Belgrade, Serbia 18.07

We left for Serbia at around 10am in the morning. We stocked up on some delicious Austrian pastries from the local bakery, and set off on the road again. We were heading to Belgrade, which was set to be about as long away as Vienna was from Poland. We were doing well on the roads, speeding along the Hungarian highways until the traffic suddenly slowed down to a stop. Loren was driving (doing much better at it at this point), and decided to cut along the emergency lane. But it soon became obvious that it wasn't just a little slow down in traffic, it was a seriously long delay. She decided it was only fair to pull in and wait along with everyone else.

We were about 5km from the border, so we decided it must be the border that had slowed down the traffic. It was about 30 degrees or more, and everyone was sweltering in their cars. People started getting out and sitting on the side of the road, others just wandered up and back down the road like lost souls. Some people turned off their engines and pushed their cars, so they didn't waste petrol idling. It was crazy.

Lots of buses were driving along the emergency lane, many of them from Poland. We were getting so frustrated at them and at all the other cars that were overtaking us. We had been there for several hours by this point, and coudn't see why they should be allowed to skip the queue. People along the roads started blocking those cars with their bodies, refusing to let them through. It was serious stuff! Soon police cars started to come through, some appeared to be escorting buses.
6 hours later, we arrived at the border! By this point Loren was eager to use the toilet, as it was not so easy for women to just go on the side of the road. The toilets were paid of course. As if we hadn't suffered long enough to make it there, they decide to charge us too!

We were exhausted by the time we got to the other side of the border, and we still had a long way to drive. We saw families camped at the side of the road, at every petrol station we came across. People slept in cars, set up tents, slept in caravans, or even just under the stars. We considered finding a hotel along the way, but decided to keep going.
We made it to Belgrade via the GPS, but unfortunately that's as far as it got us. The GPS only had a few main highways recorded for Serbia, and nothing else. We bought a map at a petrol station, but it was so big and complicated that we struggled to use it. Another problem was that the street signs were all written in the Cyrillic alphabet, so only Artur could read them, as he studied some Russian, but he was driving, not navigating. We could not find it for the life of us, and we asked a few cab drivers and eventually a motorcyclist. Thankfully he spoke English, and offered to lead us there. So we followed him through a maze of streets and finally made it to our hotel. Thankfully there was someone on reception, so we were able to check in and go to our room.

Exploring the Town
out, looking for some breakfast. We couldn't find a bakery or supermarket anywhere, even though we were located right opposite the main train station. Instead, we ended up buying some Serbian burgers called, ''. They turned out to be really nice, filled with salad and a thick meat patty.
We decided to see the city via the Tram No. 2, which did a nice loop of the city. It was a great idea, as it only cost about 60 cents. It was great to see the city, although you could see the toll that the war had left on it. There were collapsed ruins of buildings at a few places in the city, but most of the buildings were in one piece. There were architecturally beautiful buildings everywhere, but most of them had fallen into disrepair, and looked tired and dirty.

You could also tell from the cars on the street, that the country's economic development had slowed down a lot as a result of the war. Most of the cars on the streets were exactly the same as when Artur was there 19 years ago. There were lots of old Zastavas, Yugos, Ladas, Fiats and Wartubergs.

Kalmegdan Park

After we had completed our full circle of the tram line, we stayed on it for a bit longer, so we could get off at a park that we saw on the way. It was such a hot day, and the change of temperature in the shade of the trees was very much welcomed. We treated ourselves to an ice cream and a cold drink at a little cafe, and admired the parkland around us.

We had heard that locals gathered in the park to do some ballroom dancing on the weekend, so we went looking for them. We must have missed it though, because we didn't find them.
Instead, we went to visit the Kalmegedan Citadel, which is the ruins of an old fort that had been there since the 17th century, in Celtic times. However it wasn't all Celtic in style, there were Medieval gates, Muslim tombs and Turkish baths inside. It was located further into the gardens, and sat on top of the cliffs edge.
The outer parts of the fort were still in very good shape. We entered through the gates, and admired the huge walls. There were some old cannons and tanks on display down below us, in what would have once been the moat.
On our way to the inner walls, we came across some basketball courts that had been built into the fort. There were deep parts, that were probably part of the moat, that they'd used to house the courts. Artur was very impressed by this, and liked Serbia a lot more.
We walked all the way to the cliff's edge, where the fort was mostly in ruins. The view was incredible from there. Down below, we could see the Sava river running along, separating Old Belgrade from New Belgrade. New Belgrade looked very modern, with lots of skyscrapers rising above it.
We wandered through the ruins, and came across a section that was still intact. It had a drawbridge a moat and huge walls. There was even a deserted wooden rowing boat in there.
As we kept walking, we found a little chapel. It was surrounded by pretty gardenbeds of roses, and it had some very old prayer stands outside. It was pretty small, but very cute.
Soon we wandered back through the park, and found a kind of main street that ran through it. There were souvenir stalls everywhere, with traditional Serbian toys and handicrafts. Loren bought one of the little dolls that they had, in traditional Serbian outfits. She had one when she was little, so it was very sentimental for her to see them here. and think about her Grandparents life in Serbia, and the few years that her dad lived there. We bought some postcards of what Belgrade looked like a long time ago, and some of Belgrade today, to show her dad.

