Highlights of Belgrade

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Our Serbian guide Yelene who was very good on history only briefly touched on the Serbo/Croatian war, but she was too young to be part of it. It must be difficult to go through a period with a cruel dictator. First she took us to Belgrade Fortress which has good views over the River Sava. It has a collection of tanks and cannons from all the various wars. The view of the symbol of the city, Victor, is from the back as it is a male statue and it was thought ladies might faint at the sight from the front! We visited Tito's memorial , a least he was a benign dictator who could negotiate with both East and West and the locals are proud of the fact that they had the first MacDonald's in the Communist East. The memorial was very interesting with lots of photos of his meeting with the Royal Family and the huge numbers who attended his funeral. On his birthday in May he held a Youth Day where Batons of Youth would be carried by those who had achieved most. The collection of these batons is at the memorial, which is called House of Flowers and is a very pleasant place to visit.

After we visited St.Sava's church, which when it is finished will be one of the largest Orthodox churches in the world. The basement is full of beautiful gold leaved frescoes and lovely chandelier.

Back at the ship we won the Trivia quiz and there was time to sit out on the sun deck in the lovely sunshine. After dinner we had a show by Serbian dancers and musicians one of the best we have ever seen.

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