Nov 20: Iron Gates, Romania

Thursday

This morning the ship is sailing through the Iron Gates Gorge.

Nestled between the Carpathian and Balkan Mountains, this natural wonder features four gorges and three valleys. Watch as the Danube narrows to just 150 meters (492 feet) wide and plunges to 90 meters (295 feet) deep, framed by towering 300 meter (984 foot) cliffs. Keep your cameras ready for the striking rock relief of King Decebalus, Europe’s tallest rock sculpture. Enjoy panoramic views from the sundeck, with occasional commentary from the Cruise Manager, Nikola, available on the Sundeck and in the Lounge.

They had announced last night that we would enter the gorge at 9 am, so I set my alarm for 8:45 am (reluctantly, as it had been a late night), dressed quickly, and ran up to the lobby to see if we were still on target for 9 am. They said yes. I asked if that was in just a few minutes, and he said no, the time had changed last night. I looked at my phone, and the time had not automatically updated, so I got up an hour early for no reason. Not too happy with that, lol.

It was chilly on the top deck, but not too bad. Some were dressed better than others, and there were a lot of people out on the Sun Deck. We slowed for the rock relief, which is just huge.

As we left the narrow part of the river, people started heading back down and inside. I was the second to the last person left on the top, and it was nice to take pictures without everyone in them.

I was surprised they didn’t serve a warm drink while we were out there. I’ve had that experience on other ships, especially when it’s cold outside. There also weren’t blankets left outside, but honestly there isn’t a really good place to sit at the front of the ship anyway, just four tables with chairs that were wet.

At 11:45 am there was a Welcome Back Reception for anyone who had sailed on Ama before, and then lunch at 12:30 pm.

After lunch, the ship arrived at the Golubac Fortress. We were supposed to leave at 3:30 pm, but we were a little bit ahead of schedule, so we were able to leave around 3 pm. Sunset today is at 4 pm, so it was still light out when we walked over. The wind was very strong, which made it quite chilly.

Once inside the fortress, our group went into the museum building where we heard some of the history, and then we were free to walk on our own and meet at the gift shop. I went up into a couple of the towers, which I don’t think I did last time, and out to the short tower closest to the water, where it was very windy. When we walked back, it was dark and the fortress was well lit.

Here are some of the details from the tour guide:

• They aren’t sure of the exact age, but the first written record that mentions it was in 1335, and it already had four towers.

• It belonged to the Hungarians, and was given as a gift to Serbian Szar Stefan in 1402. He built two towers and the palace before he died in 1427, so the Hungarians wanted it back. The Serbians said they could have it if they paid. They didn’t want to pay, so it was offered to the Ottomans, who gladly took it. They held it until 1444, then it went back to Serbian control.

• In 1458, the Ottomans bought off the soldiers inside and took it over again. They held it until the 19th century. It was then used by the military for a while and then abandoned.

• In the 1930s, a Serbian king built a road through the country and made a tunnel right through the fortress. The tunnels were damaged by trucks that were too tall.

• In 2014, they built a new road and a new tunnel, and the fortress was closed off.

• The river level now is much higher than it was historically because they built a dam downstream. The river rose from 8 to 12 meters and it flooded one floor of two towers permanently.

• The restoration work, which cost about 8 million euros, was finished in 2019, and in March 2019 it opened to 50 cruise ships.

• This is now one of the top five sites to see in the country, and has seen 200 ships and had 1 million visitors.

• The nearby town is about 4 km upstream. Not long ago it had only 300 people, and now they are up to over 900.

• Our guide, who was in her early 20s, told us about a program they have to encourage young people to stay. The town pays for college scholarships, and the students work part time at the fortress. Our guide decided to come back and work here full time after she graduated.

  
  
  

  

  

  

  

  
  
  

We returned to the ship for dinner and sat with Julie and Ann, who we had met at a previous meal, and Susan and Karen, who they had met. Funny story: at lunch and dinner, they offer complimentary beer and wine. These generally change based on the location of the ship (so while in Bulgaria, we had Bulgarian wine, etc.). Julie said the wine with dinner was not as good as the French Chardonnay she had with lunch, but she already had a glass of the Cabernet Sauvignon in front of her. Lisa (my sister), who had not yet ordered wine, called over Jeffrey (the drink waiter) and asked if she could get a glass of the French Chardonnay. He brought it back and served it to her. When he left, Lisa traded glasses with Julie, who was very happy with her new glass of wine. Knowing she would want more, Lisa poured some of “her” wine into Susan’s glass. A little bit later, we didn’t see him coming, but all of a sudden, Jeffrey was overhead refilling Julie’s glass! We all gasped and said no, and Jeffrey didn’t know what was going on, so we had to confess. Then he brought over more glasses and the bottle of French Chardonnay and poured it for anyone who wanted it. It was just funny.

Tonight the onboard musician, Milos (pronounced mee-loh-sh), played DJ and piano player. The six of us went upstairs, and some of them began to dance. That’s when I bowed out and went back to go to bed. Lisa still wasn’t back in our room when I closed my book around 11:30 pm, but the next morning she said the dancing had gotten busier and went on for quite a while. She did say that at one point she fell down, but she was fine.