The Amazing Sights in Serbia

Hi All,

First of All, I need to correct a mistake from a prior blog. The picture of the police car in Bratislava was NOT really a police car. Tomi, with her insatiable curiosity, googled this and discovered that she was right — the police car was a prop from a Transformer movie placed in front of a local club! It was not a police car saying to “punish and enslave”.

In Belgrade, we took our bus tour, with the first stop at St. Sava Cathedral, named for the founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church; it’s yet another beautiful church!

The 24 carat gold that is everywhere (again) is mosaic. Each one is a piece of glass that is baked, then the gold is set upon it and baked again, then another piece of glass and baked again — each piece!!!

John took another picture of the cathedral later that day from afar, but it is a great shot so I’ll include it here.

We passed a statue of Nikola Tesla who was an early designer of the modern alternating current electricity supply system.

Then we walked around the city…..more architectural details too.

The picture of the steps below is disguising a ramp within the steps….very clever. If you look closely you might be able to see the ramps back and forth….

The tour that afternoon was to the residence of Crown Prince Alexander II and his wife, HRH Princess Katherine. They were exiled for many years and just returned in 2001 to the palace his father built.

To our surprise the Crown Price and Princess descended from their residence on the floor above and each spoke to our group about their history and their individual foundations, his for education and hers for medical assistance to all in Serbia in need. We were even treated to refreshments.

We went into their private chapel:

We went into more rooms on the main floor and saw some pictures:

Now the group went to the basement which housed some very interesting rooms…..while I waited on the main floor…..but I did take a few more pics while waiting (see above).

More pictures from the ground floor:

Now our bus took us to Tito’s Memorial. Tito was trained as a locksmith, fought as a soldier in World War I, and afterward joined the Communist Party. He rose rapidly through the ranks and ultimately became a leader. His real name was Josef Broz. Tito was his nickname. Our guide explained that in Serbian Tito means “do this, do that.” He ruled Serbia from 1940 until his death in 1980. He loved the ladies and was married three times. His third wife was 30 years younger and beautiful. He is rumored to have had affairs with Sophia Loren, Zsa Zsa Gabor and many others.

Tito could play the piano and discuss art. His people loved him. He was widely viewed as a benevolent dictator. He refused to join with Hitler and Stalin and formed his own alliances. He was well respected internationally. At his death he was on the cover of Time magazine. Delagations from 219 countries from the East and West attended his funeral.

Jovanka Broz is Tito’s third wife. After Tito’s death she was promptly removed from the Royal Palace and relocated in poorly maintained premises. She died a pauper having refused a multi-million dollar advance to write a book sharing the details of her long life with Tito.

And crossing the Danube and back home! That was a huge and exciting day!

Another beautiful day on Friday! I slept in because I was unable to do the tour to the fortress in the morning. When I awakened I was horrified — 9:10 am……but it was really just 8:10 am! The time changes all day in Serbia depending which side of the Danube you are on. If you are closer to Romania it is an hour later!

I wandered out on the landing deck and took some beautiful pictures of the Golubac Fortress. It is set at the entrance to the Iron Gates of the Danube and was both built and added onto for the protection of the river. There are ten towers, most of which were not climbed by our shipmates!

John took pictures inside and around the fortress:

This rock is on the opposite side from the castle. Our guide said that a chain was attached to the rock from the castle to collect tolls from ships coming to and from a narrow passage on the Danube. Legend has it that a knight from the castle made continuous overtures to a beautiful maiden who continually rebuffed all his advances. The knight tied her to the rock to think over his offer — where she died rather than to accept.

Maddy, our cruise manager, gave an interesting talk after our departure about the history of the countries in Eastern Europe. Well, I thought it was pretty interesting, but I guess the week’s fun, food and late nights might have been catching up to some!

I really thought that the slide above was interesting, and sad! How awful that their GDP is so low!!! The recovery is slow, but at least these countries are growing now.

That afternoon was for sailing — sailing all through the Iron Gates of the Danube River. It  is a gorge on the river Danube. It forms part of the boundary between Serbia (to the south) and Romania (to the north). In the broad sense it encompasses a route of 134 km (83 mi); in the narrow sense it only encompasses the last barrier on this route, just beyond the Romanian city of Orșova, that contains two hydroelectric dams, with two power stations, Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station and Iron Gate II Hydroelectric Power Station. (Wikipedia).

I opted to use the time to enjoy the pool to stay cool; it was quite hot on the top deck in the sun!

Below there is a greenhouse-like structure on the right bank that is covering Mesolithic remains of humans and artifacts. It is still in the process of sorting out what they are finding.

We are now gathering at the railing to see the “main event” of this part of the Danube — Decebalus!

The rock sculpture of Decebalus (Romanian: Chipul regelui dac Decebal) is a colossal carving of the face of Decebalus (r. AD 87–106), the last king of Dacia, who fought against the Roman emperors Domitian and Trajan to preserve the independence of his country, which corresponds to present-day Romania. It was made between 1994 and 2004, on a rocky outcrop on the river Danube, at the Iron Gates, which form the border between Romania and Serbia. The Dacian king’s sculpture is the tallest rock relief in Europe, at 55 m (180 ft) in height and 25 m (82 ft) in width. (more Wikipedia)

Because of the passage of time and the effects of weather the rock sculpture has had several nose jobs.

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This is what Tomi wanted to see the most on this trip; she was quite excited!

Now to the first of the “gates”…..the locks!

This day ended with a festive dinner that Tomi had organized at Jimmy’s Wine Bar and Restaurant on the ship. Same food as the main dining room but served family style at tables up to 12. Interesting people. It was quite a lot of fun for all!

Next stop coming soon!

Beth