by Sabrina Humphrey
Inside the 13th Century church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Arbanasi, Romania
Earlier this summer my husband, Marcus, and I, together with two friends, finally set off on a Covid-postponed cruise, flying to Bucharest where we were taken by coach with the other passengers to the MS Royal Crown, awaiting us in the Danube delta. The cruise was to take nearly three and a half weeks - three thousand miles through eight countries and seventy locks.
We had no idea how much of central Europe had been under Turkish control for so long – five hundred years from the late fourteenth century to the late nineteenth century. The Romanians are very proud of their Roman ancestry and they never gave in to Turkish domination. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed in the 1870s, they were able to openly practise their Eastern Orthodox religion again. Even now 81% of the population are members of the Church, and it was pleasing to see new churches being built in small communities. During the Communist period after the Second World War all private property was confiscated in the name of the State. When the Soviet empire fell and democracy returned it was all handed back. Around a quarter of the agricultural land is owned by large corporations. Romania has certainly benefited by becoming a member of the European Union, and we passed through many lovely villages. Though poor, every house or cottage has the most beautiful garden with wonderful roses and vines from which they make their own wine. Constanta, a former Roman port and the fourth largest in Europe, is, together with the eastern Danube, currently suffering a 90% drop in shipping business due to the Ukrainian war. Perhaps this will improve with the agreement with Russia to allow Ukraine’s grain and sunflower oil to be exported.
Next Bulgaria. First Slavs and then Bulgars invaded these lands after the collapse of the western Roman Empire. They managed to live and work together successfully, and were clearly different from their Romanian neighbours across the Danube. They too fell under the Turkish yoke, and like their neighbours refused to give up their Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The Turks allowed them to keep their churches, as long as none was bigger than the smallest mosque. A long drive took us to Arbanasi where we were taken to an old Merchant's House which is kept just as it was centuries ago. Then on to the Nativity Church which from the outside looks nothing like a church apart from a small cross on the roof. Inside it is quite extraordinary, with 5000 frescoes; when these were discovered there was no hint of what might be there, as the church was lit by candlelight and only when they began to wash the walls did all these magnificent frescoes appear. The Bulgars were rescued from the Turks by the Russians in 1878 although Bulgaria did not become fully independent until 1908. They too are a highly Christian Eastern Orthodox country where over 90% of the population attend church. Everyone in Bulgaria owns their own house or flat even if they live in the horrendous Communist-era apartment blocks which still abound in all the towns.
After a special tea party and beautiful cake to celebrate Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee, our ship moved on to Vidin, where next morning we were taken by coach to Belogradchik, a little village famous for its rock formations and magnificent Roman fortress with wonderful views all round. The poverty of Vidin is shown by the many hideous Communist buildings; then round the corner you see a lovely house and realise what it looked like before the Communists took power in 1944. Later in the afternoon we we were treated to a private concert by the Vidin Philharmonic Orchestra of works by Bulgarian composers such as Cherkin. The 19-year old soloist played the violin quite beautifully
Early next morning we began our journey through the Iron Gates, going through the two Djerdap Locks which lifted us into the Kazan Gorges, with its spectacular scenery culminating in the splendid ruins of Golubac Castle, held by the Turks for 260 years. The following day we arrived in Belgrade, Serbia's capital - a fascinating city of many lovely houses but also a lot of run-down places. We walked up to Kalemegdan Fortress overlooking the two rivers, Danube and Suva, then after a drive round the city we visited the glorious church of St. Sava, the largest Orthodox church in the world, built on land donated by a Scot called McKenzie.
Our guide spoke brilliant English and was very funny with it. Serbia has such a complicated story: the guide spoke 5 languages, all spoken within Serbia, and she has 5 passports. Our friend, Richard, asked her if Serbia supported Ukraine against Russia: "Absolutely not". When asked why, she replied "Russia never bombed us!" In fact Putin sent ten lorry-loads of gold to Belgrade to pay for the new church. We also visited Tito's tomb, which is really well done, all light and white marble, with beautiful gardens all round, and yes, more roses. This was the last of the Eastern Orthodox countries on our trip, and also the last using Cyrillic script. In the afternoon and overnight we sailed on to Mohacs in Hungary, where we all had our passports checked before we could enter the EU’s Schengen Zone. On arrival there it was just like a summer's day in Scotland - cold and wet.
