Geoff Brock & Bruce Gamble
         
     

Belgrade: 18th May 2003

 
 
 
 
 
     
We sailed through the night passing Croatia on our right and Hungary on our left. When we woke up at 07:00 we were anchored outside Novi Sad in Serbia. The customs officers were on board being entertained and checking our passports.
     
We started breakfast with Geoff and Bridget, but soon afterwards the ship moved off and we left the table to watch as we passed the bridges destroyed by NATO bombing in the recent past.
NATO had bombed the Serbian bridges crossing the Danube during the recent Balkans war and the Danube had been closed to river traffic. All the bridges but one had now been rebuilt with the assistance of the EU and the Danube was now open to river traffic once again: we one of the first cruise ships, since the war, to venture from Vienna to the Black Sea. However, at Novi Sad there was still a temporary pontoon bridge across the river, but Serbia and the EU could not agree how much money was needed to replace it, effectively closing the river except at certain times (Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday mornings). To open at other times cost the ship €100,000. Our cruise had been timed to pass Novi Sad at the Sunday morning a whole year ago. We stood on deck and watched as we passed this political bottleneck.
 
Having passed Novi Sad, we returned to breakfast watching the Serbian countryside drift past with its pretty fields full of horses and curious long-horned cattle.
     
We went up to the sun deck to find that at our entry point to Serbia late the previous night, two Serbian border police had got on our ship, and they - man and a woman – were there drinking coffee. We passed a greeting and the man – police chief sergeant Petrovitch – started pointing out places of interest. I found myself chatting to him for an hour. He proudly pointed out the highlights of Belgrade as we approached, including the police academy that he had attended, and the island which had over 400 species of bird. I said that three years ago I could not have believed I would ever visit Belgrade. "Life is full of good surprises", he said. Indeed. "It is a good city. How long are you here for?" "Half a day", I replied. "Maybe you will have another good surprise and come back one day for a longer visit", he said. How times change.

We docked at Belgrade, dominated by a white castle (beo–grad = white castle) and some elegant church spires.

     
     
     
We went to lunch and had Serbian rice pilau – cubes of pork in rice with a light tomato sauce. After lunch we collected our passports (ready stamped with visas attached) and we got on our coach. Our guide, Ida, greeted us and said, "First, we drive slowly to the Castle". The castle is large with a splendid entrance. It was built to defend Serbia from the Ottoman Empire. In fact, it was invaded in [ date].
     
     
From the top of the hill on which the castle was perched, we got an excellent view across the confluence of the Danube and the Siva rivers.
     
Then back to the bus. "Now, we drive slowly to the city centre", Ida told us as we went for a further tour. Much of the older city is only 19th century but dirty, drab and not well maintained (possibly this is understandable, under recent circumstances). Other areas are modern, dirty and drab and not well maintained. We were startled to see so many buildings which had been bombed still un-repaired. Ida pointed out the Ministry of Defence which had been destroyed by NATO precision bombing, and the parliament building which had been damaged by NATO precision bombing as well as a telecommunications building. We went to the posh part of town with large houses and flats. Several of those, too, had been bombed by NATO’s "precision bombs".
     
We got the to the Church of [ ] a Baroque Serbian orthodox building of little merit apart from an elegant spire.
     
Then a longer tour of the city and drove over a bridge crossing the Siva to the new town which comprised some 60’s ugly buildings and some which were more modern, but none of architectural merit. At the bridge on our right we passed what looked remarkably like a shanty town. Did the bombing drive these people here? Who were they? Ida did not point them out: she was saying, "as we drive slowly over the bridge, look on your left to the view."
     
As the tour continued we were in danger of getting Wimbledon neck as Ida pointed out "as we drive slowly along, on your left is the Pedagogical Museum" and "on your right is the Technical Facility of the University" and so on.
     
Finally we got to the main square and were invited to the Hotel Majestic for a free drink. We walked in and left, put off by the drab 50’s interior, to explore the centre by ourselves for ½ hour.
 
     
It did not help that the day was overcast and warm – 22o C but I was not impressed with Belgrade. It was in stark contrast with Pecs yesterday – a colourful, prosperous town with good looking, smiling people. Belgrade was drab and its inhabitants dour. Back to the bus and to the ship where, as we arrived, the sun came out. Maybe it would have been better if it had been sunny. But I think not.

On the coach, we discussed recent events in the area and noted how bizarre it was that only a few years ago we (well, NATO) were bombing Belgrade and now we were visiting it on holiday. We all said it was sad to bomb ordinary people in Serbia and how they suffered. To our surprise, Irina from Croatia said, "Well, they probably deserved it". Some way to go then, before complete reconciliation in the Balkans…

Before dinner, Elisabeth gave her short talk outlining the highlights of the next day. She said that we would be passing the famous Iron Gates at about 06:00 the next morning – a strategic point on the river which had marked the boundary of many cultures.

We then changed for dinner which we shared with Geoff and Bridgit and the doctor and his partner. Then there was a music quiz, where Sheri, who was on board with her two sisters and parents (and who all had promptly been dubbed "the family") joined us and with her identification of the tune "Elizabethan Serenade" helped us win a bottle of Sekt! We then chatted until 23:30 – a very late night!

 
 
 
©Geoff Brock and Bruce Gamble