BELGRADE - history and politics "on foot"
No pics today; my camera's batteries died :-(
Students had the morning off (to sleep, mostly, after that long drive yesterday). We met at 2 pm at the Hotel Prag for our walking tour of old Belgrade. Mladen took the lead and I added my own information and guidance along the way. We walked first up to St. Sava Temple, one of the largest Orthodox churches in the world, named for Sava, who founded the Serbian Orthodox Church. From there, and past the national Library, we walked past the military buildings that were bombed by NATO (and yes, by "us"/U.S.) in 1999, to a small park next to the Serbian Foreign Ministry. That park is dedicated to Knez Milos (Prince Milos) who led the 2nd Serbian rebellion against the Turks (Ottomans) in 1815. In this same spot, we heard of the March 2003 assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, the founder of the Democratic Party of Serbia and a leader of the opposition against Slobodan Milosevic. From here, down to the 'square' that is home to the Presidency of Serbia, City Hall of Belgrade, and a park that leads to the Parliament. Then down "Tarrazia" (the main street and promenade) into Knez Mihailova ("the" pedestrian mall of Belgrade) and into Kalamegdon, the Roman-Slavic-Turkish fortress (which is still more Turkish than anything else), and a view of the Danube, Zemon, and New Belgrade.
We also left them today with a "scavenger hunt" of places to find, foods to taste, and fun or quirky or otherwise noteworthy parts of Belgrade we think they should discover on their own.
Now, as I write this, students are emailing us their 2nd writing assignment. So, they've been pretty busy!
Students had the morning off (to sleep, mostly, after that long drive yesterday). We met at 2 pm at the Hotel Prag for our walking tour of old Belgrade. Mladen took the lead and I added my own information and guidance along the way. We walked first up to St. Sava Temple, one of the largest Orthodox churches in the world, named for Sava, who founded the Serbian Orthodox Church. From there, and past the national Library, we walked past the military buildings that were bombed by NATO (and yes, by "us"/U.S.) in 1999, to a small park next to the Serbian Foreign Ministry. That park is dedicated to Knez Milos (Prince Milos) who led the 2nd Serbian rebellion against the Turks (Ottomans) in 1815. In this same spot, we heard of the March 2003 assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, the founder of the Democratic Party of Serbia and a leader of the opposition against Slobodan Milosevic. From here, down to the 'square' that is home to the Presidency of Serbia, City Hall of Belgrade, and a park that leads to the Parliament. Then down "Tarrazia" (the main street and promenade) into Knez Mihailova ("the" pedestrian mall of Belgrade) and into Kalamegdon, the Roman-Slavic-Turkish fortress (which is still more Turkish than anything else), and a view of the Danube, Zemon, and New Belgrade.
We also left them today with a "scavenger hunt" of places to find, foods to taste, and fun or quirky or otherwise noteworthy parts of Belgrade we think they should discover on their own.
Now, as I write this, students are emailing us their 2nd writing assignment. So, they've been pretty busy!
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