12th july 2007 - donji milanovac/ serbia

it's 8 o'clock in the morning, we're casting off and travelling on to orsova. the mountains are moving together more and more, before us lies the most spectacular point of the iron gate, the "cauldron" in english. we take up our journey under a cloudy sky. the wind has died down a bit, but not much. some of the waves still have white crests.

for a change the concert yesterday didn't take place on our ship, but rather in the community hall in donji milanovac because of the unremitting wind. the music-playing was done with very reduced outlay, but was thus all the more hearty, direct and immediate. the whole village came, everyone from the mayor to the local dj was there. there was great delight and hospitality from all.
the essence of the tour was lived in its purest form.

it was as good as impossible to sleep in the night as the wind didn't ease up much and in the evening another boat had been attached to ours. it sounded as though we would be squelched in our fragile barracks ship between the barge and the strange load ship. it creaked, crunched, banged and rolled and until the morning. barely anyone managed to sleep this night, despite the deficit from the day before from the birthday party for alex's 30th.