well as mid-19th century buildings there was this little fishy - an art project.  There was a field of them and apparently they were all lit from within at night.

Something fishy

Because there wasn't much scope for a tour of the town we had free time and the group broke up to find coffee or just walk around.  I strolled down one of the main streets on which every second shop was a shoe shop.  Nice shoes - lots of different styles; these riches were rather wasted on my in my running shoes!  I did find a bookshop, however, and although the signage was in a foreign language and Cyrillic alphabet, I did get the idea that it was a children's bookshop.

Russe bookshop

Because I couldn't resist going inside I can report that it was one of those small bookshops that has that distinctive new-book smell.  I was amused to discover that I recognised some of the cover art on the books:

Diary of a Wimpy Kid?

and also discovered a Bulgarian edition of the very book I am currently reading on the Kindle:

Rick Riordan's Blood of Olympus

At least, I think it's that one. :o)

Also as I wandered around by myself I cam across this collection of decorative bicycles painted up all nice colours and with added brackets for holding pot plant pots (empty now, no doubt they'll be in use in summer).  As cute as they all were, I rather liked seeing a real bike propped up against one of them.

Bicycles in Russe

Here's something else that caught my eye - but looking at the photo I can't think why I didn't go in and ask to get a proper photo of it.

What connects these words?

Onboard

After lunch the ship took off for Svishtov to pick up the people doing the full day tour (Gary included) and I settled down in the stateroom to read.  The sun was pouring in the window and I opened the sliding panels so sitting in my room was like sitting outside as the Danube whizzed by.

Room with the sliding doors open

This was exactly what I wanted the river cruise to be like!

Feet on the rails, reading a book as we cruise down the Danube

And Gary?

Gary went on the full day tour that lasted 10 hours with two bus journeys of two hours each end.  I'll grab some of his photos to pop in here when I have a moment.


Currently reading: Rick Riordan's Blood of Olympus
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