Belgrade, Serbia

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Belgrade, Serbia

Der Kleine Prinz tied up in downtown Belgrade not far from an ancient fortress that overlooks the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers. We had a stroll through the fortress from the top of which I could see what is known as “new” Belgrade. I would have loved to spend some time walking around the downtown area of old Belgrade but we were instead only driven around the city by bus.

What I did see was what could be a beautiful city that needs a lot of sprucing up. It suffers from years of poor construction during the communist years, damage during WWII and most recently in the late 1980s and early 90s when it was bombed by NATO forces. We passed the bombed out military headquarters building as well as the police headquarters which have yet to be rebuilt. Our guide told us that most of the many bridges over the city as well as many power stations and other infrastructure facilities were destroyed and have only recently been rebuilt. I asked about whether there was lingering resentment toward Americans and other allies involved in the war and the guide said something to the effect that one shouldn’t get stuck on what has happened in the past but rather focus on the present and the future. The history of this area is that people in the Balkans have had to deal with so much turmoil over the centuries that they have had to adjust to reality quickly and often.

I saw the place where Marshall Tito is buried but not up close. He is still celebrated here as the one person who was able to unite the diverse peoples of the Balkans in what was known as Yugoslavia. He ruled over a communist government but was able to keep Yugoslavia relatively independent of the Soviet Union. He died at age 88 many years ago, but his much younger wife we are told is now in her 80s and still lives in Belgrade.

In the afternoon we were taken out to a village called Jarak where we were invited to a wonderful feast hosted by a local family. We drank quite a lot of a local plum brandy called slivovitz which is very powerful stuff and returned to the ship happy but exhausted.

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Photos

Kalemegdan Fortress
that's me with my inspecting an old cannon at the fort

Belgrade
view of the confluence of the Danube on the right and the Sava River on the left

Belgrade
damage to buildings in downtown Belgrade left over from the NATO bombing in the early 1990s

Belgrade
The embassy of the United States surrounded by a high wall and obvious security

Jarak, Serbia
friends drinking and eating at Jarak