Bye bye Serbia

So I met up with Mikica for one last coffee in Belgrade. She invited me to visit her relatives for a big BBQ (she just came back from have a spit-roasted pig with her family) next time I came back, offered me the use of her beachside appartment in Montenegro and anything else she could think of. I was sorry to say goodbye but anyway she insisted on driving me to the airport the following morning. She arrived on time as ever and as I drove out to the airport I felt sure I will be back in Serbia and before long. Ziveli Serbia!

- Dave

Lake Paliċ and back to Belgrade

This morning started with an early visit to the much-hyped Lake Paliċ. Apparently it is very popular and a lot of money is spent on promoting it as a destination. On first glance it was hard to see why. It was a lake with a promenade full of cafes, a few boats and bikes that could be rented and a few kitschy building. On closer inspection… well, there was not much more really. I guess it’s probably a nice place for a relaxing half-day, a place to take the kids and swim in the lake but I felt a bit disappointed though Snežana, our guide of choice had warned me. Then it was time for the bus back to Belgrade, where, on arrival, I had to fill in a list of all the places I had been, on which night, in which hotel, etc etc. A little paranoid, the authorities, I think. Anyway tomorrow is my last full day here, so a couple of meetings, check a couple more hotels, buy a souvenir perhaps and then back to the UK on Monday morning. I will be sad to leave and I will mostly miss the great Serbian people and the very warm welcome I received throughout this lovely country.

- Dave

Further North: Sremski Karlovici and Subotica

This morning started early with a cab ride to the small town of SremskiKarlovici about 10km from Novi Sad. Travelling without Mikica was testing my basic Serbian to the extreme but I had a decent conversation with the taxi driver via hand signals and my basic Serbian. He seemed to have a high opinion of Irish people as so many seem to have here. A coupleof days ago in Belgrade we met an old man who spoke only basic English but on learning that we were Irish wanted to give us a litre bottle of plum brandy! We still had more than half a bottle left from Mirko so we politely declined. Anyway I digress. When I arrived the town was still sleeping so I wandered around and took in the lovely central square, unusually for Serbia named after a Romantic poet, Branko Radecevic, who was a son of the town.

After a coffee in the square I wandered around a little more, caught a taxi back to Novi Sad and then a bus to Subotica, a town near the border with Hungary. The Hungarian influence is even stronger here and many signs are displayed in both Serbian and Hungarian. The architecture is also more in the Hungarian style with bright colours and dashing patterns. The town hall is a riot of styles and one of the museums looks positively Gaudi-esque. The food too is heavily influenced by Hungary with menus heavy on Paprika and Goulash ubiquitously available. The Synagogue is pretty impressive too though fairly run down. Tired after a long day I spent the evening watching Sopranos on Fox Crime!

- Dave

Up North: Novi Sad

After a couple of relaxing days in Belgrade I said goodbye to Andy who headed back home and I hit the road again, this time by public transport. After an hour’s bus ride North, I arrived in Novi Sad, the capital of the Northern semi-autonomous province of Vojvodina. This province is quite different from the rest of Serbia - in population, history and geography. The bus ride passed along a rod-straight road through the great Pannonian Plain, vast flatlands, that contrasted starkly with the windy mountainous terrain of the rest of Serbia.

The region looks more to the North and West whereas the rest of Serbia looks East and has stronger historical ties with Hungary as opposed to Turkey and the difference was immediately obvious when I arrived into Novi Sad with its refined cultured central square and its mixed population of Serbian, Hungarian, Croat and Roma. I spent the day wandering the streets, absorbing the lively atmosphere with its abundance of street-side cafes and pedestrianised streets. After an excellent dinner and some tasty local wine I had an early night to get ready for the early start the following day.

- Dave

Belgrade and Smederevo

Yesterday I slept in a little before heading out to meet a Belgrade-based tour operator. The meeting lasted about an hour and they added a few details and suggestions to my proposed itinerary. They also came across well and seemed to know the country and the places on my route quite well. We agreed to meet again when I come back to Belgrade to discuss the route for future tours. After that I had the afternoon free, so I wandered through the streets of Belgrade at leisure. The vibe of the city was both bustling and easy going. And everyone was in the street it seemed. The cafes were full of locals eating ice-cream or drinking beer or coffee. After a while I too stopped and started to read a book about Serbia I had picked up in my local library. The story followed eight very different Serbian characters – from independent journalists to rural farmers, theatre directors to priests - through the difficult years of 1999 to 2004 and explored their changing circumstances and opinions. It made compelling reading and fleshed out some more details about the important characters in Serbia’s recent history through the fall of Milosovic. I ate some dinner in a friendly local restaurant and it was time for bed. A thoroughly relaxing and enjoyable day, all in all.

