Belgrade, Serbia

Who would have thought Belgrade, Serbia would be such an interesting city?

We walked through a fort consisting of concentric walls dating from the 14th century through the 18th, all on  a peninsula jutting out into the Danube, where it meets its main tributary, the Sava river. The fort makes up a large, pleasant park, one of many in the city. The views North across the Danube were magnificent. This is a jewel!

Dogs run free here, all well cared for, some dressed in coats and with harnesses. Some on leashes. Don't walk on the grass, we were warned, without looking since it seems the dogs have no sense of decency when it comes to natural urges.

We ate lunch back at the boat around noon. I overheard Michele and Chris ( a couple on the trip with their father) mention the Nikola Tesla museum at lunch, and that seemed a worthy goal for the afternoon, so I joined them and walked the 2 km to see it.  It was not much more than an exhibit of Tesla's induction motors, still in use today, and a demonstration of Tesla coils we used to toy with as kids, but made more interesting by a very cute engineering student. Anyway, for about $5 what was the downside? The papers and some models were supplied from Tesla's New York museum around 1955, and had been damaged by water, creating some disputes about the legitimacy of the entire endeavor.

This evening was capped by a dance performance by energetic Serbian youths aboard the river boat. It was very good, in spite of the feeling I get that the relationship between them and us passengers is more like that between a hired dance troop and nursing home residents. Anyway, I guess you just have to ignore the feeling and enjoy the entertainment. I'm thankful they did not try to involve us "residents" in the performance, as actually happened a couple of nights ago.

We stop in two towns tomorrow, so to sleep!