Eastern Europe in the Spring! – Serbia – 2024

We went through the Iron Gates which refers to a gorge on the Danube river that forms a boundary between Serbia and Romania. The gorge is about 134 km long and there are lots of towering cliffs, narrow passages and two dams. We got up at 4:45 a.m. to go to the top deck and watch the boat go through the lock system which took about 1 1/2 hours.

We stayed up there to have a coffee and watch the sites as we went down the river.

  • Interesting carving into the side of the cliff
  • This was kind of cool to see
  • Not much to see as far as towns or people

Later on our boat docked at Donji Milanovac and we went to Lepenski Vir archaeological site for a tour. It was pretty amazing. It was beautiful weather that day and a nice walk to the site and then back where there was a small restaurant/bar conveniently located next to our bus. Clint and I sat with a couple of people to have a beer and try to chat with them, even though we didn’t know each others languages! It was a lot of fun.

  • Sign pointing the way
  • Inside, the archeological site
  • This caught my eye
  • Very old skeleton
  • Our resting spot for our beer and visit

When we left here, our bus took us to a castle right on the water, a beautiful spot. It was Golubac Fortress built in the early 14th century.

  • Visitor Centre
  • Golubac Castle
  • Inside

We did a tour of Belgrade the next day, it’s the capital of Serbia with a population of approximately 1.3 million people. Serbia has a population of about 6.6 million people. We went to the Museum of Yugoslavia which was quite interesting and they also had the grave site of President Tito.

  • Museum of Yugoslavia
  • The grounds
  • Tito
  • Tito’s desk

We saw quite a few other places and two churches, here are a few shots in Belgrade, Serbia. House of National Assembly, Church of Saint Sava , Victor Monument

  • The Victor Monument
  • House of the National Assembly
  • Sava Church
  • Inside Sava Church
  • part of downtown
  • Our stopping spot for a drink
  • Unknown church, I tried to find the name of it but could not
  • Inside the Unknown church
  • That evening we had dancers come on the boat to entertain us

That was it for Serbia, next stop Croatia !

19 thoughts on “Eastern Europe in the Spring! – Serbia – 2024”

  1. Very beautiful places, Susan! I love locks, they are so interesting. The churches are beautiful. The capital has 1.3 million people, Las Vegas has 2 million! The guy laying on the sand needs a bit of lotion… 🤭

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. I can see why you thought you might want to return here, but without the boat trip, to see more things, although this gives you such a scenic view of everything along the Danube River. The archeological sites were interesting, especially that full skeleton. Interesting having a conversation and not knowing the language, but hand gestures (the friendly kind) and head-nodding work too, yet the bar, if it is the same one you visited, had the sign in English so they must have a lot of English-speaking patrons or tourists there. Lots of pictures in this trip and Tito’s desk – almost as big as one of my rooms. When you said you got up at 4:30 a.m. for the passage, it reminded me of me on the Panama Canal cruise as we went through the Canal – it was about an 8-hour passage and I wanted a good viewing spot, but not in the sun the entire time, so I did the same thing and got there very early for a primo spot. (That is when the one-hour, in-house photo place lost two rolls of film, one going through the Canal – sigh.) [I got behind here again thanks to the wonky Microsoft update which keeps turning up like a bad penny, but I think it is finally straightened out.]

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Oh no, I’m sorry they lost your film. I always thought that would be cool to go through the Panama Canal. Yes I really liked that archaeological site. It was quite interesting. I remember years ago going to Pompeii in Italy and I saw stuff there that we actually learned about in school. I still remember learning in school about the dog that was buried alive and we actually saw him.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I was very upset about the Panama Canal film and, in those days, did you ever read the fine print on any place you took film to be developed? I sure didn’t. I was given a roll of film – that was it. I traveled alone and all the single people, the ship’s photographer and one couple were at our table … the cruise was two weeks long. So I was so upset, I wrote to the ship’s photographer and asked if I could buy prints of our voyage through the Canal – he sent me all the ones he took that no one bought (most people took their own pictures … before camera phones as this was 1982). I liked the cruise, but had a tough time deciding between an Alaska cruise and this one and wished I’d done Alaska … we had a lot of ports but five or six days “at sea” for this 14-day cruise. I meant to add I liked the photo of you at the back of the boat … the green “grass” was it some type of Astroturf or indoor-outdoor carpet? I guess it would be good to keep you from wiping out if water sprayed onto the outside deck. The dancers were also a nice touch – it is fun to see native dancers as it makes it part of the whole travel experience.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Oh good at least you got some photos, not your own but still it’s nice to have some memories. We went to Alaska, not on a cruise but driving with our trailer, it’s such big open country, I loved it there. (The Yukon as well) Yes it was green outdoor carpet and I never thought of that but you’re right, it would stop people from wiping out on the watery floors. The dancers were great, we really enjoy seeing local/cultural entertainment.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. I was glad I had some way to have photos to memorialize the trip. Unlike a regular tour group where you become friendly with others and might have asked them for photos, this was not an organized tour group, so I was just doing my own thing so to speak. Alaska looks to be so beautiful – must go before the icebergs melt. 🙂 I always liked the local entertainment when traveling too.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Oh no I’m sorry about your lost film. That sucks. I always thought it would be cool to go through the Panama Canal. Yes I really liked that archaeological site. It was quite interesting. I reember years ago we went to Pompei in Italy and I saw the dog body that I actually learned about in school !

      Like

      Reply

      1. I never heard of that story about the dog body. Our school system was so lousy as we lost our millage for 10th and 11th grade, so we had only half-days for school and only four main subjects. We could take no college prep nor extracurricular-type activities until senior year. Our education was not stellar, believe me.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Well, I was still in Canada in fourth grade, so surely at some point I would have learned about that dog and bodies in Pompeii. I was double-promoted from second to fourth grade – most of our class was double-promoted after taking a class. We had the same teacher for 2nd grade and 4th grade – she was great. Grade 3 was considered a review year. I moved here in ’66 and began sixth grade and was learning some things we learned years before to be honest. Plus we were learning French in Canada, so an added subject, rather than the traditional subjects.

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment