Things shifted—yesterday brought heat and mosquitos. And with the new climate came new thresholds: today was shaped by border crossings. We officially left Hungary and are now on a stretch of the Danube where Croatia lies to the right and Serbia to the left. That meant bureaucracy—we had to check out of Hungary and check into Serbia, our first non-Schengen country on this journey.
Out here on the river, far removed from any bureaucracy, the presence of borders is barely noticeable. Yet the atmosphere has changed. Long stretches of beach and dense forest now line the banks, and—maybe because it was Sunday—many small boats were pulled up onto the sandbanks. The riverbank felt genuinely used and shared. In this part of the Danube, the shoreline and the river itself seem to function more naturally as public space.
One more thing stood out: eagles. Around a dozen eagles circled above us as we cruised along what we believe to be the Danube-Drava National Park.
Now that we’ve left the EU, our logbook updates might become less regular—but we’ll do our best to keep you with us.
