One day in Belgrade, Serbia!
Our morning started with a panoramic tour of Belgrade – capital of Serbia, former capital of Yugoslvaia. Our first stop was at the Fortress of Belgrade which offered breathtaking views over the city.
The color of the bricks in the fortress walls indicated the century in which they were constructed….walls with white bricks were constructed in the 15th century and walls with red bricks were constructed in the 19th century.
There were turrets, massive doors (thick oak covered with iron), WWII tanks, rocket launchers, other weapons of war, and tennis courts. Yes….tennis courts are tucked away into the green spaces of the fortress.
Close up of the rocket launcher:
Close up of some tanks:
General area where tennis courts were (see green area below wall):
The aforementioned doors were interesting as not only was a dent from a cannonball visible, but also many bullet holes peppered the doors from the revolution times. As the guide said, today there would not be walls left let alone doors, as then they didn’t have explosive ordnance so the doors “caught” the bullets quite nicely.
Close up of some bullet holes:
Passing through the fortress to the “breathtaking views” area, we saw almost as many dogs as we saw people. Dogs were EVERYWHERE!!! It was amazing! 🙂
Within the fortress is the only Muslim shrine left in Belgrade. The shrine is of a Turkish general who died in one of the battles against the Ottoman Empire.
We wound our way out of the park, passing several booths along the way. An 87 year old woman mans the first booth that set up shop along the walk and sells five billion dollar bills. Yes…. billion. The economy was crap enough that the denominations were astronomical. We didn’t purchase any – pretty sure we’re still holding on to a one million dollar note or two from Zimbabwe. (Speaking of which, they were holding the record on rampant inflation… until Zimbabwe took it from them…). Pretty sure both bills have about the same value.
We then had some “free” time in the downtown pedestrian / shopping area.
After about 20 minutes of free time to look around, we were picked back up by our bus, and given a quick bus tour of the City (on our way to St. Sava’s – the biggest Orthodox Church in the city).
There were still areas with bombed out buildings (including a Police station):
We went by Republican Square, which we were told is “the” gathering place for Serbs to meet. Often times saying “We’ll meet you at the horse.”
After the city bus tour, we went to St. Sava’s, which is still under construction. As noted above, it is the biggest Orthodox Church in Belgrade (though not the oldest). It was very attractive, both inside and out:
The pictures below are of the basement:
After our tour of St. Sava’s, we walked across the walk to the “small church” that is right next to St. Sava’s. This church was under renovation on the outside (so wrapped, and couldn’t really see the exterior)…
The inside however, was exquisite with its paintings and frescoes…
After touring these churches, we returned to the ship for lunch. After a leisurely lunch on board, a few of us returned to shore to walk through the shopping district. Unfortunately for us, shopping district isn’t the place where tourists can buy a bunch of souvenirs – it’s actually the shopping district and is quite a popular place on Sunday afternoon. It was hot, we were sweaty, but we found a couple of shops and made a few purchases.
The rest of the afternoon was spent playing Phase Ten.
The evening was a fun one. We went to Skardarlija Street, which is a cobblestone, pedestrian area where the artists and other Bohemians hung out. We had a very nice dinner at a Bohemian restaurant where we were fed traditional Serbian fare, and given traditional Serbian drinks, serenaded by musicians playing traditional Serbian music, and overall had a smashing good time. (Lots of alcohol all around helped to insure that.)
A late bus-ride back to the ship, and we were pretty much a wrap for the day.
Cheers,
Tim & Jay
