Saturday Oct 4

We have had a busy few days so will now recap.

Friday night was the Captain's cocktail then Gala Dinner so we got dressed up. The dessert was Baked Alaska which arrived with music and sparklers.

That night we set our clocks back an hour so are only 9 hours ahead of back home.

I am now becoming an alcoholic, starting Sat. More about Sunday later! We went on the brandy tour which was fascinating. We had an excellent guide (7th year doing this for a job) -- Milos pronounced Milish. Sooo, the brandy in this area is made from a special plum only grown here. It is extra meaty and sweet. It is traditional for every family to have their own still to this day but a few rules have crept in. It is legal to drink your own in your own home but you aren't allowed to take it anywhere else. Eg like we take a bottle of wine if we are going to someone's house for dinner. I'm sure they still do it though. And everyone's brandy is of a different quality as the temperature during the distilling process is quite critical. We saw stills for sale in the shops. So the tradition is that when you visit someone's home, you are immediately offered a glass of brandy. The locals drink it "bottoms up" but we sipped ours. It is also the tradition to have a 10 liter cask saved for a child's birth. So, Milos' father drank his 10 l, along with friends, when he was born.( His grandfather had done the same thing, etc,etc. in previous generations.) Then he refilled it and stored it until Milos' son was born. He and his friends drank it up then he refilled it for when his son has a child. When the brandy is made it is clear. They then put it in oak/mulberry barrels for from 5 to 18 years where it gains color. The longer in the barrels, the greater the color and quality. Milos also told us that if you want to "bribe" a local official or policeman, you offer a bottle of brandy, never money. They also have a version of brandy called Shumadia (sp?) tea. This is drunk for your "health". It is made from boiled lo proof brandy to which a pinch of sugar is added. It is drunk warm and keeps the germs away -- similar to English grog and Japanese saki. He said that during the SARS outbreak, noone in Serbia got sick!! Even the kids get a bit.

There is another interesting custom in this area. Because it was a forested area it was difficult for people to travel to the next village. They were tired when they got there so, on arrival, they would receive a spoonful of a sweet jam plus a glass of water. We got that as well. The "jam" is quince cooked then soaked in honey. Later we were also given stinging nettle water -- leaves put in boiling water then a bit of sugar added. Keeps for two days in the fridge. Tasted great.

The area we were in was middle Serbia, as opposed to north and south. They get down to -5 to -20 in the winter and as hot at 40 in the summer. The weather patterns have changed drastically eg. got three months of rain in two days earlier this year. In one area, 300 bridges were destroyed plus many villages. It was the small streams which did the damage --- eg just like in Canmore last year. Also, everytime a crop was in blossom, it rained so the bees didn't pollinate. And as a result of that there is also little honey this year.And many crops not producing.

The ship was parked on the Sava River, just 200 meters from where it enters the Danube. I couldn't figure out in the morning why the river was suddenly so narrow with bridges going across.

We are parked in the city of Belgrade (1.7 million). There are many 13th century buildings which are neglected now. One area is getting torn down in the near future and will be a huge development of condos, hotels, etc being financed by AbuDabi rich cats.

Social life is very important here as witnessed by a bar(?) across the river from us -- thumping music 24 hours a day. I'm glad we are moving on tonite. People here visit in bars and coffee shops for hours at a time, any day of the week. Booze and food are cheap.

During the 1st WW, 27% of the population died (57% of the men). They are part of the former Yugoslavia and had Tito as a leader. The history is long and complicated and I`m not sure I understand it all even though we had a long lecture in the evening about it. Then when they had the latest conflict, NATO bombed all their bridges. There doesn`t seem to be any animosity about that.

In addition to our brandy yesterday we were fed. They had grapefruit on which were stuck toothpicks each loaded with a variety of cheeses and meats plus a pickle. It looked a little like a porcupine. And with it were two types of breads, one with a tomato-baked red pepper relish on one side and fresh mozz cheese on the other. Every time we got a bit low on the ``supplies`` the hostess would fill up the plate. Needless to say, we did not need lunch when we got back to the ship.

In the afternoon we went by shuttle bus to the city center to look around. It is like most big cities which I`m not fond of. Also, since we haven`t bothered getting local money, we can`t purchase anything small. It`s been a bit of a problem going through so many different countries. They aren`t on the Euro here but will often accept it. And we are running out of tip money as our small bills are just about gone.

Sunday, Oct 5

Our ship arrived in Novi Sad, Serbia this morning. I signed up for the "Serbian Specialties" Culinary Delights tour and Don went on the walking tour of NoviSad. He said the city was beautiful and peaceful (peaceful maybe because it was Sunday?). My tour was very, very interesting. In 1999 NATO bombed the area and knocked out all their bridges. NoviSad was only established in the 18th century so no Roman ruins and all that sort of thing which we've been seeing elsewhere. The buildings are Baroque style. We crossed over a 550 mile long man-made channel which is used for irrigation and transportation. We went past a huge flea market. Would have loved to wander around that. This area of Serbia is multicultural as it is on the border of the old Austrian and Ottoman empires -26 different nationalities and 6 official languages. Most are Protestant. This area is the bread basket of Serbia. They also grow tobacco (encouraged by the govt) -- 60% smoke including 30 % school age. No smoking indoor laws of the EU didn't work here and aren't enforced. Their social life is tied up in the restaurants and bars so a smoking ban would be the death of these establishments. 26% unemployment in the country but less in this area as agriculture provides a lot of jobs. The cuisine is different in the north area where we are as it is influenced by the closeness to Austria and Hungary.

We arrived at the farm (where we were having the cooking demo) at about 9 am. And we were met with the usual brandy! I really am in danger of becoming an alcoholic drinking at that time of the day!!! Today we had a choice and I had mead which was sweeter and very nice. We then went into the little dining room where we were given what would be a quick meal for a housewife -- potato pasta with cheese. And we had a glass of wine with it -- see what I mean? -- two drinks before 10 am. Don says he's going to put me in rehab when we get home. Then the grandma brought out her dough which she had started earlier. She rolled it out about 1/4 inch thick then cut it into squares. We each made our own -- jam in the center then sealed and brushed with butter. She baked them for 30 min while we explored the farm. They were very good and I have the recipe. The farm house was built in 1904. The main income for the family is dad who is a forester and works in the local national park. Mom and grandma run the tourist cooking demo for AMA. They have 20 acres most of which is rented out to another farmer who grows corn there. They get 50% of the profit.

We were back on the boat for lunch -- which I didn't need so just had soup, salad and dessert. Yes, I always have to have dessert. Today it was a Serbian cheesecake. Yum.

Croatia

After lunch we departed Serbia and sailed for about three hours ending up in Croatia. Here we went on the Yugoslav Civil War tour. It was sad but a must for anyone going to Croatia. Our guide was a young lawyer and very honest about the situation there. The govt is very corrupt, even now. And after the war the powerful ones split up the land giving it to their cronies and relatives. She claims the war was only the result of political manoevering so they could get rich. We were taken to the memorials and graveyards. There were many people killed in one day and buried in a mass grave. They are gradually identifying them with DNA and they are given a gravesite and headstone. It was so weird to see the same date of death on rows and rows of graves. It was sad to see all this.

Our guide was a child during the war so has odd memories which were good eg they were refugees and were put up in a hotel. She remembers the beach and her grandpa buying her ice cream. Her father has a totally different memory of course. She had high praise for Rotary -- they came with clothes and shoes and still donate today to help the town. There are still landmines around the town but luckily no child has been maimed. Each year they manage to find a few more.The town is being fixed up so lots of nice houses. Eventually everything will be but they will leave two places as is. One is the water tower which was bombed many times and still stands (will show that their spirit didn't fall down either) and one building downtown. The owner plants flower boxes on each of the bombed out windows. A picture of this made it onto a National Geographic cover.

In this area there is nothing really old as they had a war about every 50 years which destroyed everything. The climate is perfect for vinyards. They love their fruit trees because they make brandy out of everything -- even walnuts. The apple trees I saw today were covered with nets. And the apples weren't harvested yet.

When we left the ship this afternoon for our tour, the ship continued up the Danube ending up in Vukavar. And this is where we ended up too -- had a walking tour of the city. I must say that the parts of Croatia that I have seen make me want to come back. It is quite lovely. I don't really have any desire to see Bulgaria or Serbia again.

Internet intermittent so am trying again this morning (Mon) to send two blogs out.