Danube Cruise and Exploration 2017 -- Day 5

Wednesday, August 16

Vidin, Bulgaria

Ruins of the synagogue in Vidin, Bulgaria

We spent the entire morning cruising on the Danube until we arrived at the Bulgarian port of Vidin. 

Today's excursion was a one hour bus trip to a medieval fortress and then a one hour return bus trip followed by a visit to a fortress in the town of Vidin. The alternative is a bike hike that would also include a visit to the fortress. We didn't feel like sitting on a bus for two hours on such a beautiful day.

We were two of only 8 brave passengers to take the bike tour of the city of Vidin. It was 12 miles round trip. We burned one piece of baklava. Or maybe not quite. The terrain, more or less following the river, is almost perfectly flat. Our total climbing of hills probably came to less than 4 feet. A ride of equivalent length in Atlanta would have required us to climb at least 300 feet. 

Part of our bike entourage

The bike trip started through the city park which was beautifully shaded by Linden trees along wide paths. At the edge of the park were the ruins of the city's main synagogue.  In Europe before the war, just about every town, no matter how big or small, had a synagogue.  This particular synagogue was ruined by the war, and then the Communists compounded the insult by refusing to allow it to be used except as a storage building.  

Then we followed streets that were not busy at all through residential areas. Almost every house had a vegetable garden and fruit trees in the yard. We even had to follow a highway for about a thousand feet and we weren't very much concerned about the traffic even on the highway.

Edward the Terrible

The trip continued through an agricultural area where large plots of corn and sunflowers were growing. These areas were not huge commercial agricultural installations, but were probably owned by farmers who lived in the village. Before returning we rested in the shadow of a large modern bridge that connects Romania on one side and Bulgaria on the other side. Most of the traffic was commercial trucks and it wasn't very heavy. The bridge apparently replaces ferry service which, according to our guide, was very sporadic. The ferry would leave when it was full and had no particular schedule. By my calculation, this modern bridge is the only permanent connection between Bulgaria and Romania for hundreds of miles.

Fortress in Vidin, Bulgaria

On the way back we broke at a truck stop to get refreshments. We sat at a table with the guide and her assistant and talked about school in Bulgaria, job prospects, and learning English.  There aren't many prospects in small-town Bulgaria.

The bike tour met the bus tour at a fortress that, as you can see in the photo, is ruled by Edward the Terrible. Look at his teeth, in particular. Some actors had prepared a play and we watched a 20 minute summary of 1400 years of history. Cliff Notes. We explored the fort with our guide who gave us nice interpretive insight into the the legends surrounding the building as well as the history.

When we got back to the boat, people commented, "how is it that you haven't been sweating but all these other people are soaked?"

Dance troupe on the ship

Yoyi dancing with Bulgarian dance troupe

At night a local group of Bulgarian children came on board to dance traditional dances of Bulgaria. They were so good and so, so beautiful. At the end they picked a few of us to dance with them. Yes, Yoyi was one of those chosen. It took her 5 minutes to master their simplest step, she claims. Evin, mom quips that you would have been ashamed of her. I thought she did fine.  

UPDATE 06/28/2021: In one of my newsfeeds today, Jewish Heritage Europe, May 30, 2021 reports that work will begin to restore the synagogue in Vidim.  (See above)  I just happened to recognize the ruin of the synagogue, and the town's name struck a chord.  See 

https://jewish-heritage-europe.eu/2021/05/31/bulgaria-vidin-begun/.  You can see what the proposed project entails and what the final product will look like.