November 22: Vukovar, Croatia

Saturday

This was a new one for me. On our previous cruise, we had gone to Ilok, Croatia, and then the trip ended in Zagreb, Croatia (the capital).

We actually woke up to rain, which soon turned into snow. There were times the snow was coming down so heavily we couldn’t see the shore.

The ship sailed this morning, so the travel advisors in our group had a presentation by ASTA (American Society of Travel Advisors) with an overview of what ASTA does for our industry. Then at 11 am, the cruise director did a briefing on the last two ports and shared details about disembarkation.

There were actually 5 options this afternoon: 1:30-5:30 Active Highlights of Vukovar (including climbing approx. 200 steps to the top of the iconic Vukovar Water Tower), the Vukovar Bike Tour (which was cancelled because of the weather), Croatian Wine Tasting, and Highlights of Vukovar for either the Gentle Walkers or the Regular Walkers. Lisa stayed onboard, and I did the Regular Walkers tour of Vukovar.  

It was chilly, and the cruise director reminded us with his announcements to grab one of the AmaWaterways umbrellas from our cabin. The group walked into town and to a former palace that is now a museum. As we walked through, she shared some facts:

• This area has over 10,000 years of history.

• When people are building and have to dig, if they find an artifact, the landowner has to pay the archaeological team to excavate it and has to pay for its preservation, even though they do not own the artifact.

• Roman soldiers were actually slaves. If they survived long enough to earn their freedom, they received a gold plaque. Ten thousand of these have been found in Europe, and two of them are here.

• The Ottomans were Muslims, and the Quran says that followers must take daily baths. People in this area generally only took two baths in their lives, when they were born and when they died. It was a mark of wealth that you could afford perfume to cover the smell. It was also a sign of wealth to have rotten teeth, as that meant you could afford sugar.

• At one point it was discovered that many in this area were lacking iron in their blood, so the queen ordered people to breed pigs, and the primary meat in this area is still pork.

• This was also helpful for young girls, because the conquering Ottoman Muslims could not marry someone who eats pork, so they were safe.

• Queen Sisi was a popular queen, but in 1898 she was stabbed in the heart. She got up and said she was fine, but when her corset was taken off, she bled out and died.

• In the war of 1991, 90 percent of the city was destroyed.

• The water tower took 680 direct hits. They flew flags to attract the bombs so there were fewer bombs hitting the houses.

Back on the bus and back on the ship. 

Tonight is the “Farewell Cocktail” and “Farewell Dinner.” Even though we have one more day, many people have early morning flights on Monday morning back to the US, so the ships celebrate on the 2^nd to the last night so people don’t have to go to bed so early.

The entire crew paraded through, and the navigational crew (except the 2^nd Officer, who stayed in the Bridge), and then we had a toast. Dinner was a little nicer tonight, and then after dinner we went back to the lounge for a “special visitor” – Santa and his two elves. You could take photos with Santa, and the elves were giving out little bags, with a little stuffed snowman for each of us.