FROM BELGRADE, SERBAA

(click on images to enlarge)

A Walking Tour of Belgrade

BELGRADE, May 5, 2008 - It is not often that one gets to spend the Cinco de Mayo in two European capitals on the same day.  But that's what happened today.  When I arrived in Belgrade from Paris in late morning, the weather was cloudy with occasional rain showers. And quite a bit colder than in Paris.  Which is unusual, given how much farther south geographically Belgrade is.

Anyway, I spent the first few hours getting organized in my lovely suite at the Intercontinental.  Ever since about 1989 and all of my subsequent wartime visits, they treat me like a king at this hotel.  I always get a suite for the price of a regular room.  And it is always the same.  The local staff call it jokingly the "Djurdjevic Suite."  :-)  Above are some pictures of the hotel and the views from my room.

And this is what the "Djurdjevic Suite" looks like.  :-)  There is always a fruit basket, fresh cut flowers and a bottle of wine to welcome me "home" (Belgrade is my birthplace, for those of you who may not know it).

Just as I got organized in my room, the sun came out.  So I decided to go for a walk and take you with me.  The first thing I saw outside the hotel (besides the old-fashioned streetcar) were election posters (left).  For those of you who can read Cyrillic, you can see that various political parties (10 in total) are vying for votes much the same way as elsewhere in the democratic world - by making promises they intend to break when they into office.  From there, I walked over the Brankov bridge across the river Sava, from where the next three shots were taken.  As you can see, the Sava is pretty wide here, just before in flows into the Danube. Note how prominent the Saborna Church (Congregational, the city's main church), is on Belgrade's skyline (right).  It will figure later on in some interesting events...

The reason I took the left shot of that old building is that this is where my maternal family homestead was (the Bogdanovic's).  The next three shots are of Belgrade's city center, the Terazije Square.

The reappearance of sun had drawn crowds back out to sidewalk cafes (left).  The National Theater (middle left), the National Museum (middle right), and the statue between them referred to by the locals as "konj" (the horse) - are all landmarks of the narrow city center that have witnessed more history being made around them than most Belgrade residents can consume.

I then proceeded to walk through Knez Mihajlova Street, a fashionable pedestrian promenade, to the Kalemegdan Park that surrounds the old Fortress of Belgrade.  Note the pretty flowers everywhere, as well as once again, how Saborna Church stands out on the skyline.

The old fortress, originally known as Singidunum in Roman times, was built at a strategic location - a high hill overlooking the confluence of two great European rivers - the Sava and the Danube.  Notice how beautiful the ivy looks in that rightmost shot, cascading like water down the fortress' walls.  The tall blooming trees are chestnuts.  They reminded me of similar splendor at the Tuileries in Paris.

Above are some more beautiful waterfront scenes that can be seen from Kalemegdan Park.  The sparkling sunshine made it seem as if God waited for me to get ready for my tour before turning on its floodlights for us.  So I just kept clicking away...

Besides sunshine and flowers, something else that the warm spring day drew out was lovers.  Couples were smooching and kissing everywhere...

 as love was literally in the air and on the park benches.  Above is just a small sampling of it. I did not want to disturb their privacy by clicking away.  it did bring back memories of my youth, though.  Since most of us lived with our parents, parks like this one was the place to meet your sweetheart and nurture the love until the opportunity presented itself that you could consume it.  Which was not an easy thing in a crowded city full of small apartments.  But, c'est la vie... people adjust and adapt.  We did.

Right next doow, there were kids practicing on clay tennis courts that were built inside the erstwhile fortress moats.  "The next Djokovic" in the making? (Novak Djokovic, the Australian Open champion, is currently ranked #3 in the world).

The photo on the left is a model of the Kalemegdan Fortress as it was in the 15th century.  And the two pictures of the white monument with a dramatic sculpture of a woman was dedicated to France, Serbia's ally in WW I.  The caption on the monument reads: "We love France as she has loved us."

Well that was back in 1914-1918.  In 1999, France was one of 27 NATO countries that participated in the savage bombing of Serbia that lasted 79 days.  There are still some scars left from it around the city, as you can see from the left two shots.  Some political parties, like the Radicals (right shot), marching past those buildings, are trying to ensure the people of Serbia don't forget as they get set to join the EU, minus the province of Kosovo, the cradle of the Serbian civilization which the Albanians have now taken over, thanks to NATO's protection and assistance.

Back to the Kalemegdan Park, cut into the slopes that fall off steeply toward the Danube. is my favorite church - Ruzica (Rose).  It's so tiny that many Belgraders don't even know about it.  But it's very old and very beautiful in its simplicity.  As you can see, it is also well loved by the ivy and has beautiful river views in front.  I could tell you many war and love stories about this church if you wish, but right now we need to press on with our walking tour.

I've had to make this into a composite picture because I could not get far enough away from the ramparts behind the Rose Church on the right to take a wide angle shot.

After the Rose church, I walked back into the city where I passed the Patriarchate (left), the seat of the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the equivalent of a Pope and the Vatican in Catholic faith.  I met with Patriarch Paul many times here, but he is hospitalized now due to his advanced age.  I did go into the Saborna (Congregational) Church (middle left) that you have seen to prominently featured in some earlier shots. That's where I bought a St. George's icon (middle right), and listened for a while to a service that was in progress (click on the PLAY button to check out a short video clip). 

CLICK HERE TO GO TO BELGRADE DAY 2 - ST. GEORGE'S DAY

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