Only two available excursions today – the optional Croatian Countryside & Wine Tasting (3.5 hours, demanding, morning) and the included Osijek and Vukovar (4.5 hours, easy, afternoon). We selected to do both tours today.

Croatian Countryside & Wine Tasting Excursion

The description of the Croatian Countryside & Wine Tasting tour is:

Discover the rich and varied history of northern Croatia and sample some of its delicious wines.

Since Roman times, this region of the country has been coveted, thanks to its strategic location on the Danube. During this enlightening excursion, you will drive with your guide to one of the area’s renowned museums, a castle with fascinating medieval origins, where you will browse a rich and revealing collection of artifacts dating back centuries. As you tour the castle chambers and halls, Croatia’s past comes alive in priceless relics that have survived the ages. You will also turn to the fruits of the earth when you descend into a wine cellar in the historic town of Ilok. In these dim corridors, you will taste a combination of five red, white or rose wines and experience for yourself why its prized grapes and hearty vintages have helped put Croatia on every oenophile’s map.

Crossing Borders

Today we return to the EU/Schengen Area in Croatia and were able to get our passports back after they were processed before we left Serbia last night. Serbia is still just across the river which serves as the border until we enter Hungary.

To optimize our time to explore Croatia, the morning tour disembarked in the town of Ilok while everyone else remained aboard to continue to Vukovar. Ilok is on the Danube in the northeastern tip of Croatia on that little point on the eastern border that juts into Serbia as shown below.

Croatian History

We met our guide, Ingrid (her Croatian parents were fans of Ingrid Bergman!), and boarded our bus for the short trip from the river up the hill to the town of Ilok and its castle museum. The steeple seen behind the castle walls belongs to the Church of St. John of Capistrano. Ilok is where John of Capistrano, the 15^th century Franciscan friar, died and is buried. And, yes, he is the namesake of San Juan Capistrano, California, with its famous mission and return of the swallows. Croatia is approximately 80% Catholic.

The Castle here was originally constructed in the 15^th Century, then the Ottomans took over in the 16^th Century, followed by the Holy Roman Empire in the 17^th Century. The property was given to the Italian aristocratic Odescalchi family who owned it for the next two centuries and rebuilt the castle in the Baroque style. The Odescalchi Palace now houses the Museum of Ilok which Ingrid led us through examining the various artifacts found in the area over the centuries and displays of traditional life in the area.

Winery Tour and Tasting

Having heard once again how this region of the world was a literal crossroads of the various empires over the centuries, it was time to proceed to a local winery for a tour of their production processes and tasting. The KAST Winery named after the owners – a sister and brother named Katarina and Stjepan – is a new winery opened in 2023 promoting historical methods of wine production.

The tour of their cellars revealed traditional stainless steel tanks and wooden barrels, but also concrete eggs from the Austro-Hungarian tradition and ceramic amphora from the Roman tradition. At least one of the wines we tasted was developed from a combination of wine fermented and stored in all four containers. The tasting room has a modern vibe to it and was clean and inviting. If we hadn’t been so close to the end of our trip, we might have purchased a bottle or two to enjoy later.

---

KAST Wine Tasting Sheet

---

Our history lesson and wine tasting completed, we returned to the bus for the drive to Vukovar to meet the ship. As we drove through the countryside, Ingrid, pointed out the various crops in the fields – more canola, corn, wheat, sugar beets, and grapes, of course! As we approached Vukovar, Ingrid discussed the war with the Serbs in the 1990s resulting in Croatian independence. Vukovar was one of the most destroyed cities in Croatia and although much has been restored, the remains of the devastation can still be seen.  

Osijek and Vukovar Excursion

The included Osijek and Vukovar excursion is described as:

See the highlights of Vukovar and Osijek, and stop to meet a Croatian family along the way.

Join your guide and make the short drive to Vukovar, passing the Vuka River, the palace of the former Count Eltz and the city’s main street, lined with buildings that carry echoes of Northern Europe. As you arrive in Osijek, pause to visit a local family in their home and learn about their daily lives. After, continue to the Osijek Citadel complex for a walking tour. Enjoy a concert in the Rising of the Holy Cross Church. Then explore Holy Trinity Square, see the town’s only surviving gate and stroll the picturesque promenade along the Drava River. See more of the town by motor coach, passing green parks and driving along European Avenue, the most scenic street in Osijek, lined with elegant baroque and Belle Époque buildings.

---

After eating lunch on the ship and as it approached time to depart for the afternoon tour, we decided to opt out and stayed on the ship for a leisurely and restful afternoon. We weren’t the only ones to remain – although the vast majority of the ship left on this excursion.

I took a few pictures of the town of Vukovar from the ship in the afternoon.

---

Our dinner companions that evening told us about the different home visits that they’d experienced. The common thread was that these Croatian families had been forced to evacuate their homes during the war, only to return to find them occupied by Serb families. In some cases, it took years to get their property back. Their personal stories put faces to the realities of the war in this region in ways that museum displays simply cannot. Again, even though we didn’t directly experience this excursion, it is the type of experience that continues to draw us to Viking.  

P.S. We are now back home in Houston, so I’m catching up on posting the second half of our trip.