After 12 days on the Danube, we took a “short cut” to the Black Sea through a canal that saved about 200 kilometers (120 miles).

The country was very rural and populated by herds of sheep and goats. 

This beautiful sailing ship among all the modern vessels
is used for training by the Navy.

Our city tour included a museum of Roman artifacts where we saw a HUGE mosaic floor (about 100 ft long).

Wow, those Romans were everywhere!

Museums are nice, but we all wanted the beach. 

Here we are at a local resort.

Some passengers were prepared and went in the water. 

We were content to walk on the beach and look for shells. 

With our river journey at an end we were bused to a hotel in Bucharest, the capital of Romania.  It’s a typical extra large city with lots of traffic. 

This is its most famous landmark, the Parliament (or People’s Palace) which is the 2^nd largest building in the world (after the Pentagon in DC). 

It was built by the dictator Ceausescu who thought this would be a good idea and a monument to himself.  It was here that he escaped the revolt temporarily after the fall of Communism.  A helicopter plucked up off the roof.  He was quickly apprehended and executed.  So it is a monument of sorts, just not the kind he envisioned.

Back at the hotel our room was on the 16^th floor
so my final photo of this trip is from our balcony.

If you’re still reading my travel blog,
thanks for hanging in there. 

Posting here has been like reliving the experience for me.