Local Culture

g the park, we decided to see the Vasa Carapica, which was the National Museum. Unfortunately, for some unknown reason the museum was closed. So we went to a nearby bakery and bought some Serbian delights, to eat on the steps of the museum with other confused travellers who had also expected the museum to be open.
Loren was so thrilled to try the food from Serbia, as she loves everything that her 'Baba' cooks. We bought a couple of different things to try. One was 'burek', which is like a pie with layered pastry, and layers of quark cheese. We also bought some cherry cake, which is also layered pastry, with sour cherries all throughout. The third one that we tried was 'Makowica', which is layers of pastry with a poppyseed filling throughout it. They were all delicious, but not as good as the ones that her Baba made. Her Baba used filo pasty in the cherry cake, which was much nicer than the thick pastry that they had at this bakery.
Facing us, as we sat at the museum, was the 'Targ Republika'. It was a big square with a statue standing in the middle of it. Surrounding the statue and all over the square, were these strange clay sculptures. They were everywhere, and most of them were pretty ugly. It turned out that it was some sort of art display. We did find a couple that we liked, but most of them looked like they'd been made by children.

Sveti Sava

to visit Sveti Sava next, but we weren't sure what tram to take. We decided to walk, which was probably not the best idea, as we were fairly exhausted from the heat. Soon we could see the church in the distance, but it still took us a long time to get there. It was very much worth it though.
Sveti Sava is the biggest Orthodox Church in the world! So as you can imagine, it looked pretty impressive from up close. Artur stood on the steps and looked like an ant in comparison to the building. They started building it in 1935, but it is still not finished today! Construction was interrupted by Hitler, Communism, and then by a lack of cash.
The outside of the church is complete today, but the inside is still being decorated. As a result, the inside of the church is not as spectacular as the outside. The church had a wonderful ambience to it though, and the height of it was just astounding. Loren said some prayers for her Baba there, as her Baba is Serbian Orthodox.

Can you see Artur on the steps? The church is enormous!

Skadarska

After recovering in our hotel for a while, we headed out for dinner. We decided to go to the famous Bohemian quarter, Skadarska. It was a very pretty area, with lots of cobblestone streets. There were restaurants everywhere, with candlelit tables out on the street. Little dogs and cats roamed between tables hoping for a bite to eat, and bands of musicians performed outside each restaurant, hoping for tips.

We tried some more traditional Serbian food, which was delicious as usual. Loren tried the 'Punjena Belavesanica', which was pork fillet stuffd with cream cheese. We also tried the 'Orasnica', which was a little dessert made almost entirely of walnuts. It was shaped like a crescent, and there was a bowl of honey to dip it into. Absolutely delicious!

New Belgrade

The next morning, we visited Bezanija, New Belgrade, trying to find the place where her father had lived. New Belgrade was now full of high rise apartment buildings in big blocks. We also saw a huge communist style building as we drove along the highway. It was a not a particularly pretty area, as it didn't have any old buildings, but that is the case in many places you see in Australia. We eventually found the area that we believed he had lived in. However the house and the street where his house was, no longer existed. Lots of houses had been torn down for the high rise buildings, and little streets were covered over. So we think that is what must have happened to his street.
It was still really cool to visit the place, and see the changes that time leaves. Loren was thrilled to finally be able to visit Serbia, and learn a bit more about where her father's family came from. We realised too late, that his aunt lived in Bezanija, and we could have stopped in to say hello. The language would have been a struggle to overcome though.

To see the photos from the post in slideshow mode, click on on the link below:
Belgrade pictures