Day 5 - The Iron Gates

We are finding our groove.  Some jet lag, some trying to adjust to sleeping in unfamiliar quarters….  It’s hot, 40 and 37 degrees yesterday and today respectively.  We are excited to go on excursions but then we find that it's too hot.  Today we traveled through several impressive locks: the first at 12:30 in the morning.  While talking to Mary on the phone I saw walls going by.  Once I realized that we were sailing into the lock I suggested to Gus that we go up to watch as the ship traversed through the locks. Little did I know that there were two more locks at 5:30 am and 6:30 am. 

We spent to bulk of the day sailing along the Danube with Romania on the north side and Serbia on the south side.  We travelled through the Iron Gates which is actually a long section of the Danube that's geographically a series of spectacular gorges, the highest in Europe. Up until the ‘60s the area was a long stretch of rapids that impeded navigation.  Once the 2 massive dams were installed, it sped up transportation.  But aside from this engineering marvel, the beauty of the area was fantastic. I’m pretty sure everyone onboard was up on the sundeck with cameras, trying unsuccessfully to capture the magnificence of the gorge.