Day 13 - Tuesday, Sept 2 - Kalocsa, Hungary

 A peaceful cruise through the countryside as the sun rises and mist rising up from the Danube.

Besides providing excellent service, the staff are very friendly and more than happy to engage with the passengers about their background and experience. The waiter we spoke with this morning had worked at the Otesaga Hotel in Cooperstown, NY and was quite familiar with the area. I have eaten there quite a few times and had a summer job in Cooperstown in College. He said they get two weeks paid vacation every 8 weeks and for a worker in Eastern Europe it is a good job that allows them to save money. There are no workers from France, Germany or other Western European countries as the salaries are not competitive. 

After breakfast I had a tour of the wheel-house with the captain which was quite interesting as he explained all the instruments and controls.

After lunch we had a ride to a large farm about 20 minutes from the ship. The farm originally belonged to the Catholic Church and historically raised horses but during communism, it was seized and became property of the state, raising cattle. After communism ended, it was purchased by private interests and while most of it is an active cattle and sheep farm, part of it was turned into a tourist destination for illustrating historic horse shepherds. (cowboys?) There were a number of demonstration of riding, various horse carriages, an oxen wagon, games played on horseback but the most impressive was a 19 year-old man standing on two horses who had a team of 8 horses. He was able to gallop around while standing on the horses - amazing.

Then we went to the Church of Mary Ascending. This was originally founded around the year 1000 when King (then Saint) Steven brought Christianity to Hungary which had been a pagan country. A subsequent king really "encourage" Christianity as not converting was a punishable offense. The entire town including the church was completely destroyed by the Ottomans. When the Ottomans were forced out in the 1700s this church was built in the Italian Baroque style - very ornate. The church was effectively closed by the communists as people were "discouraged" from attending. After communism there was a major renovation. We heard a very nice organ concert on the huge pipe organ dating back to the 1800s. The first piece was the familiar toccata and fugue in D minor by Bach - it really resonated in the church. Franz Liszt performed there many times when he visited as a guest of the archbishop.


In the wheel-house with the captain









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