Saturday in Belgrade, Serbia

The first stop on our Saturday tour was the fortress of Belgrade. The fortified walls stand 412 feet above the confluence of the Danube and Sava Rivers. The color of the water is even different in each river. The fortifications were first built in the 3rd Century BC. The Romans enlarged and strengthened the walls from 378-476 AD. Over the centuries, changes have been made to the wall to keep enemies out of the old city.

We got a lot of mixed messages about General/president Tito. He fought in World War I, was captured by the Russians and sent to Siberia. He escaped and fought for Russian independence in 1917 and became a member of the communist party.

In World War II, he fought on the side of the British and Americans against the Nazis, and after the fall of Germany refused to join Stalin and the communists as part of the Soviet Union in Russia.

He served as Prime Minister, president and later president for life for Yugoslavia…finally dying in 1980.

Our guide said as a young child she was one of 2000 children dancing for Tito on his birthday. She said that they continued celebrating his birthday for eight years after he died.

One story our guide shared with us was that Stalin tried multiple times to assassinate Tito. After the last failure to kill Tito, he sent a message to Stalin saying stop sending assassins to Yugoslavia or I will send one assassin to kill you… I will only have to send one!