In May and June 2023 Tibby and I did a 22 day, 3,100km river cruise from Bucharest to Amsterdam on Viking Vidar. We were travelling with our friends, Mikelle and Doug, from Daytona Beach, Florida. We first met them on a river cruise in 2014 from Lyons to Avignon on the Rhone and in 2018 cruised with them from Nashville to New Orleans on the Cumberland, Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers. Travelling through the heart of Europe it was difficult at times, to sufficiently understand the history. The history stretches back thousands of years with a common factor being the Romans, Ottomans, Habsburgs, Napoleon, two World Wars, the era of Communism and the Yugoslav Wars. An important factor has been the interaction between Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christianity, Protestants, Jews and Muslims. Building styles include Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Modern. I recognise that the term highlight should only apply to a…