July 28 – Drive to Giurgiu

Our driver picked us up at 9:30 am for an hour and a half drive to Giurgiu on the Danube River.  We were quite early and spent some time in the lounge 

We met Nancy from North Carolina, also an earlier arrival.  We had a great chat.

The evening activities were delayed for a late arrival of a bus of passengers.  Once everyone was checked in we had a welcome toast, a safety briefing, introductions of the boat’s crew, and then it was off to dinner.

Dinner partners were Linda and Ken from Florida and Jane (from Florida) and her adult son John from Kansas.  Pre-dinner conversation was difficult due to the high noise level from 143 people talking at once.  The conversation level dropped considerably once the excellent food started showing up 

After dinner we decided to go to the sun deck and took a few laps on the walking path.  This AmaWaterways boat is much larger and newer than the AmaWaterways boat we took on the Mekong River.  It is very nice and we have decided that the bathroom shower is the largest we have had on any boat, ocean or river, which is to say it is slightly larger than a very small closet..  Quite a luxury.

Fortunately they served a light lunch so we didn’t have to go out searching for food.  Shortly after everyone was on board the skies opened up and it rained heavily.  Fortunately not too long.

We didn't seem to get around to taking any pictures today, other than the Blood Moon that was out tonight.

Our first stop in this cruise will be to Rousse, Bulgaria.  We found it rather humorous that it is just across the river from Giurgiu.  In fact, when they reposition tonight they will need to travel only 1.5 Kilometers.  But we will be in a new country.