This morning we were docked in Belgrade and took a morning tour of the city by bus. Our first stop was the Royal palace. The Royal Chapel was beautifully painted.
We toured the ground floor of the palace and finally the basement, which is decorated in an elaborate style which reminded me of Cardiff Castle.
Tito lived in the palace and during his lifetime it was known as the forbidden city. Today it is occupied by Crown Prince Alexander (born in Claridges hotel in London) and his wife Princess Katherine. Serbia is still a Republic, but they allowed Alexander to return and live in the palace after he was instrumental in bonding together the various opposition groups that eventually overthrew Milosevic. He did most of this by email as he wasn't even in the country at the time. How do I know this? Well because he and his wife came out to meet us and talk to our tour group.
After the palace it was off to Belgrade fortress for a walk around. The fortress is situated on a large area and is today the home of a dinosaur park, tennis courts and various other leisure activities.
It was a very hot day. So Becky and I decided not to walk back into town for shopping after lunch and instead hung out on the sundeck for the afternoon.
In the evening we were treated to a local folk dance group who did traditional dances from various times in Serbian history, including some oriental style dancing from the Ottoman occupation of Belgrade.
It was Becky's birthday today and the restaurant manager delivered a special cake to our table:
I must apologize for the lateness of this post. The internet connection onboard has been spotty for the last couple of days
I'm really glad Becca got a cake!
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