Today marks the beginning of our Great River series. The inspiration for it is our trip down the Danube from Vienna to the Black Sea that we just finished while traveling with Peggy’s brother John and his wife Frances.
Along the way, we traveled through Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania, all countries that I had never visited except Croatia. (Peggy had been to Austria, as well: Way back in BC…As in before Curt.) Other than the Romanian apple that got us in trouble with US Customs and a cold I picked up and undoubtedly shared along the way, our trip in a riverboat with the GoHagan travel company was quite good.
Knowledgeable (and often humorous) local guides led us on tours through cities, towns, churches, castles, and palaces while providing historical background that ranged from Mongol and Turkish invasions, to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to the Russian Communist occupation following World War II.
We watched horses prance, people dance, and consumed at least three times as much food as we usually do. An ancient village with roots going back 5-6 thousand years and the beauty of the Carpathian Mountains of Romania/Transylvania wowed us.
Dracula/Vlad the Impaler called the Carpathians home. While we found the Impaler’s castle fascinating, I think Peggy was more excited to discover that the Cantacuzino Castle (where we stopped for lunch) serves as the site for the Nevermore Academy of the Netflix series Wednesday, a take-off on the TV series, The Addams Family, of yore. How much does she like the series? Well, she has binged on it. More than once. Her scream of delight when she saw a sign promoting the castle as the series’ location led everyone on the bus to turn and look at her. I felt like I was married to a smitten teenager.
One great river doesn’t constitute a series, however. And we’ve promised a series which brings up what our criteria are for defining a great river. There are the normal factors, i.e. length and volume, but I would also add history and in beauty. The Nile is a great example for history, while the Colorado River on its run through the Grand Canyon is one for beauty. Both are mind-blowing.
There is one criterion that is strictly ours: We have to have floated on the river. For example, Peggy and I have crossed the Mississippi, Missouri, and Columbia Rivers numerous times from their headwaters to where they flow into the ocean. But our only personal experience has been to take photos and explore their history, with folks like Mark Twain and Lewis and Clark serving as our teachers. Peggy is known to stick a finger or toe in on occasion, however, “to test the water.”
In addition to the Danube, the series will include the Colorado, Amazon, Rhine, Nile, Zambezi, and England’s Trent and Mercy Canal— not a Great River perhaps, but Peggy and I had a blast navigating it in a 60’ long 10’ wide narrow boat, stopping at pubs along the way.
Since we have already blogged about these experiences (other than the Danube) in the past, I’ll simply do a summary post or two on each one that focuses on photos. The Nile may include more since there were several blogs that I ran out of time to do after the trip last year.
Next week, a quick look at the incredible beauty of the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park. After that, we will start on the Danube.
Wandering through Time and Place 
I’m glad you weren’t rained out on the Danube and looking forward to reading about it. A nephew took a Budapest to Passau cruise in September and had a lot of rain. A long time ago, we went from Amsterdam to Vienna with extended stays at each end – it rained 17 days out of 21, but we made it. The cruises the next week were cancelled because of the high water.
I have to say, Ray, Peggy and I have lucked out so far when it comes to bad weather during our travels— knock on wood, or whatever works. And we have traveled a lot over the last three years. (Over 6 months this year alone) It makes me nervous. 17 out of 21 days, wow! That reminds me of my old days when I was living in Alaska.
I suspect you are glad you no longer live in Florida. Our son and his family have been through two hurricanes this year, luckily with minimal damage.
Hopefully, I’ll do my first post on the Danube trip a week from Monday. Vienna will be up first.
Oooh, I’m looking forward to this series. Looks like you had a wonderful time on the Danube. That’s quite an impressive castle.
Indeed we did, Diana. Thanks. –Curt
I hope you have a map on the wall to pin each country you’ve been to!!
We did once upon a time many years ago, G. Even then it was bunch. Grin.
Looking forward to your Danube photos! We spent 14 days cruising up and down the Danube in 2007 – your photos will likely bring back many good memories!
Hope so!
Looking forward to the journey
I started reading the first paragraph of this post to my husband, and ended up reading the whole thing to him. Lol. What wonderful adventures! We bring you and Peggy up as inspirations for living the good life of learning and adventure. Looking forward to your series!!
Appreciated, D. I always like it when one of my fellow bloggers tells me they read my post to their partner. Makes it more fun. Plenty of adventures (and hopefully a tad of inspiration) coming up. –Curt
Fabulous photos, Curt! Dracula’s castle is beyond amazing. The photo from your raft trip in the Grand Canyon National Park is stunning! And the chance to travel on the Amazon Clipper sounds like a dream. Although you dined on piranhas? 🙂 Wonderful start to this new series, and I look forward to more of your adventures.
Thanks, Lauren. I’m appropriately including Dracula’s castle today in my Halloween post. Yep, we dined on piranhas. Eating them was easy. It was the catching that was hard! 😵💫
Wow. You’ve actually floated all these rivers? If you included “dipping a toe” as criteria we’d likely be here all year.
Yep, in one type of a boat or another, Dave. No dipping toe rivers this time. Grin.
What a wonderful series this going to be. I’ve just grabbed my lifejacket.
Hang on to your hat, kiddo!