A late afternoon shore excursion to the Golubac Fortress, within walking distance of the ship. It is located at the widest part of the Danube River, before the river enters the Great Kazan Gorge, which was once situated between Serbia, Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire and was overtaken by each at turns.
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| Our local guide looks like Robin Hood, but is supposed to be a medieval Serbian |
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| The other local guide was an Ottoman |
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| Former quarry headquarters |
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| Looking across the Danube at the wind turbines of Romania |
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| Тврђава Голубац/Golubac Fortress (14C, by the either medieval Hungarians or Serbs) |
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| A large swathe of grass had rows and rows of "croquet wickets, " actually part of the irrigation system |
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| Cannon Tower (15C) on the left, was built by the Ottomans, and was on dry land before the raising of the Danube water level; this tower was connected to a rock on the far side of the river by a chain to block passage of ships until a toll was paid |
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| Ruins of a Serbian building that was previously higher above water level |
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| A 1930s Serbian road along the Danube once entered this gate and ran through the castle; now a tunnel carries the road past |
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| Oh, my gosh - venomous snakes?! (KSS) |
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| These are said to be cannonballs... |
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| ...and below we see the baby cannonballs, with Tower 6 above and Tower 7 to the right |
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| Tower 7 can be reached by a path and steps up the rocky ground below it |
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| Heading towards the second gate |
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| A "medieval village" in the first courtyard |
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| Steps up to Tower 5 |
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| On the wall along the steps to Tower 5 are said to be rare plants that are used for medicinal purposes; it looks like a Family Campanulaceae plant, maybe Edraianthus stankovicii, a grassy bellflower, if it is really so rare (KSS) |
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| The ruined Tower 2 behind a metal staircase that accesses Tower 1/Hat Tower |
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| The former palace houses a small museum and the current exhibition is Divine Inspiration - Miroslav’s Gospel, with a facsimile of said gospel |
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| The Miroslav Gospel (12C) is the oldest Serbian Cyrillic manuscript printed and painted by Serbian monks |
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| We settled for climbing Tower 5, the defense bastion for the Palace; the view toward Tower 8 that guarded the main gate |
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| Found a pigeon in one of the arrowslits, perhaps a descendant of the pigeons who visited Jerina Kantakuzin (wife of Serbian Despot Đurađ Branković) who was disliked by the citizens because she was Greek, and her only friends were the pigeons or golub in Serbian, thus Golubac is the name of the town and fortress |
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| A view across the Danube to Romania |
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| A view of Towers 1/Hat Tower and 3 |
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| From the causeway to Cannon Tower, a view of Towers 5, 1, and 4 (behind which is 3) |
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| Replica Bombard Cannon (15C) facing Romania (KSS) |
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| Replica Spingard Cannon (15C) facing upriver (KSS) |
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| Cannon Tower view upriver of Viking Ullur |
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| The center of Cannon Tower with covered spiral stairs going to the base of the tower (now underwater) |
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| Spiral stairs in Cannon Tower |
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| Cannon Tower view of a part of Tower 5, Tower 4 and behind it Tower 3, Towers 6, 7 and 8 |
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| Falconer with a Falco peregrinus/ Peregrine Falcon (KSS) |
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| Falconer with a Parabuteo unicinctus/ Harris Hawk that she called an American Harris Hawk (KSS) |
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| Just to show I climbed up Tower 8: a view of Towers 5, shortened 2, round 1/Hat Tower, 4, and to the lower right, part of 8 |
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| This time I caught the sun before it went below the horizon |
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| Transylvania Sour Soup with chicken in corn broth |
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| Kent's Goat Cheese Soufflé with creamy cheese sauce and tomato coulis |
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| Banitsa/traditional Bulgarian spinach and cheese pie |
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| Kent's Seared King Dorado & Seafood Fregola-Sarda/ Sardinian pasta resembling couscous, with a Sorrento lemon olive oil emulsion |
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| Fluffy Mekitsi/Bulgarian fried dough with confectioners sugar and drizzled with honey |
Next: Belgrade Fortress.
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