A Roman ruin which was raised above the new water level in order to preserve it. The next part of the trip is the longest, as it includes the Iron Gates, Bulgaria, and Romania.
We passed through the Iron Gates after leaving Belgrade in Serbia. They lie on the stretch of the Danube that has the best scenry, including mountains, rocks, villages, forests, statues, castles, caves and many other things. It used to be impossible for boats to navigate this stretch but in the 1960's Romania and Yugoslavia cooperated on a joint venture to build dams (now called the Iron gates) and thus raise the level of the water. Our boat went through the gates in the day-time, so everyone of us on board could see the beauty of this strech. It was truly glorious!
A Roman ruin which was raised above the new water level in order to preserve it.
Another boat 
Carved in recent years in memory of the Dacian king, Decebalus, who ruled from 87 to 106 CE.
Finally, we saw these iron gates and the associated dams which generate electricity power.
We arrived early in a Bulgarian town called Vidin, and visited the Baba Vida Fortress there. Janice even bought some gifts there as Bulgaria produces rose oil!
She even bought a painting from this man, Anatoli!
We started our trip to Ruse, Bulgaria, after lunch. And this was the first time we were notified that we might be forced to stop our cruising at Ruse, as the Danube water had become too shallow to navigate. With some difficulty, our boat was docked in Ruse the next morning. The decision was made not to go down any further and our trip to the Black Sea would be done by bus.
Ruse is quite a large city for Bulgaria, we did not waste much time to visit the old capital city of Veliko Tarnovo. which was built on the side of a mountain. 
We continued by bus to Arbanassi and visited a museun, an old house, and then a church, 
where we heard a wonderful concert by a male quartet of priests with very, very good voices. It was quite a treat for the group!
Pictures taken in an old home. What is the triangular hole on the floor for? It's an ancient toilet but I am not sure how to use it properly!
Then we had lunch outside: 
.
Bulgarian food is nothing much to talk about, but their salads were fresh and the tomatos were great!
Docking in Ruse: this was the last picture I took of the boat before we got on the bus and said to good bye to all the crew on board.
This is a gas station where we had a rest stop. When we took a bus, after an hour and a half or two hours we would stop for 20 minutes. It was barely enough for the ladies to line-up and wait their turn. We saw more sunflowers on the way: 
they made beautiful patterns!
It was a very long drive to the Black Sea. We finally to to the town called Varna. It was a resort town, very nice!
the view from our hotel window.
We went to the beach on the Black Sea!
Yes, I took a dip and was swallowed, but happy!
other parts of the beach at the Black Sea
We had some dancers and musicians while we had dinner.
The next day we were bussed back to Ruse and then to Bucharest, Romannia. We spent very little time in Bucharest, since the majority of the time was spent on the extension trip to Transylvania. We will talk about that part next.