[ Back ] [ Next ]

Aug 7, 2005 – Beograd (Belgrade)

In the process of waking up, I felt the boat doing all kinds of turning maneuvers. My analysis was that we went up some tributary. I found out, later, that I was correct. We were docked in Beograd on the Sava River, just east of its mouth into the Danube. After breakfast we found ourselves again on buses. Ivanka, our tour guide led us to a variety of touristy places. We visited the tomb of Tito; a military museum (which included the uniform and gear of an American soldier!); a Mosque (into which we went only after removing our shoes); a fresco museum, where reproductions of both frescos and stone relief work was in constant progress; St Sava’s Church (the original small one, where services were taking place) as well as the new big one that is currently under construction; and the castle. This is a large walled area overlooking the confluence of the Sava and the Danube (logically enough). The walls are white limestone – giving the Magyar name to the city Nándorfehérvár. Everywhere we went was in the old city, south of the Sava, but we had a good view of the new city on the north side. Because the castle is a tourist place, there were a number of musicians playing for money. Most impressive was the man in native costume playing the bagpipe.

One sight that was not on the list of tourist attractions we saw from the bus. As we drove down the peaceful avenue in bright sunshine with the city appearing quiet and calm we passed a large beautiful building, then another – an embassy, then a totally bombed out building, then another embassy. Seeing these bombed buildings was something of an eye-opener at how real and how recent the war was.

As an overall impression, I have to say that Serbia & Montenegro is much poorer than Hungary. It appears, however, that they are working hard on improving their standard of living.

After dinner, we were once again treated to a folklore show – this time Serbian, of course. Once again the performers were excellent and we were well entertained (and wishing we could dance a bit ourselves). As soon as the performers left, the boat started moving and we slept.