Roman Ruins on the Danube

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

We are still in Serbia, but today we had a great opportunity to visit a dig of Roman ruins at Viminaciaum, which is located about 40 miles from Belgrade.  After our earlier visit to Rome, last week, this really filled in a few spaces on the map.  It reminded us that the Roman empire covered the entire Mediterranean, to the Danube, all of Western Europe, North Africa, and western Asia, as well as England.

The archaeological work is intense.  As funding permits,  a large area of Roman baths and tombs are being unearthed.  We were able to walk right into the digs and actually touch structures that may have been buried for 1500 years.   (see attached photo)

Back on the boat, we were treated to a traditional Serbian lunch complete with salad, skewers, beer and slivovitz, a really potent plum brandy that both Serbs and Croats believe is the staff of life.

We got our first thunderstorm cruising between Romania and Serbia.   We had to clear the outside decks.  This is the first white water we have seen on the Danube, but our giant catamaran is very stable and you really don’t notice the weather.