On the Blue (?) Danube

While no one seems to care about the color of most big rivers, everyone knows that the Danube is supposed to be blue.  Apparently, this expectation even pre-dates Johann Strauss Jr.'s popular waltz.  That's a high standard for Europe's second longest river (Russia's Volga is longer) that winds its way from its source in the Black Forest of Bavarian Germany through 10 countries before it spreads across the wildlife preserve of the Danube Delta into the Black Sea. (Hum--Black Forest to Black Sea--maybe it should be black??) The Danube has been the highway of civilization, commerce, and warfare for over two thousand years.   These days it is mostly traveled by tourist riverboats and industrial barges.

I have now traveled most of the navigable river (greeted here by curious Serbian children at Donji Milanovac who wanted to practice English).  In 2006, my niece and I enjoyed a Uniworld riverboat cruise of the Upper Danube (Budapest to Regensburg, Germany, and then joined the Main-Danube Canal to Nuremberg and overland to Prague).  This summer, I headed the other direction from Vienna, Austria, to Giurgiu, Romania. (We went to the Black Sea at Varna, Bulgaria, by bus, as the swampy Delta is hard to navigate.)  As I have never promised that my posts would be timely or sequential, I will combine photos and impressions from both trips for the Danube, Vienna, and Budapest, but will then tell of the recent trip before returning to sights in Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic from my prior journey.

On the German stretch, the "Donau"(female noun) is a relatively small river that can become so shallow in a dry summer that boats must sometimes off-load passengers or cargo to make it to the upper reaches.  On my 2006 cruise, we were told that, at times, we were just a few feet off the bottom of the river.  The river is controlled by a seemingly endless number of locks through Germany and Austria, but with only 4 locks after Budapest.  Yet, spring rains can still bring damaging floods, and the river can get too high so that boats cannot go under the bridges.

From quaint Bavarian towns, the Danube flows through the lush Wachau Valley in Austria with its vineyards and apricot trees to the lively capital, Vienna (photo).  Vienna dealt with the issue of the Danube's suitability/ purity for swimming by installing a swimming pool in one of its branches. In most other countries, folk just dive into the polluted waters (although they are becoming cleaner through EU standards).  The Danube next runs though Slovakia's charming capital, Bratislava, as it moves toward the almost mystic Danube Bend where the Hungarian town of Esztergom guards the way to  Budapest with its lace-like Parliament.

Turning down through Hungary's quiet countryside,  I was startled to arrive at the bombed buildings from the Balkan Wars in Vukavar, Croatia. Yet, all is now peaceful as the river continues through Serbia's capital, Belgrade, and down through the beautiful countryside of southern Serbia.

The Iron Gates, where the Danube flows through the gorges  between Romania's Carpathian mountains and the Serbian Balkans, was the most difficult navigational challenge of the Danube until

a giant dam/lock was constructed in 1972.  While the dam tamed the wild whirlpools in this narrow gorge, it did not reduce the magnificence of this part of the Danube.  It looked as if we were headed into a kingdom of Tolkien's Middle Earth whose mountain crags held secrets known of old. (This will have a post of its own.)  There one can see  Ceausescu's unfinished bridge to nowhere.   Romania's dictator wanted to dump uranium waste on an island in the middle of the river, but was thwarted by the Yugoslavians.

Then, taking its place  as the border between Romania and Bulgaria, the wide river lazily meanders past fishermen on the shore, vacationing families, industrial plants, and farmlands.  If you plan to travel the Danube, take some insect repellent and bug bite relief (for those that aren't repelled).   I think Dracula and his vampire gang have morphed themselves into some very nasty mosquitoes that delight in sucking the blood of unsuspecting victims.

But you are still wondering, "Is the Danube blue?"  I saw muddy brown, rainy grey, shimmering silver, gleaming gold, and pollen green. Yet, often at twilight, in those magical moments of transforming day to night, I caught her slyly turning herself blue for those who were watching.  So, yes, for those with an artist's eye and  a poet's heart, the Danube is blue (sometimes).  Hope you enjoy your slideshow "cruise."

Click link for slideshow:
The Blue Danube


Music:  Johann Strauss, Jr., Blue Danube Waltz, Most Famous Waltzes


More information: http://www.danube-river.com/