Serbia - Blogabond

Belgrade is a fascinating city; not particularly beautiful or visually extraordinary, but culturally one of the more interesting places I have had the chance to go to. The first person I met was the taxi driver who despite being fairly friendly didn't set the meter and overcharged me, I later discovered, by 400%. I then found the hostel, which although central, was up four flights of stairs in what can only be described as a 'work in progress', or a building that appears to virtually be being rebuilt whilst people live inside it. I arrived quite late in the evening and couldn't at once tell who worked there and who was a guest, such was the laid-back atmosphere, but I was shown to my room and then had the opportunity to meet everyone.

Although I have met great people in every city I have been to, there were more during my five days in Belgrade than anywhere else. The hostel was so small that it felt like we were flatmates, albeit very briefly, and strangers would come and go as they pleased. Neighbours and friends of the owners would walk in for a conversation or to use the computer and one night a woman brought her young daughter in so that she could use their bath. The owners themselves were friendly, helpful and generous with their supply of rakija, a deadly concoction that I have vowed never to go near again. Being so centrally located and with the advantage of the local knowledge of the owners, we went out most nights to spots that few tourists probably ever get to see. It was to a venue called the Blue Moon that I twice went with two Canadians from the hostel. As musicians, they even got a couple of chances to jam with the band, though for the rest of the time the music was mostly in Serbian. The atmosphere here was so much more intimate and inclusive than most of the places I used to go to in London, and despite speaking a different language it was easy to at once feel welcomed.

During the day, the weather was pretty downcast for the first 48 hours, and so I decided to extend my stay to five nights so that I could see more of the city and make the most of the great company. On the third day, however, the sun came out and it became so hot I was able to sit in the park all day reading and listening to music. I probably never did see as much of the city as I should have, but what I did see was unlike anywhere I'd previously been to. The old castle, dotted with tanks and missiles that have been installed there as part of the military museum also gives views out over the rivers. And it is here that you notice just how close the centre of the city is to the open countryside, as trees line the waterside for much of the northern part of the town. The most extraordinary site, however, was the location of two bombings in the centre of town that are around a decade old. Many cities would have cleared these up by now - Ground Zero in New York is probably the closest comparison I could think of. But here, nothing appears to have been touched, and you can see the damage that the bombs have had on the buildings, with floors and walls ripped apart. Perhaps unsurprisingly in a nation who so recently was bombed by America, there is a certain attitude that many of the older residents take on when they hear you speaking English. However, most of the younger generations are more open minded and are in fact happy to talk to you. One time I did fail to pick up on the difference in culture was when I wore shorts to an Orthodox Church. I remembered just in time, as I was about to go in, so stopped at admiring it from the outside. The church, the biggest of its kind in the world, was quite a distance from the hostel, however, and I did not have the energy to go back the next day.

Back at the hostel I met a mixture of local Serbians and travellers, some of whom have been on the road for years. The state of mind of a traveller is so different to the people who you meet at home that speaking to them is very enlightening, even if you can't quite understand the mentality of someone who is permanently on the move.

For my final day or two in Belgrade, I made the most of everything a Westernised city has to offer; for although it is obviously an Eastern European city, in the centre are all the shops, cafes and restaurants you will find in London, Paris and New York. In fact, if anything it was more like London than any other capital I've been to, and many of the shops were British rather than American or continental. I did my first bit of shopping, having realised that I didn't quite have enough clothes with me to compensate for some of the slower laundry service turnarounds I have come across, and several times had access to an internet cafe and even to Costa for coffee. (A note on Serbian coffee - it is not coffee in the sense that we think of coffee in Britain and America, the bottom 25% of the cup being filled with a thick grainy goo; so Costa was a life-saver).

On our final night, I went with the two Canadians to a restaurant near our hotel that is enigmatically named '?'. The full story is complex, dating back to some argument with the church it is opposite, but the restaurant is a popular and famous one for tourists and locals alike, and offers authentic Serbian cuisine. Of course, most Serbian food has a pretty heavy meat content, so I went for something a little more Westernised. We later met up with a guy from Slovenia and an American, and went to a small and well hidden bar playing live music that would have been more at home in 1950s Louisianna. The walls were adorned with pictures of Elvis and an old motorbike - quite a surreal experience in Belgrade. Finally we headed out to a club we had been advised to go to, and although the entrance fee only came to less than 1GBP, I can safely say it is not somewhere I will be going again on my next trip to the city. Unbeknown to us, the theme was of the gothic variety. I was, I believe, the only person wearing white, and under the UV lights I glowed boldly in a place where only people's teeth and eyes were visible. Some time later, we thankfully escaped with our lives. I went to bed knowing that I had a train to catch in four hours.

written by

BenWH on April 12, 2009 from Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro

from the travel blog: Gap Year Odyssey

tagged Serbia

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Sofia, Bulgaria

I had to get up early to catch my train, which left the central station in Belgrade at 7am. My train map, which I have carried with me everywhere so far for easy reference, highlights interesting and scenic parts of routes in green. Most journeys have some, and my journey from Bar to Belgrade was nearly all highlighted. I was about to embark on a 24.5 hour journey, none of which was highlighted in green - I would have to amuse myself in other ways.