This morning I met up with Snezana and we headed out to her boyfriend’s country home near to Semederevo. After an hour’s bus ride we arrived in the town where we were met by her boyfriend, Mirko and drove to his home in a small village. After a very hearty lunch of fried fish, mashed potatoes with vegetables and a salad we headed off to Mirko’s cousin’s field where we picked some excellent peaches. The fields abound with fruit – peaches, apples, plums, sour cherries and there is more than enough to go around. We also tasted some delicious pears from Mirko’s own garden. When Snezana is not around to translate myself and Mirko make ourselves understood though him speaking Serbian (which I have been learning for a couple of months), my English (which he understands better that he can speak) and some pantomime but on the whole it works quite well.

Later we headed into Smederevo to see its impressive and well-preserved medieval fort overlooking the Danube. After the fort we wandered around the town after the heat had died down and it too was a hub of activity with lots of children running around, playing football, basketball or driving little carts. We sat outside one of the town’s busy cafes and drank a dark Serbian beer. We came back to the village a little later and chatted about Serbian history and Snezana filled me in more on Milosovic and how most people found it hard to admit they had made a mistake in electing him. However she still felt as did many Serbs that the country needed a strong leader because: “If you take two Serbs you will have three opinions”! We had a cheese-filled pastry for dinner and drank some more beer and coffee.

Tomorrow morning we will drive together to see the first two monasteries on my trip, so I am quite looking forward to that.

- Dave

Serbia: First impressions

Ok so day 2 in Belgrade and it’s been a bit hectic as these research trips always turn out to be. Arrived into Belgrade airport, took a bus to the city centre, found my hotel, showered and came down to meet Snezana, our local guide. We headed out for coffee in a nearby park, Tasmajdan Park with a huge and impressive Serbian Orthodox church beside a smaller Russian Orthodox one. We chatted about Serbia and possible itineraries and I felt sure the impression of competence and enthusiasm I had gotten from our email correspondence was not misplaced.

After about an hour and a half we started off on a walking tour through the city. Snezana explained a lot about the history of Serbia, the important characters in shaping that history and its relations in the modern world; “Russia is our big brother, but not one we really trust”.
We walked through the city, past the parliament, various stone mason constructions and the very pleasant Kalemagdan Park overlooking the Danube before exploring its impressive fort at sunset. Eventually, as it was getting late, we went for dinner in a local Serbian restaurant serving typical meat dishes which were very tasty if not the healthiest… veal strips wrapped in bacon was my particular favourite. We said goodnight and I headed back to my hotel for a well-earned sleep.

This morning Snezana and our driver for the day, Milano, picked me up. We stopped of to have a typical Serbian pastry called burek for breakfast - filled with mince meat or cheese. Very tasty but a bit heavy for the morning. We headed out to Zemun, now a suburb of Belgrade, originally a town nearby. Its charm was its crumbling grandeur, its easy-going pace of life and its location on the Danube.

From there we visited the enormous St Sava’s church, a beautiful construction started before World War II and whose exterior was finished only 2 years ago. A grandiose project, the World’s largest Orthodox church, it is being constructed from the finest materials from Greece, Italy, Brazil, Libya and India. The main dome weighs over 15,000 tonnes (think 15,000 cars) and took 29 days to hoist into place using lasers, specially designed computer software and some heavy-duty lifting equipment! Work is ongoing on the inside and is expected to be completed in about five years’ time.

From St. Sava’s we headed out to Tito’s grave and memorial. Tito ruled Yugoslavia from 1953 to his death in 1980 and is a larger than life character, who while brutally suppressive, and vicious with his enemies remains loved by a majority of Serbians. Snezana explained: “Tito gave us a good life. In return we did not ask questions. If you have a good life only a fool asks questions”. A tradition during his time was to give him an Olympic-style torch for his birthday. Soon he was getting them more frequently and ever more elaborate ones. His estate even continued to receive them many years after he was dead. It is estimated that his estate has some 27,000 torches. He remains much loved and Serbians felt much pride in their country’s importance during the Tito years. Snezana put it like this: “When I go to bed I dream that when I wake up Tito will still be alive, everything will be as it was before and I will be young again”. She felt sure many people felt the same thing.

- Dave