2023 Balkans - Day 9 Belgrade Serbia

Our tour itinerary tried to put a positive spin on today’s 8 hour drive: Panoramic Sceneries of Bosnia and Serbia. It was a scenic drive, especially the first part, but a long day on the bus. Fortunately, Srdjan keeps us entertained with history lessons, Q&A sessions (we have an inquisitive group, with good questions) and folk music CDs. 

This morning we could see the low mountains that were shrouded in fog yesterday, visualizing just how close the snipers were to the main drag through Sarajevo (our hotel is on that road).

And as we headed out of the city, we could see how easy it would have been to isolate the city and place it under siege. We’d entered Sarajevo from the airport side, and left by climbing immediately up into the mountains. The city lies below the center right of this photo. Geographically, Sarajevo feels more like a village than a capital city. One road in; one road out. 

The Bosnian mountains are beautiful. 

Our two lane road eventually peaked and yielded to fields, and eventually the flat, fertile planes of northern Bosnia and Serbia. On the way, there were some hairpin descents worthy of a Tour de France stage. 



We had lunch at a super atmospheric restaurant with a hint of wood smoke in the room.

Eventually we arrived at our hotel in the center of Belgrade. Greg and I were here nearly nine years ago, on a Danube river cruise with my parents. We’ll have some overlap with things we’ve seen before, but are sure we’ll have new insight seeing them with Srdjan.

We walked about 45 minutes to the Nikola Tesla Museum, a small museum hosting a collection of the Serbian-American inventor’s personal effects and most famous projects. Among other contributions, he received a patent on electric power transmission in 1888, demonstrated alternating current by lighting the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and designed the world’s first hydroelectric power plant in Niagara Falls in 1895. After watching a 15 minute film about Tesla’s life, a docent gave a demonstration of several types of motors. 

 

Tesla’s Egg of Columbus, spinning on end

The biggest hit: after a woman with a pacemaker was asked to leave the area, the docent passed out florescent lights and instructed everyone to hold them upright. He turned on a Tesla coil and the lights flashed on like light sabers. 

Tesla died in the US in 1943. His personal effects and ashes, which are in this orb, were returned to Serbia by his nephew and heir. They eventually led to the formation of this museum. 

We passed several landmarks while walking to the museum:

Republic Square, with the National Museum and an equestrian statue of Serbian ruler Prince Mihailo Obrenovic (the only politician our guide likes). The statue was erected 1882 in honor of the liberation of Belgrade from the Turks.

Sévit Marko (St Mark) Church

We passed a couple of interesting dining options, but opted for the included buffet dinner back at the hotel. 

We think they meant pizza, given the graphics. (1/2 meter is about 20 inches)

No drive-through here, but a walk-up window instead!