Trips

Fri., 6/1/18 - Belgrade, Serbia

We finally had our tour of Belgrade today. At 9 AM we walked to Republic Square, one block from our hotel, and heard again the story of George and Michael Petrovic and the history of Belgrade.

Sign post	Republic Square with a statue of Prince Mihailo and the National Museum behind him
The Ikea?	Book store
Pyramid with the coordinates of Belgrade	Colorful sign
Nice manhole cover	We walked in the Kalemegdan Park and the Belgrade Fortress. The fort began as a 15th c. Serbian Fortress and was enlarged and added to by the Ottomans and then the Austro-Hungarians. We walked around and looked out at the Sava and Danube Rivers. This fort has been attacked and destroyed more then 40 times over the centuries including four times in the last 100 years because of its strategic location at the confluence of two navigable rivers.
Map	Belgrade Fortress
A clay tennis court	Dinosaur exhibit
	Stambol Gate
Military hardware	Tunnel into the fortress
Nice sign	The Danube
Cable-stayed bridge in the distance	Despot Stefan Tower
Steeple of the Church of the Holy Mother of God	Moat
Fortress walls	Zindan Gate
Playground	It was already hot at 11 AM (going to 92° this afternoon), so we welcomed our bus ride around the city. We crossed the new (2013) cable-stayed bridge over the Sava River. We drove through the fancy neighborhood of the embassy houses and past the horse racing track (hippodrome) that needs renovation. We ended up at St. Sava Temple, a lavish Eastern Orthodox cathedral currently being built. It wants to be the “largest” in the world. The site was selected in 1935 and today only the facade and crypt are finished. In WWII the Nazis used it as a garage. In the mid-1990s construction began again and the top dome was hydraulically lifted into place. In 2000 more money was contributed so more was done. The mosaics in the dome were created and made in a Moscow workshop and sent here to be assembled. Milan thinks it will be finished in 2020 - doubtful - and will be a “spiritual beacon” for Eastern Orthodox people.
St. Sava Temple	St. Sava Temple Crypt
St. Sava Temple Crypt	St. Sava Temple Crypt
. Emergency Exit sign on bus window	Marge, Phil, and I left the group to go visit the Tesla Museum. The museum was founded in 1952 and is dedicated to the Serbian-American inventor and scientist who rivaled T. A. Edison. Nikola Tesla lived from 1856 to 1943. It was 12:30 and we were not allowed in because the museum was “full.” The next tour in English wasn’t until 2 PM so we went and ate ice cream and came back for the 1 PM Serbian tour. We looked at the exhibits and read the signs in English but could not understand the movie or the presentation. We watched the demonstration of AC electricity lighting up fluorescent bulb/tubes held by the Serbian kids who were touring the museum.
Tesla Museum	Tesla Museum
After our museum visit, we walked back to our hotel following the city map. At 6 PM we strolled out along the pedestrian areas and chose an outdoor cafe for a beer and a vegetable pizza. It was very good. It was the first time I have had corn kernels on a pizza.

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