I had found out the day before that instead of a single train, I would have to change at Sofia in Bulgaria, which would give me an opportunity to stretch my legs at least. The first part of the journey therefore, was on a normal European train, in a six seat carriage. For the first five hours I was in a carriage with three Serbian students who were travelling home to spend the holiday with their families. In the intense heat and without air conditioning, the carriage was quickly heating up, and as I tried to draw my curtain to at least shield myself from the sun, it got stuck. At this point one of the students swore loudly in English on my behalf, and we all starting laughing. From that point on, we talked the whole way to their hometown about everything from Shakespeare to Communism, and History to Music. As drama students, they knew English history and literature, and it was fascinating being able to draw comparisons with them. The one downside was that they were convinced I looked identical to Jamie Oliver; how Jamie Oliver has even found his way into the Serbian consciousness is beyond me.

By the time they got off I had had no access to food or water all morning. (We had been told there was a cafe - instead there was just one man making Serbian coffee on a stove in a neighbouring carriage.) They kindly got me some water and food on the station and passed it in through the window, so I was at least hydrated for the rest of the journey. Some hours later, we passed through Bulgarian border control and eventually reached Sofia. I had originally intended to stop here, but after extending my stay in Belgrade decided not to; seeing the littered fields, the slums and the miserable communist architecture, I was instantly pleased I wasn't spending the night. Whilst I'm sure the centre of the city has its fair share of sights, the outskirts were by far the most horrific of any place I have seen in Europe, and I couldn't believe I was within the EU, so great was the ubiquitous poverty.

At the station, I had huge difficulty finding the correct ticket sales office, as it is laid out like an airport and all the signs are of course in cyrillic. Thanks to the help of another tourist who apparently spoke both English and Bulgarian, I found it eventually ... to be told that there were no seats left on the train and the next one was not until the next day. I begged, I pleaded, and eventually I was offered a bed on the train but it would cost more. It did not matter; I was getting out of here at the first opportunity. In my remaining hour at the station I managed to locate a piece of bread, the only vegetarian food available, and my first and only meal of the day. Finally able to board the train, I was shown my carriage by a strange old man, who, after rubbing his fingers together and repeatedly saying 'very nice', I realised was after a tip - for what?! For walking my down to a carriage I could have found perfectly well on my own? I had even carried my own bag. Unfortunately I had a couple of Bulgarian bills hanging out of my pocket, but as I knew I wouldn't be needing them again I passed them over. He then had the audacity to ask for Euros, so I told him in no uncertain terms that he was wasting his time. I am still not sure if he even worked at the station or whether he was just a random local who thought he could make some easy money.

The journey was uncomfortable, due to a lack of storage space that meant I had to share a single bed with both my bags. However, the train itself was nice, and if you discount the toilet, the experience was not too bad. We were woken up several times throughout the night at the Turkish border, had to buy visas in USD or Euros after standing in the cold for nearly 2 hours - some people nearly ended up having to stay at the borderline because they didn't have the correct currencies - and eventually I woke up in the early morning somewhere outside of Istanbul.

written by

BenWH on April 17, 2009 from Sofia, Bulgaria

from the travel blog: Gap Year Odyssey

tagged Turkey, Serbia and Bulgaria

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Zlatibor, Serbia and Montenegro

OK, so the family arrives tomorrow where we will meet in Belgrade. I am still in Zlatibor. The business part of this trip has just ended. The bus just left with most of the conference participants. It was a nice meeting. Yesterday, we toured the western part of Serbia looking at the rapsberry production here. Believe it or not, Serbia is a huge world supplier of frozen raspberries. We had lunch in the small town of Ivanjica which is the Raspberry Capital

of Serbia. They had a nice lunch for us and filled us with food and Slivovitz, plum brandy. In fact we sampled brandy made from just about anything you can think of including raspberries. Here is a picture of the small little production farms. Each family has a little raspberry patch. The family picks it and brings it down to the local freezer where they get paid.

There are people bringing wheel barrows full of hand picked berries from all over the town. Eating has been a big part of the trip so far. We were barely done with lunch and it was time for dinner. The hosts had set up some traditional dancing for us.

. When they brought out the little kids, it made me homesick. But the girls will be here soon.

. Later that night, we were all given some lessons in Serbian dancing. I am ready to teach the whole family when they get here tomorrow. Pictures of the whole family dancing are sure to follow over the next few days...

Once, in the Blue Moon ...

Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro

Three Countries, 24 Hours

Sofia, Bulgaria

Waiting for the Family to Arrive

Zlatibor, Serbia and Montenegro

Heading South?