November 19: Vidin, Bulgaria

Wednesday

Today we had a slower start. There were a few activities this morning after breakfast, like a stretching class and a digestive walk. As part of the schedule for those of us here with ASTA, we had a 10 am training meeting with Ann, the Director from Ama, with details about AmaWaterways in general, and sales techniques and information.

The cruise director, Nikola, also came in and shared a little about his experiences on various Ama ships and itineraries. Someone asked about the numbers. The ship holds 156 passengers, and there are currently 138 onboard, with 50 crew. This itinerary used to be less popular, but many sailings are now close to full. Someone asked if that was taxing to the staff, and Ann asked if it seemed that way, and the agent said yes. The hotel manager said that the crew are a bit tired. They’ve been doing this for many months, often without a break, and they’re getting close to the end of the season.

We finished quickly and went down to the Lounge, where Nikola was giving a talk about the rest of the itinerary and excursions. But with everything crunched together in one presentation, we still walked away feeling undecided.

We had lunch in the dining room, and then Lisa and I did separate excursions in the afternoon. She did the Banitsa Pastry and Yogurt Tasting. They took a bus to a local village and went into a local house where they saw how to make the pastry and each helped with some of the steps. Then they learned how to make Bulgarian yogurt, which is reported to be the best in the world. The process is a bit odd because, as they explained, you need to buy yogurt, take out the cultures from that yogurt, and then you can use it to make more yogurt. And the flavor was a bit bland, without sweetness or flavoring. But it was interesting to see a local house.

I did the Vidin Wine Tasting. I don’t really drink wine unless it’s very sweet, but the third option was to visit the Baba Vida Fortress, which I had seen on my previous visit. We took a bus to the Dos Alamos Winery, and the tour guide gave us history along the way. When the Communists took over, they forced families from their farms and family homes and then knocked them down. They built ugly buildings, and she called the architectural style Brutalism. I hadn’t heard that before, but it totally fits! The Bulgarians trusted the Russians because they saved them from the Ottomans. But during World War II, they hid many Jews even though officially they were partners with Russia and Germany.

She also told us that wineries have a long history in Europe, and that Bulgarian wine is unique because they have 40 types of soil. She joked that they don’t respect white grapes here, so the two “white” wines we were going to taste were actually made from red grapes!

The owner and his wife greeted us warmly. He did a presentation about the history and process of their wine and shared a funny story or two. The winery was founded in the late 18th century, and they now sell 400,000 bottles per year. Their wine is all made by hand; they don’t use machines.

On February 14 each year, they have a celebration and begin pruning. Then in mid-September, they invite the ladies to dress in white and start the harvest. He said that in years past, they required that these ladies be a virgin, but these days they are hard to find. 😉

In addition to the white, they wear additional costume pieces. The colors and symbols in the embroidery all have meaning, and they are created during the long winter months. One of the symbols looks like a swastika, but Bulgarians have been using that symbol for over 12,000 years. 

The history of this area is long. Artifacts have been found showing that people here were drinking wine 7,000 years ago, when the Black Sea was just a lake.

After we tried the wines, he opened a cask and poured wine directly from it. Then we were invited to shop in their little gift area, where I bought rose lip balm and a jar of herb honey. Rose scents are very popular in this area. Bulgaria is known for producing some of the world’s highest quality rose oil, so it makes sense that rose products are everywhere. There were lots of rose-scented oils, soaps, teas, and evidently even lip balm.

Overall it was a charming excursion. 

Back on the bus and to the ship. At 6 pm, we watched a Bulgarian Folklore Show in the lounge, performed by youth from Vidin. They said usually there are boys and girls, but the boys had a basketball game so it would be just the girls. They were accompanied by a drummer and an accordion player, and the girls were wearing local costumes. I looked back at my pictures from two years ago, and it was the same drummer! The show was just about the same, with the girls dancing with very fast footwork, sometimes shouting out, sometimes singing, and they were fun to watch.

Their music tempo is very different. Even with years of piano lessons and singing in choirs, I couldn’t count a rhythm. The cruise director mentioned 5/16 and 11/16 time signatures. I looked it up, and “Bulgarian folk music tempo is known for its complex, uneven rhythms… sometimes reaching over 500 beats per minute.” Kudos to these musicians and dancers! Those kids did a great job!

Tonight, our group of ASTA advisors all ate together in the Chef’s Table. This is a small restaurant, holding only 28 people, at the back of deck 3. It is complementary, and each person can dine there once per cruise. It is a 7 course fixed menu, along with wines. The food was all very tasty, and the highlight was the dessert. They put them on the table and it looked like a chocolate sphere. The chef came over with warm chocolate sauce and poured it over the top, and the chocolate sphere melted to reveal raspberry, white and dark chocolate mousse, and cherry crumble inside. Yum!