It was a really good start for Day 10. We have been craving for Filipino food the past days and we were able to satisfy that with a "Tapsilog" breakfast especially prepared for us by the pinoy crew. This was on top of the "Arroz caldo served to us yesterday. This is a perk one gets as pinoy guests in most cruise lines.
After breakfast, we were treated with live Croatian music. It was performed by the Tamburica band who after playing some traditional Croatian songs did "country road " and when it got to the lyrics " take me home to the place I belong " , we just got teary eyed and just wanted to go back home.
While waiting for the longship to arrive in Vukovar, Croatia, we started reminiscing on our senior moments or perhaps more accurately our moments with seniors. Unlike in ocean cruises, the demography in river cruises are mostly seniors and retirees and the average age of the seniors we met is about 68. During dinner last night as we were looking for a table , I asked "Do you have company?" They just ignored me so I could not help but murmur " suplada etong matanda na Ito" but have to smile afterwards upon seeing her fixing her hearing aid and warmly welcomed us to join them. On another night, we met one Asian senior who kept on telling us about atrocities of the Japanese during the war. The next day at lunch, when we were again on the same table, he started to tell the same story. On another occasion, we ate with a couple with some disparity in age. The wife is 65 and the husband is 76 and we could not help observing how the wife was bossing around and telling the husband what he needs to do. I commented to Butch and told him how tame I am and he quipped one of his favorite lines in the "The Little Prince" - yes, " I am responsible forever to the one I have tamed"
Finally, the Viking Lif arrived in Vukovar and after lunch, our afternoon excursion brought us to 2 major cities of Croatia, Osijek, a Roman settlement called "Mursa Maior" in its early days and Vukovar, Croatia's biggest river port located at the confluence of the Vuka River and Danube river.
This afternoon excursion was special. We saw highlights of the 2 cities and at the same time had the opportunity to meet a Croatian family. Each city has a charm of its own. We passed several buildings that showed the ruins ravaged by their war with Serbia in the 90s. We visited a fortress and we met a young couple with 2 children. They were gracious and greeted us warmly and welcomed us to their home. We had homemade Elderberry Flower Juice, Plum Brandy and Rolled Walnut Cake. They narrated their life during and after the war and how they are coping. The family are Catholics but they noted that while 89 percent are Catholics, only a few practice the religion due to politics. While education is good, the problem is after graduation the unemployment is high at 30 per cent. Hence, they have about 3.5 million of their citizens or almost half their population working outside the country.
Our next stop was the Rising of the Holy Cross church where we listened to a solo concert of a young lady playing the flute. Later, we finished the afternoon with a walking tour around the Holy Trinity square.
Comments