Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

Sunday morning our ship docked on the Danube River and a bus set out to take us to the country's first, medieval capital, Veliko Tarnovo. There we saw a fortress, the old town, and then we continued on to Arbanasi, high up in the mountains. Here, Christians hid during the 500-year Turkish occupation. The Church Of The Nativity looks like a house on the outside, but is full of 16th century frescoes and icons. (No photos are allowed inside, unfortunately.) After a hearty lunch at a restaurant where Mikhail Gorbachev once dined, the bus drove us to a bridge over the Danube, which serves as the border between Bulgaria and Romania. It took an hour to go through customs but then we arrived back at the boat. - Dan