Another Day, Another Adventure
Today dear readers, instead of crossing the border via the Danube to Romania (which I admit to having decided to undertake yesterday but then couldn't find the information again on the wonderful wickedyweb) I decided to take a full day tour with Belgrade Walking Tours.com - round of applause please for Aleksander who was clever enough to have a disparaging sense of humour in more than one language! And of course for Zelko, our driver. who got us there and back safely. (Oh and well done those with ATD who said to themselves 'what? A Driver? That's not a walking tour then is it?')
So buckle up, make sure you have a full bottle of water, a bit of small talk in your back pocket to get things going in a group of strangers... Meet Sheena and Chandler from USA (Trump Despisers, Remote Workers travelling for a year) and Ashiko from Germany (lecturing in Japanese).
For 49 euros we covered a lot of ground. First onto the motorway out of Belgrade through the Panonian Plains which are, well, flat, and extensively planted in (mainly corn/maize/kukuruz at this time of year). The fields are huge, no fencing divisions - I wondered whether this is co-operative farming rather than single holding ownership and it seems it is a bit of both. But no GMOs.
We wound our way up the Fruska Gora National Park (the only visible mountain range bordering the plains). It seems that there are numerous monasteries in the mountains. These are for nuns or monks (but not together!) all for the Orthodox Church, and the one that we are visiting has monks. The monasteries need to be self supporting so they have extensive gardens (bee hives) and make delicious rakia - all flavours - pear, walnut, plum, honey, all for sale. But not to drink excessively as drinking is one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
Tempting as it was to hover in the entrance buying things, we are here to look at the church - and you know how I love a good church- and it is a church with stunning frescoes. There are certain aspects that I like in a church, but the thing that makes me stand still each time is the quality of the silence - it rings in your ears. It's a loud silence.
Aleksander was a brilliant guide - he explained the different images - explained that Jesus is always in the rounded highest ceiling domes, always has a halo with a cross (I hadn't spotted that!) and below him, the old testament guys (they are the ones with the scrolls) and the new testament guys (you know, Mathew, Mark, Luke and John) and you can tell which ones those are because they are writing stuff (the new testament?). Mary is always in the mix - again with a halo and a cross. Check it out, you will spot them all - this was an amazing church, I loved it! He even explained that the huge chandelier for candles is often shaped like a crown (for the king of kings). So much symbolism just being on lost on tourists (me)!
Even more good sense prevails - where nuns and monks must take a vow of celibacy, if you decide to go on to the other career option and become a priest, you must get married. (You can't, however, get unmarried if the spirit keeps moving you but the marriage doesn't). Oh, and being a priest isn't an option for women.
A truly wonderful place tucked quietly into the side of the mountain. We bought a bottle of orahovica. Bless those monks.
Next stop was Freedom Monument dedicated to the fall soldiers of WW2. This of course prompted me to start asking questions about communism, Tito....
Novi Sad is the second largest city in Serbia and that was our next destination - but first a quick stop at Petrovaradin Fortress - no idea what the history was but the Romans were there - and it's great fortress real estate perched as it is on a hill, overlooking the Danube - and that's one impressive river, incredibly wide! Great way to smuggle contraband into Serbia when there were embargos on the country. We didn't stay too long there in the sun - a few throw away comments about the padlocks all over the railings - and a good hard look at the tower - bear in mind that it was just after 12 when we were looking at it. Spot the difference in the hands?
Across the bridge and into Novi Sad - what a perfect little pedestrian town - just as my friend Jasna told me ('you must, must, visit Novi Sad, it's sooo pretty'). And so it was, with the main street, the side streets and the pretty little pasaz's (with a soft 'g' for the "z") to link everything up and to create intimate areas of shade. Those ancient town planners thought of everything.
We dined like kings, another plate of cevap in another town. Another orthodox church, a shoe shop (I didn't) and a delicious ice-cream - limun s bosiljkom (lemon with basil) possibly the very best ice-cream I have ever had in my life. Incredibly refreshing.
Back in the van, Zelko waiting patiently. This time to an even older village in the Province of Vojvodina, an autonomous province in Serbia. This village contains the oldest secondary school in Serbia, has (another!) stunning Orthodox church, but more importantly, beside the church (the one with two towers) is what was the administrative centre for the Orthodox Church. The buildings in this village (forgot to say that it is called Sremski Karlovci) are older than those in Serbia as it has been lucky enough to escape being razed and rebuilt various times due to Incursions. That was a pleasant little visit - we were taken into ceramic souvenir shops but none of us were tempted.
I did however drink from the fountain. Apparently if you drink from the fountain and then return to visit again, you will find your soul mate. Why not?
Finally to a winery for a full on tasting. Full points to the family who put this tasting on - great sunka and sir platter (ham and cheese) and generous glasses to sample. Couple of good whites, a dusty red or so, with the piece de resistance being two Bermet wines - one white, one red. This establishment is one of only five in Serbia that produce the white Bermet. This is in the mood of a desert wine but includes 21 ingredients, including herbs and spices and vegetables. It was game on as we tried to guess what was in the wine, but his lips were sealed - we managed to identify lemon, cinnamon and nutmeg but then we were stumped. We tried to surreptitiously google the question but to no avail - and there was nothing listed on the back of the bottle.
