Next Day

Our morning cruise took us through some very picturesque scenery as we went through the Iron Gates. Unfortunately it was cold and dull. The gorge lies between Romania in the north and Serbia in the south. At this point, the river separates the southern Carpathian Mountains from the northwestern foothills of the Balkan Mountains

Fortunately the sun finally came out as we approached Mraconia Monastery, re-established in 1993 following the downfall of the Communist regime,

Then, as as we looked to the west there was a face. It is the Statue of Dacian king Decebalus and is the tallest rock sculpture in Europe. It was the idea of Romanian businessman and historian Iosif Constantin Dragan and took 10 years for 12 sculptors to finish it. In the end, it cost over a million dollars.

On the Serbian shore, facing Romania can be found the Trajan Table, marking the spot where the Roman Emperor crossed the Danube to conquer Dacia (modern Romania) in 105.

We were fortunate at this point to find the Danube very calm and I took the opportunity to capture some beautiful reflections. Eventually, the river widened and the fog descended but we were still intrigued with the goings-on along the shore.

Soon we were approching another lock. This one with even more armed guards in place. As we continued our journey down the Danube, we enjoyed vistas of Romania to the north, and Bulgaria to the south.

At night as we cruised to Svistov we enjoyed our second One & Only River Duchess Crew Show.

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Next Day

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