Rhoda's 90th Birthday

It was a great day for my mom, despite the weather being extremely hot. The boat is air conditioned inside and there is always a breeze when the boat is moving, so no one seemed too miserable. The crew fixed a special cake and decorations for her and many of the guests came up and shared birthday greetings with her. She seemed delighted, and after dinner, we made it to the deck to watch a spectacular sunset. The breezes and the classical music capped off the evening.

During the afternoon six of us rode bicycles onshore (not my mom, who has never ridden a bike)and enjoyed a really low key day in the Bulgarian town of Vidin. It was not a guided day which was a nice change of pace. We were told to visit an old fort from the 10th century and Sam was captivated by imagining himself defending the fort from the Ottoman Turks. We also biked to an old synagogue that was clearly splendid at one time, but now only weeds grow in its interior.




Tomorrow I am hopeful that I will be able to upload more photos, and write
with more coherence and complexity. The heat has only given me cliches today.