Jan 13, 2019 - Much better Day in Belgrade

Another lateish morning and a hurried breakfast downstairs before the short walk to meet this morning's guide Tamara, to do a 20th Century tour of Belgrade. First stop was at the Hotel Moscow which was built in 1908 and is still today a 4 star hotel. To get the 5th star would mean changing the hotel too substantially which would compromise the building. Many notable guests have stayed there including Albert Enistein and his wife, Alfred Hitchcock, and of course Hollywood stars including Brad Pitt. Beautiful old building that stands out...

Jan 12, 2019 - A day in Belgrade

Had to keep the home fires burning at the hotel this morning after we all had breakfast downstairs before the girls head off to do a walking tour to get acquainted with the city. The back is sore and not up to trying to walk on slippery footpaths today as my greatest fear would be falling over. Spent my morning rinsing out socks and jocks and jamas in the hope they will dry during the day. If not will sit with the hair dryer on them later. Watched a crappy 1960s Genghis Khan movie as I played with the washing and did some reading of my...

Jan 11, 2019 - On our way to Serbia

Up and at 'em this morning as there are a couple of things we would like to do before we have to leave our hotel at midday. First up was a walk along the banks of the Danube to near Parliament where there is a poignant sculpture right on the water's edge. In 1944-45 the Hungarian Nazis of the Red Arrow party executed thousands of Jewish people in this spot and merely pushed their bodies into the river to float away. Along the very water's edge are sculptures of many life size pairs of bronze shoes, men's. women's and even a pair of child's...

Oct 15, 2018 - Belgrade 2

We spent the last two days in Serbia exploring north to the Danube. First we headed North West to Sremski Karlovci. Like so many towns along this part of the Danube, it has changed hands many times which has enhanced its culture. We visited a home where we were shown how to make Royal Bunt Cakes. The reason they were called Royal is because of the cost of the cake pan. To make one in the old days was expensive and only Royalty could afford them. The woman here, was a real estate agent and about 10 years ago started making the cakes and now...

Oct 12, 2018 - Belgrade-1

We headed to Belgrade stopping first at the Royal Winery Oplenac that was ahead of its time and in high production before the German invasion in 1941. It now produces a limited amount, but did win a couple of Gold Medals at the Belgrade Wine Fair. We then stopped at the church of St George which sits high on a hill in the forest. This is the finial resting place of Karadojordje who started the revolution against the Ottomans in 1804. The crypt holds 24 family members. Belgrade is an old city that is being modernized. When new buildings are...

Oct 10, 2018 - Nis, Serbia

Nis, Serbia, was the worst and best stop on our trip. The other cites we visited seemed to promote tourism and there were tourist, tour buses, and souvenir kiosks everywhere, but in Nis we saw none of this, but someone there was always ready to help. There were a lot of upscale shops and a pedestrian walkway that stretched 5 or 6 blocks. They ran out of room above ground, so a new one was built under the old one and it is even bigger. Nis has lived through a lot of painfulness and their monuments show it. We liked being surrounded by only...

Aug 9, 2018 - Sunday, Monday 5&6 Aug

Dear all, Well it seems that I have been lost. In the last blog I referred to Sarajevo as the capital of Serbia. It is the capital of Bosnia Herzegovina. Not only that but I am lost in time, we have moved into August. I have updated the date so I am now up with everything. We visited a church where the entire wall is civet end in ceramics but the are not as we know ceramic tiles. These tiles were almost paper thin . The craftsmanship in the work and the designs were amazing. They were done 1 or 2 centuries ago., can't remember now. The...

May 27, 2018 - Peje

We took a longer route to Peje to allow us to visit the country's capital, Prishtina, and also to see more of the countryside. As expected, the capital did not have a lot to offer other than a couple of items referring to the country's recent history. One was a statue of Bill Clinton memorialising his contribution to Kosovo's existence and the other relating to it's 'New Borne' status. A river flowing through the town plus plenty of green spaces and a lively centre were its main features. The Kosovo Force (KFOR) was very noticeable in...

Sep 19, 2017 - Belgrade, Serbia

Georgi, my Blabla car driver picked me up at the Timisoara house at about 13:45. He had two Brazilians in the back seat, they didn't know each other, they just happened to both be from Brazil. We drove about 1 1/2 hours and hit the border to Serbia. First you have to go through the Romania check point. Then you go through the Serbia one. We went through with no questions although the Serbia inspector asked to look in the hatch where the backpacks of the two Brazilians were. All ok and we proceeded. We made a pit stop and proceeded through...

Sep 2, 2017 - Skopje, Macedonia to Pristine, Kosovo

We left Ohrid behind this a.m. and took the northern mountainous route to Skopje. We drove through narrow forested valleys. Some widened a little to allow small farms to flourish along with little villages. We could see a freeway being constructed across the valley in the center. On hills there were passing lanes on the up side. On one as we came down the hill a car going up jumped tne gun and pulled out just before the passing lane started. He came so close to hitting us! Gord turned for the ditch and slammed on brakes...another life...

Aug 17, 2017 - Belgrade 2

Well I lied! We are spending a 2nd night here. This a.m. we waited for a tram that never came then took another and changed to another. We walked up the hill to the fort entrance and were dismayed to find it had been built in the late 1800's, early 1900's so not that old. The Military Museum is closed for renovations but tanks and missles are displayed outside the fort...and all late 1900's. There was a great view out over the confluence of the Sava and Danube Rivers. Lots of green space too. The Roman well was built in the 17th century and...

Aug 16, 2017 - Belgrade, Serbia

Although traffic was heavy, we had little problem getting pn the autoroute and heading southeast. Slowly the outside temperature climbed to 30 deg Celsius. We drove past all the big box stores...Ikea included...as we left the Old City and City Center behind. Once the city was truly behind us we found ourselves passing through corn fieds, some dry, some not and some being harvested. Some farms grew veggies and others sunflowers. Some fields had been plowed under awaiting another planting. At one point we were startled to see fields of...