Saturday, December 31, 2011

Serbia - (Yugslovia) - Belgrade - 8-9.4.1970

 Beside the Danube River near Belgrade.

 Yugoslav War Museum.

 'Herald of Victory'  in Kalmegdan at the confluence of the Danube and the Sava Rivers.

From Wiki-  The statue was originally supposed to be placed on the Terazije Square, but ended up at Belgrade Fortress after people complained about it's nudity.
The statue is holding a falcon in one hand and is on watch for the new threats on the horizon, in the other hand a sword of war ready to encounter these threats.  The statue is looking across the confluence of the Sava and the Danube and over the vast Pannonian Plain towards the very distant Fruska Gora Mountain and the Austro Hungarian Empire.  This Statue is probably the most powerful and popular visual symbol of Belgrade.


 Markets near the Danube.

 A wonderfully entertaining and friendly Policeman doing traffic duty, we got to know him and he us quite well.  He always put on a special performance as we passed by in our London Taxi.  See the passersby watching him then us!  Wonderful memories.

 We met Sheila and Louis Daugherty in this park just outside Belgrade, they had baby Eugene and were seeing Europe in their Combi, parked behind us.  We visited Sheila and Louis in California later in 1970, we also stayed with Louis' parents in Salt Lake City that same year.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Serbia - (Yugslovia) - Belgrade - April 1970

 Camped beside the Beograd Road, near Vasencia, see the man on the donkey.

 Stuck in mud in a cornfield just out of Belgrade.

 In Belgrade, Bulevar Revolucije.

 A Royal Tiger Bus in Belgrade.  I used to catch buses with a tiger badge just like this one, on my way to school in Willoughby, Sydney Australia in the late 1950's.


 Sarajevo in Bosnia Herzegovina to Belgrade, Serbia.


Thursday, December 29, 2011

Bosnia Herzegovina (Yugoslavia) - Sarajevo - April 1970

 Driving through the hills from Dubrovnik to Sarajevo was very spectacular indeed, dry and arid in some places, very wooded in others.  As we drove through very small villages children recognized the kangaroo on the side of the Taxi would sing,  Skippy... Skippy... Skippy the bush kangaroo! They couldn't speak English but they could sing the signature tune of the 1967 - 1968 Australian TV show, very sweet.

We passed a few of these restaurants in the middle of nowhere, there weren't a lot of them and we always passed them just after we'd eaten a meal, which frustrated us enormously because the smell of the whole lamb roasting on a spit was very enticing.  These restaurants were always situated on the high side of the road and beside a running stream, the Lamb was rotated by the running water and... across the road was the loo, also situated above the running stream, wonderful way to flush it but I wouldn't like the be the people down stream!!
 Entering Sarajevo and a treat for David, a PCC Tram!

 The Town Hall, which the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria had just left before being shot and killed, along with his wife Sophie, on June 28th 1914.   It was this and a chain of other events that started World War 1.

 Pennie standing outside the Gavrilo Princip Museum, in his footprints in fact!   We couldn't believe this museum was set up for the man who was a killer and who, history declares, started the First World War.

From Wiki:  The Gavrilo Princip museum has been turned into a museum dedicated to Archduke Ferdinand and the Habsburg monarchy. Prior to the 1990s the site on the pavement on which Princip stood to fire the fatal shots was marked by embossed footprints. These were removed as a consequence of the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and the perception of Princip as having been a Serb nationalist. Later, a simple wooden memorial was placed near the site of the assassination with the words "May Peace Prevail on Earth" in Bosnian, Serbian and English. There is a plaque in front of the museum at the spot where Gavrilo Princip stood when he fired the shots.

 A London RTW Double Decker Bus used in Sarajevo for overhead line maintenance.

From Dubrovnik to Sarajevo.  Google Maps won't let me Google along the roads, I guess they just haven't been there done that!

P.S.     I received the below in a comment which I thought was interesting and helpful explaining about Gavrilo Princip.

 Zlatan Kadragić <http://www.blogger.com/profile/14414712184569814512>   has left a new comment on your post "Bosnia Herzegovina (Yugoslavia) - Sarajevo - April... <http://europebylondontaxi.blogspot.com/2011/12/bosnia-herzegovina-yugoslavia-sarajevo.html> ":

Story about Gavrilo Princip is much more complex and needs deep knowledge of history. Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed by Austro-hungary and archduke has been visiting military exercises. Organization called Young Bosnia consisted from Serbs, Croats and Muslims organized assassination. Sophia was not target, just collateral damage. And that didn't started 1. world war, that was just good excuse for Austro-hungary and Germany to start war by accusing Serbia for assassination and forcing Serbia to accept unacceptable ultimatum and bombing Belgrade capitol of Serbia. Gavrilo Princip was underaged so Austro-hungary could not sent him to death penalty but other members of Young Bosnia were executed. Gavrilo was held in harsh conditions so he died after 3 years. Gavrilo's relative was hero in 2nd world war.

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Posted by  Zlatan Kadragić  to  Europe by London Taxi <
http://europebylondontaxi.blogspot.com/>  at  March 1, 2012 9:08 AM