Vukovar is a Croatian Danube River port. It lies at the edge of a rich belt of Croatian farmland that was vigorously fought over during the Serbo-Croatian War. Vukovar was under seige for three months and 90% of its buildings were destroyed. It has now been returned to Croatian hands and most of the damaged dwellings have been rebuilt with the aid of grants from various NATO, EU and NGO sources. Many of the public buildings still lie in ruins from the war damage.

From Vukovar, we went to Osijek, the capital of the Slavonian province of Croatia. Osijek is a university city and home to a striking church first built as a monastery by Franciscans in the 1700s. We then went to the small village of Aljmas for lunch of local cuisine hosted by a local family in their home.