If you ever find a bottle of this deliciousness, give me your thoughts on what could possibly go into the making of it. I'll let you know what we have already ruled out in our extensive guessing game.
So buckle up, make sure you have a full bottle of water, a bit of small talk in your back pocket to get things going in a group of strangers... Meet Sheena and Chandler from USA (Trump Despisers, Remote Workers travelling for a year) and Ashiko from Germany (lecturing in Japanese).
For 49 euros we covered a lot of ground. First onto the motorway out of Belgrade through the Panonian Plains which are, well, flat, and extensively planted in (mainly corn/maize/kukuruz at this time of year). The fields are huge, no fencing divisions - I wondered whether this is co-operative farming rather than single holding ownership and it seems it is a bit of both. But no GMOs.
We wound our way up the Fruska Gora National Park (the only visible mountain range bordering the plains). It seems that there are numerous monasteries in the mountains. These are for nuns or monks (but not together!) all for the Orthodox Church, and the one that we are visiting has monks. The monasteries need to be self supporting so they have extensive gardens (bee hives) and make delicious rakia - all flavours - pear, walnut, plum, honey, all for sale. But not to drink excessively as drinking is one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
Tempting as it was to hover in the entrance buying things, we are here to look at the church - and you know how I love a good church- and it is a church with stunning frescoes. There are certain aspects that I like in a church, but the thing that makes me stand still each time is the quality of the silence - it rings in your ears. It's a loud silence.
Aleksander was a brilliant guide - he explained the different images - explained that Jesus is always in the rounded highest ceiling domes, always has a halo with a cross (I hadn't spotted that!) and below him, the old testament guys (they are the ones with the scrolls) and the new testament guys (you know, Mathew, Mark, Luke and John) and you can tell which ones those are because they are writing stuff (the new testament?). Mary is always in the mix - again with a halo and a cross. Check it out, you will spot them all - this was an amazing church, I loved it! He even explained that the huge chandelier for candles is often shaped like a crown (for the king of kings). So much symbolism just being on lost on tourists (me)!
Even more good sense prevails - where nuns and monks must take a vow of celibacy, if you decide to go on to the other career option and become a priest, you must get married. (You can't, however, get unmarried if the spirit keeps moving you but the marriage doesn't). Oh, and being a priest isn't an option for women.
A truly wonderful place tucked quietly into the side of the mountain. We bought a bottle of orahovica. Bless those monks.
Next stop was Freedom Monument dedicated to the fall soldiers of WW2. This of course prompted me to start asking questions about communism, Tito....
Novi Sad is the second largest city in Serbia and that was our next destination - but first a quick stop at Petrovaradin Fortress - no idea what the history was but the Romans were there - and it's great fortress real estate perched as it is on a hill, overlooking the Danube - and that's one impressive river, incredibly wide! Great way to smuggle contraband into Serbia when there were embargos on the country. We didn't stay too long there in the sun - a few throw away comments about the padlocks all over the railings - and a good hard look at the tower - bear in mind that it was just after 12 when we were looking at it. Spot the difference in the hands?
Across the bridge and into Novi Sad - what a perfect little pedestrian town - just as my friend Jasna told me ('you must, must, visit Novi Sad, it's sooo pretty'). And so it was, with the main street, the side streets and the pretty little pasaz's (with a soft 'g' for the "z") to link everything up and to create intimate areas of shade. Those ancient town planners thought of everything.
We dined like kings, another plate of cevap in another town. Another orthodox church, a shoe shop (I didn't) and a delicious ice-cream - limun s bosiljkom (lemon with basil) possibly the very best ice-cream I have ever had in my life. Incredibly refreshing.
Back in the van, Zelko waiting patiently. This time to an even older village in the Province of Vojvodina, an autonomous province in Serbia. This village contains the oldest secondary school in Serbia, has (another!) stunning Orthodox church, but more importantly, beside the church (the one with two towers) is what was the administrative centre for the Orthodox Church. The buildings in this village (forgot to say that it is called Sremski Karlovci) are older than those in Serbia as it has been lucky enough to escape being razed and rebuilt various times due to Incursions. That was a pleasant little visit - we were taken into ceramic souvenir shops but none of us were tempted.
I did however drink from the fountain. Apparently if you drink from the fountain and then return to visit again, you will find your soul mate. Why not?
Finally to a winery for a full on tasting. Full points to the family who put this tasting on - great sunka and sir platter (ham and cheese) and generous glasses to sample. Couple of good whites, a dusty red or so, with the piece de resistance being two Bermet wines - one white, one red. This establishment is one of only five in Serbia that produce the white Bermet. This is in the mood of a desert wine but includes 21 ingredients, including herbs and spices and vegetables. It was game on as we tried to guess what was in the wine, but his lips were sealed - we managed to identify lemon, cinnamon and nutmeg but then we were stumped. We tried to surreptitiously google the question but to no avail - and there was nothing listed on the back of the bottle.
If you ever find a bottle of this deliciousness, give me your thoughts on what could possibly go into the making of it. I'll let you know what we have already ruled out in our extensive guessing game.
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