Anticipation

Two weeks from today we set out on our next adventure. This time we are exploring Eastern Europe, and almost every place we are going it will be our first time there. That’s becoming harder for us to do.

From Denver we will fly to London, and then on to Vienna. Due to the timing of flights, we will need to spend a night there before we head onward. The next morning we will fly to Lviv, Ukraine to begin a week-long tour of the country.

We will be touring with Mir Travel, which is a company based in Seattle that specializes in Russia, Eastern Europe, and the “Stans”. They can arrange anything from a night at the Bolshoi Ballet to a camel trek along the old Silk Road. They do both small group tours and individual trips. We are going to have a 7-day tour of Ukraine with our own guide, who will be with us the whole time. Since it’s just us, we can tailor the trip to what we are interested and go at our own pace. We are going to visit three of the main Ukrainian cities, Lviv, Kiev, and Odessa.

Lviv is a city in Western Ukraine. It is said to be the cultural capital of the country. I understand that there is a strong Polish influence, since it belonged to Poland at one time.

Kiev, of course, is the capital and spiritual heart of the country. It was the capital of the Kievan Rus, the first federation of the Slavic people and the ancestor of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. It’s an ancient and beautiful city.

Odessa is a port city on the Black Sea. It was founded by a decree of the Empress Catherine the Great. Today it’s Ukraine’s third largest city, and a major trading and transportation hub. It’s also a popular seaside resort destination.

After our week in Ukraine we will fly to Budapest, Hungary. We have been there before, but never for long enough. This time we are going to spend nine days there. We are going to start the last part of our trip there, but wanted to have time to really get to know this beautiful city better. We have booked several private walking tours. We are going to try something different this time. Since we are staying so long, we have booked an apartment instead of staying at a hotel. We found one that’s right in the center of the district we wanted to be in, and overall it will cost a lot less than a hotel room. As luck would have it, it happens that the Budapest Bears are having their weekend event during that time, so we will have an opportunity to get to meet some of the local guys as well.

After our time exploring Budapest, we come to the main reason we are going there. We will join an RSVP river cruise that will spend 7 days on the Eastern Danube River, sailing from Budapest, through Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania. The last three of those we have not visited before. The trip will end in Bucarest, Romania. We’ll spend a few days there before flying home on October 23rd.

RSVP does all gay cruises, both ocean and river cruises. They are one of the original gay travel companies, and we have been traveling with them since we first got together 30 years ago. One of the things we like about their cruises is they book the entire ship. You’re not just a small bunch of guys in a huge crowd of straight cruiser. All the guests on the ship are gay. That makes such a difference in the atmosphere aboard the ship. You can relax and be yourself, without worrying about offending anybody. Also, gay men are a whole lot of fun to travel with. This will be RSVP’s first time on the Eastern Danube. What the locals will make of a boatload of gays is anybody’s guess. But I imagine they will welcome us warmly; as everyone always does in Europe.

The cruise will be on Emerald Waterway’s ship Star. It’s a fairly new ship, launched in 2014. She looks very elegant and comfortable.

It will be a small group, only 180 or so. Quite different from the thousands on the newer ocean ships. But that’s one of the best parts of river cruising. It’s a much more intimate experience. You travel at a slower pace, dock right in the center of towns, and always have the riverside scenery to enjoy. We have cruised the Western Danube from Budapest; but this promises to be a different experience.
You might recall that this cruise is a replacement for one we were supposed to take last year. That one was to be on a brand-new ship. Unfortunately while she was being fitted out a fire broke out. As she wasn’t ready to sail yet, the fire suppression system hadn’t yet been hooked up and the fire gutted her. There wasn’t anything else to do but cancel the cruise. RSVP gave us the opportunity to book this year’s cruise before they offered it to the public. I don’t know how many of the passengers who were supposed to be on the canceled on booked this trip. I guess that will be a good topic for dinner conversation.

This isn’t going to be a very long trip for us, just a month; but we are going to pack in quite a lot of interesting places. We have made all our arrangements. Now it’s just down to packing our bags and gear. That, and enjoying the pre-trip excitement, which is always one of the best part of any trip.