O'Srbia!
About the hosts: the population, mostly Serbs, are friendly, emotional, sociable. Most of them have the features of typical southerners, dark-haired with dark eyes. Height above 170cm. There are very few fat people, as well as frankly thin people. The parks have jogging and bike paths that are in demand. Even in small towns we saw signs of fitness clubs. They love national music. Her motives are heard in both pop and rock. You can meet people with a book quite often. The Serbian language can be disassembled by the Slavic ear. Signs and other printed information is easy to read. It happens that if you “tear” a sentence out of context, it is not clear what it is about. Both Cyrillic and Latin are used. Many people know at least at the household level English. The Serbian phrasebook also came in handy.
They were afraid of a little rampage of criminals. But nothing of the kind was seen. Morginal personalities were seen in the vicinity of railway stations, and sometimes on the streets.
Road: Moscow-Frankfurt am Main-Belgrade. The total travel time is approximately 7 hours. Passport control at Belgrade airport: check on the base, an entry stamp can be put on existing stamps. They don’t put a stamp on departure, only on boarding passes.
Currency: dinar. At the time of the trip, 116-118 dinars for 1 euro. In the exchange office ("changer" in the local) of the airport, the exchange rate, as always, is not very profitable (1 EUR - 114.5 din. ).
There are buses from the airport to some hotels.
Accommodation hotel: "Slavia" ** (Savskaya str. , 1-9). Nearby there is "Slavia" ****. Furniture still remembers the times of Yugoslavia. But everything is clean and tidy. The trash was taken out every day. Cleaned up if they hung a corresponding sign on the door. The staff is courteous and efficient. Relatively inexpensive and tasty you can dine in the restaurant at the hotel. We remember the dinner. Mushroom chorba (soup) was chosen as the first. The male half desired meat. And prudently, a small splash was ordered. Such a beef cutlet with onions, as it turned out, was the size of a tea saucer. I wonder what size is large? . Because I had to "rescue" a friend, curiosity was not satisfied. Breakfast is a traditional buffet. A couple of times there was meat, completely edible sausages, cold cuts, stewed vegetables or salads, muesli, scrambled eggs, various buns and puffs, cheeses, butter, apples, oranges, bananas. The big plus of this hotel is the location. 20 minutes walk to the railway and bus stations. Close to shops, cafes, markets. The main attractions are also nearby. At the reception you can take a free map of Belgrade, pretty accurate.
As for food and drink. For the first, they ordered soup (in local chorba). In addition to the already mentioned mushroom soup-puree, we tried fish, veal and chicken chorba. In addition to meat, some potatoes, onions and greens are added. Quite tasty and satisfying. Serbian salad is similar in composition to Greek. Only pepper - paprika... Once again we met with this very paprika in Madzharitsa pizza. They brought a pizza very reminiscent of New York. That's just with a green pepper. How he got bitten…$@&. They drank water and beer. They ate the sauce. Even though it wasn't sharp. Of the local beers, I liked the light "Elen". From wine - white "Riesling". There are many different "bakers" on every corner, where they sell a wide variety of pastries. In the supermarket they took real yogurt, and not the bullshit that we give out for it. Several times in different cities they drank herbal tea and Espresso coffee. The coffee is excellent everywhere. It was evident from the eyes of the vis-a-vis that they liked the tea. : ) The ice cream also turned out to be delicious. Fruits and berries with a very natural color, taste and smell, cheap especially on the market.
Transport. All cities were reached by bus from the bus station. Near the railway there is an interregional and international one, and across the road is a suitable one. Buses run almost exactly on schedule, quite often.
If you go further along the same Sava to the Temple of St. Sava. The architects used the classical Byzantine style of the reign of Emperor Justinian I. The main church of the Byzantine Empire, St. Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople, served as a direct example. However, in its layout, the Temple of St. Sava still differs from the Constantinople model, since there was no merger between the basilica and the central structure. An element of the Serbian medieval style is the addition of four turrets around the main dome. A very beautiful building, especially in the backlight. At 09:00, the bells call the Serbian anthem.
Another religious building attracted our attention - the Church of St. Mark, located in the Tasmajdansky park near the building of the Serbian Parliament. It was designed in Serbian-Byzantine style in imitation of the architecture of Gracanica. In the southern part of the church there is a sarcophagus with the remains of the Serbian ruler Stefan Dusan, and Patriarch German rests in the marble crypt. The church has one of the largest collections of icons from the 13th-19th centuries in Serbia. It has a Russian Orthodox chapel.
In the evening on a day off, in the park near the church, you can listen and watch the light and music fountain. The repertoire includes classics. And in general, in the cities of Serbia there are many parks, squares, green spaces, flowers. There are fountains in the squares. The water from them is used for washing on a hot day.
