BELGRADE, SERBIA - PART TWO
BELGRADE, SERBIA - PART TWO
We had a wonderful guide, Liliana. She had the most wonderful, self-deprecating sense of humour. I wish I was better at remembering the jokes she told us. We learned quite a bit about the history of this area of the world. We saw all the sights and sites mentioned in my last blog post and even drove by the Canadian Embassy, festooned with a huge banner announcing our 150th birthday.
Belgrade is also known as the "White City" due to the colour of the stone used on its older buildings. Unfortunately, pollution has taken its toll and they have all turned an ugly shade of grey or black. This includes the white carrera marble used to build the Canadian embassy and it was built very recently. Liliana informed us that the Canadians want to replace the marble now but because it would be too expensive, have had to live with the initial poor decision to clad the embassy in white marble. However, she did praise the Canadians for not hiding behind huge fences and security pylons and their willingness to participate in Serbian society.
Most of the buildings are covered in graffiti. It has not been cleaned off because it shows the protests against the communist regime and Serbia regards it as a symbol of the free speech its citizens now enjoy.
We did manage to take in part of the show of Serbian music and folk dancing before heading off for a tour of the Royal Palace and dinner at the White Palace.
The Royal Family has been granted the right to live on the upper floor of the palace and is working to be granted the rights to the entire palace which was confiscated by the state. According to the Crown Prince of Yugoslavia, his family's money built the palace. The case is before an international court. The most notable thing about this palace was the basement. All walls were covered in frescoes. It was stunning and gave new meaning to the basement rec room. If I had a house, I would consider decorating a basement like this one was. Of course, Tito lived here and some discreet communist symbols were added to the decorations. Tito still seems to be venerated - at least by the politicians - we met the speaker of their Parliament with an entourage of other politicians and security guards as they were coming back from placing flowers on his tomb. Liliana shares the same feelings as most people around the world have about their politicians.
After the tour we were informed that we would be meeting Crown Prince Alexander, and his wife. They spoke for several minutes (too long in Norma's opinion) and then we had a chance to take photographs of the couple. They talked about their accomplishments in raising money to fund hospitals and orphanages for the Serbian people particularly those in rural areas. However, they don't seem to spend much time in Serbia.
We then were driven to the White Palace where we were treated to a reception and dinner. This was a much more palatial setting than the dinner at the 'bank' we had in Venice. We felt quite special.
We lost an hour last night - now we are 7 hours ahead of Ottawa time so decided to forego a nightcap and headed straight to bed.
We had a wonderful guide, Liliana. She had the most wonderful, self-deprecating sense of humour. I wish I was better at remembering the jokes she told us. We learned quite a bit about the history of this area of the world. We saw all the sights and sites mentioned in my last blog post and even drove by the Canadian Embassy, festooned with a huge banner announcing our 150th birthday.
Belgrade is also known as the "White City" due to the colour of the stone used on its older buildings. Unfortunately, pollution has taken its toll and they have all turned an ugly shade of grey or black. This includes the white carrera marble used to build the Canadian embassy and it was built very recently. Liliana informed us that the Canadians want to replace the marble now but because it would be too expensive, have had to live with the initial poor decision to clad the embassy in white marble. However, she did praise the Canadians for not hiding behind huge fences and security pylons and their willingness to participate in Serbian society.
Most of the buildings are covered in graffiti. It has not been cleaned off because it shows the protests against the communist regime and Serbia regards it as a symbol of the free speech its citizens now enjoy.
We did manage to take in part of the show of Serbian music and folk dancing before heading off for a tour of the Royal Palace and dinner at the White Palace.
The Royal Family has been granted the right to live on the upper floor of the palace and is working to be granted the rights to the entire palace which was confiscated by the state. According to the Crown Prince of Yugoslavia, his family's money built the palace. The case is before an international court. The most notable thing about this palace was the basement. All walls were covered in frescoes. It was stunning and gave new meaning to the basement rec room. If I had a house, I would consider decorating a basement like this one was. Of course, Tito lived here and some discreet communist symbols were added to the decorations. Tito still seems to be venerated - at least by the politicians - we met the speaker of their Parliament with an entourage of other politicians and security guards as they were coming back from placing flowers on his tomb. Liliana shares the same feelings as most people around the world have about their politicians.
After the tour we were informed that we would be meeting Crown Prince Alexander, and his wife. They spoke for several minutes (too long in Norma's opinion) and then we had a chance to take photographs of the couple. They talked about their accomplishments in raising money to fund hospitals and orphanages for the Serbian people particularly those in rural areas. However, they don't seem to spend much time in Serbia.
We then were driven to the White Palace where we were treated to a reception and dinner. This was a much more palatial setting than the dinner at the 'bank' we had in Venice. We felt quite special.
We lost an hour last night - now we are 7 hours ahead of Ottawa time so decided to forego a nightcap and headed straight to bed.
Hi Mary Lou,
ReplyDeleteYou have had a fabulous time and I hope that coming back to Ottawa will not be too difficult!
See you soon!
Joanne