Ottoman Turkish influence in Pecs, Hungary
After a morning's wine-tasting and a lunch of excellent goulash, we moved on to Pecs, a beautiful university town. Hungary is staunchly Roman Catholic, and we started our visit with a tour of St.Peter's Cathedral a stunning building with lovely frescoes, and we were lucky to be given an organ recital. After a guided tour of the old city - so many beautiful buildings and everything spotlessly clean - our guide left us to wander around, having made sure we knew where to find the best ice cream.
On arrival in Budapest we found ourselves surrounded by river boats, many bigger and more modern than ours; gone were the peaceful days of the Lower Danube where we were the only cruise ship in sight. Budapest is an attractive city and would be perfect if there were no tourists...like us. We did a city-tour on the Pest side, driving along UNESCO-protected Andrássy Avenue into the enormous Heroes’ Square. Then across the Elisabeth Bridge to Buda, where we had a walking tour to the Matthias Church with its roof tiles looking just like a tapestry - so beautiful. The inside of the church is unusual in that the pillars have patterns that show that it was a mosque from 1541 to 1686.
A strong current made us late into Bratislava having negotiated the largest lock on the Danube. After a lecture on the Empress Maria Theresa we walked around the lovely old city. The Slovaks are determined to reconstruct all the historic buildings destroyed under the Communist regime. The country is also staunchly Roman Catholic and their churches are beautifully maintained. Hundreds of children had gathered in the main square in their national costume before marching and singing their way round the old city. We then went on to the Moyzes Palace for a concert by a string quartet of music by Mozart and Dvorak.
The planned itinerary on our first morning in Vienna had to be aborted: the whole city centre was cordoned off due to an LGBT march. So we departed for the southern part of the Vienna Woods, visiting the Cistercian Abbey of Heiligenkreuz. It is a lovely place with beautiful stained glass windows and a fascinating history. The monks are thriving too. When the BBC asked for a recording of their famous Gregorian chants they replied that they did not record them, it was just something they did every day. So three weeks later a BBC recording crew turned up, recorded them and they went straight to the top of the charts. Next was Mayerling. Nothing to see but we listened to the tragic tale of Crown Prince Rudolph, who committed suicide with his commoner sweetheart, Mary Vetsera, leaving Austro-Hungarian emperor Franz Joseph with no heir. We drove on to Baden, a Roman town famous for its thermal springs, and where Beethoven composed his 9th Symphony … and where we were able to indulge in a little retail therapy!
Back in Vienna next day we took in the Belvedere Palace, built on the top of a hill giving it a commanding view over the city, slightly spoilt now by all the new-build, and St. Stephen's Cathedral with its 448ft. Spire. We walked through the Hofburg Palace, the winter home of the Hapsburg dynasty’s Austrian wing, into the Cathedral where a service was taking place. On the way we had seen boys in sailor suits coming out of another church - the Vienna Boys' Choir! How I longed to go to a performance at the nearby Spanish Riding School. At least I was able to take a snoop into the stable block; one horse had a red saddle-cloth, showing that it is one of the experts.
The architecture all around us was breath-taking. Vienna never got bombed during the Second World War, unlike the places we were to see later. In the afternoon we were taken to the Schonbrunn Palace on the outskirts of Vienna. It was the favourite summer palace of Empress Maria Theresa. The façade is enormous, a central block with two identical side wings. It took us two hours to see it all. The charitable trust that runs the palace have managed to get back a great many of the artefacts that were plundered after the First World War, including a desk found in Egypt, pictures from all over and other pieces of furniture returned by members of the family.
After breakfast we cruised through the Wachau Valley as the Danube flows through a narrow gorge between the foothills of the Bohemian Massif in the north-west and the Dunklesteiner Woods in the south- east. We could see why it is considered to be one of the finest landscapes in Europe. There are delightful villages along the banks of the Danube, with castles and monasteries, including the castle where Richard Coeur de Lion was imprisoned, and steeply-terraced vineyards. In the afternoon we did a walking tour of Melk, a delightful town with a vast Benedictine Abbey looming over it. The first recorded mention of Melk was in AD 831. Since then it has developed from being an established fortified castle to being an active monastery where the twenty-five monks run a public secondary school of over nine hundred pupils; they see the religious and intellectual formation of its pupils as an important spiritual duty. Our guide had been to school in the Abbey and she absolutely loved it. The Abbey itself out-Baroqued any Baroque architecture we had ever seen before. The internal decoration is sumptuous with huge quantities of gold leaf. It certainly was one of the architectural highlights of our trip. It was however somewhat of a relief to soon be enjoying the more austere buildings to be seen on the second part of our trip.
Sabrina lives in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Her account of the second part of their trip - from Melk to Amsterdam - will be in our October issue