Saturday, 25th August 2018 We awoke in Belgrade for breakfast and left the boat at 08:00 as it needed to leave the dock to refuel. The majority of passengers went on a guided tour whilst we went on our own to look around this capital city. First we had to cross the border controls [we have a stamp in our passports to prove it]. The boat was moored very close to the old town on the River Sava. Matilda wondered why the tour needed a coach for such a short distance but having climbed six flights up to the town she felt she would have appreciated a lift just that far. Our walk led us past a statue . . . through the old square . . . . . . .past the Serbian National Parliament . . . . . . and the St Sava Cathedral. This is the largest orthodox cathedral in the Balkans. Designed in the 19th century, work started in 1935 but had to be suspended during WWII. Construction of the dome was completed in 1989 and the cathedral was consecrated in 2004. This is the Serbian equivalent of Barcelona’s Sagrada Familias as work is still underway. […]
Serbia
Friday, 24th August 2018 The day was spent cruising through Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia, passing through the 140km scenic gorge on the Danube between the Carpathians and the Balkans, known as the Iron Gates. The two hydroelectric dams, built as a collaboration between Yugoslavia [now Serbia] and Romania are called Iron Gate I and Iron Gate II. Before entering the gates we passed the point where three countries meet: Romania on the starboard side and Bulgaria and Serbia on the port side separated by a small tributary to the Danube. The completion of the dams in 1970 resulted in the Danube rising by up to 45m and there are now three locks to pass through. The geography of the area had to be changed and buildings and communities were sacrificed, including a whole island, Ada Kaleh, which was home to a thriving Turkish community. Prior to the dams and locks it would take ships four days to navigate the shallow waters through this part of the river, now it takes about 15 hours. The Iron Gate II lock is a double lock [one lock immediately adjoined to the other with a common gate] the combined lock has a drop of 34m […]