Croatia
Ilok and Vukovar Croatia - 2022 Danube River cruise. Ilok is the easternmost town in Croatia. It is on a hill overlooking the Danube River and has a population of around 3,400, so not very large. The area is famous for its wines and we visited the Ilok Cellars for a tour of their “Old Cellar” and listened to a history of wine growing in the area and the Ilok Cellar which was followed by a wine tasting. The winery is proud of its long association with the British Royal family having supplied one of its wines tp be served at the celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
Following the wine tasting which included an in-depth explanation of each of the four wines we tried, we took a bus trip through the Croatian countryside to Vukovar, Croatia’s second largest city and largest river port. Vukovar was heavily damaged during the Croatian War of Independence in 1991 and some of the damage is still visible.
We visited the Vukovar Municipal Museum which was formerly a Baroque Palace of Eltz Counts. Like much of Vukovar, it was badly damaged during the Croatian War of Independence in 1991 but has recently been rebuilt.