Following the map, we passed by the Parliament and other government buildings. In the square of flowers, the local detergent company held a celebration. The cheerful presenter approached passers-by and asked questions. If you answer, you get a pack of washing powder as a gift. We also got what we need in the household. A little to the side were retro cars with a colorful African American dressed in the style of Chicago gangsters of the 30s. We walked along the chic pedestrian street of Prince Michael and went to the Kalemegdan fortress. The name comes from the Turkish name "Castle Square" (tur. Kale Meydanı ). According to another opinion, the name Kalemegdan comes from two Turkish words "Kale" ("fortress") and "Megdan" ("battle"). The Turks called Kalemegdan Fikir-bayir (fikir bayı r), the hill of contemplation. Now, quite often, the Belgrade fortress itself is called Kalemegdan. The fortress is located on a hilltop at an altitude of 125 meters above sea level at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers. Inside the fortress is the Military Museum, which exhibits samples of weapons from various periods of history.
We walked along another attraction, where there is a thin line between the real and the painted world in the Belgrade Skadarliya district. Mostly people of creative professions live here.
As "Monuments" of the NATO bombings, the buildings of the Ministry of Defense and on the opposite side of the "twin" building were preserved not restored. Symbolically, we thought. . . And the white building of the American embassy looks strange all over. The windows are walled up to the last floor. The street is blocked for transport, there is a “thorn” on the fence, enhanced security. Serbs remember everything. But they live in the present.
Nikola Tesla Museum radio engineering. Tesla's patents and theoretical work provided the basis for the invention and development of many modern devices powered by alternating current, polyphase systems and the electric motor, which made it possible to accomplish the so-called second stage of the industrial revolution. The unit of measurement of magnetic flux density (magnetic induction) is named after N. Tesla. Among the many awards of the scientist are the medals of E. Cresson, J. Scott, T. Edison. He is also known as a supporter of the hypothesis of the existence of the ether. Contemporary biographers considered Tesla "the man who invented the 20th century"[4] and the "patron saint" of modern electricity[5]. After demonstrating the radio and winning the "War of the Currents, " Tesla gained widespread recognition as an outstanding electrical engineer and inventor. [6]
We listened to the tour and watched a biopic in Serbian. The main thing is quite clear. It is possible in English (if I am not mistaken, and in German). The exhibits are active. In one of the rooms, the ashes of a genius-crazy scientist are kept in a metal ball. Belgrade Airport is named after him.
Those interested in botany and those who just want to take a break from the bustle of the city can be advised to visit the botanical garden. Just an island of silence in the bustle of a big city.
The desire to see the city in the imperial style led us to Zimun. From "Slavia" you can get by city bus number 82 (now it is already part of the city). Pretty quiet and not rushed. And it is very reminiscent of the Hungarian Szentendre. The eyes are looking for the marzipan museum. And this is not surprising, because. Szentendre (Hung. Szentendre) is a city in the central part of Hungary, founded in the 17th century. Serbs fleeing the turmoil in their country caused by the Turkish invasion. Szentendre is known as a city of artists with many galleries and workshops.
Located in the historical region of Bač -Bodrog on the border of Bač ka and Srem. The city has a multinational composition - Serbs, Hungarians, Slovaks, Rusyns, Germans, etc. live in it. The city was founded in 1694, when Serbian merchants created a settlement on the opposite bank of the Danube from the Petrovaradin fortress. In the XVIII-XIX centuries. Novi Sad became an important trade and craft center, as well as the center of Serbian culture in the region, earning the nickname "Serbian Athens"[2]. The city was badly destroyed in the revolution of 1848, but it was subsequently rebuilt. Currently, Novi Sad is the industrial and financial center of the Serbian economy, as well as a major cultural center. There is an airport near the city. The city arose in the middle of the 18th century as a settlement of Orthodox Serbs, who were forbidden to settle in the Catholic Petervardein, a city on the opposite bank of the Danube, formed around the impregnable Petervardein fortress.
Here modernity and history intertwine very harmoniously. Under the bridge leading to Petravar there are huge photos of how the bridges looked after they were built and after the bombing. Now the bridges are like new. Only the crumpled supports and a fragment of the body of one of them is a silent reminder of those terrible events. On the restored bridge we go to the Petravardin fortress. Petravar itself is like a functioning monument of past centuries. It's being restored, of course. But the state of the fortress is simply excellent. From its heights, amazing views of the hills and the Danube winding between them open up.
One of the largest fortresses in Europe in the city of Smederevo cannot boast of such a state. Part of it has been restored in more or less original form. And they organized an open-air theater there. One of the reviews read that knight tournaments are held there (http://weleda. hiblogger. net/364319.html). But when we were there we met only the same idlers. We admire the power of this structure and admire the beautiful views of the majestic Danube. Smederevo (Serb. Smederevo) is a city in Serbia at the confluence of the Morava and the Danube, 50 km from Belgrade. It is the administrative center of the Podunavlye district and the Smederevo community. In the Middle Ages, the city was the capital and largest city of Serbia, as evidenced by the ancient city center, built between 1427 and 1459 and well preserved. In 1458, the city was completely captured by the Ottoman Empire and in 1459 it was transformed into the Sanjak of Smederevo. Smederevo fortress, built in the 15th century, is currently one of the main attractions of the city.
Our first impression of Serbia is the best. Set to continue dating!
