yeah I'm in Belgrade
Full photo album online at: http://picasaweb.google.com/mpadraicmurphy/August2007HolidayAug9Day1Belgrade
After a series of incredibly frustrating experiences while trying to get out of Moscow via Aeroflot (passport control problems, pushy people in line, broken seat on the plane, an extremely drunk guy sitting across from me and the general irritation that everyone on the plane stood and began lining up to get off when specifically instructed otherwise) I finally made it to Belgrade.
This was my first trip out of Russia since arriving in April and I was ready for a change of pace and really looking forward to the 19 days on the road. My friends Marko and Tanya met me at the airport and brought me back to Marko’s home where we’d all be staying with his parents and brother.
In front of St. Sava Temple - It is HUGE!
Marko’s mom began force feeding me almost immediately upon my arrival. But, if you’re going to be force fed then Serbia’s not a bad place to have it done because Serbian food is excellent and Marko’s mom is a great cook. The Serbian diet seems to consist pretty much of tasty flaky breads, cheese and lots of meat. Fruit and vegetables are served too, but all of the Serb guys seemed to think I was a freak for eating the green stuff as they pretty much stuck to meat, bread and cheese. I think the phrase used was “vegetables and fruit aren’t food they are what food eats.”
After a massive breakfast around 11:00 am we took off to explore central Belgrade.
St. Sava's with a statue of Karagorge a Serbian freedom fighter in front.
Marko’s family lives right in the center of
Belgrade a few blocks from St. Sava Temple, which was our first stop.
St. Sava is the World’s largest Orthodox Church (not counting Hagia Sophia because it is now a museum).
The temple is a truly massive white building with green domes that can be seen from almost anywhere in the city.
As you walk upon it you feel as though you need to switch your vision into panoramic mode just to take it all in.
The church has been under construction for a hundred years or so and could easily go a hundred more years before they finish the interior.
And while St. Sava’s is far from finished the sheer size and grandeur of the cavernous interior is impressive, as are the acoustics.
Around St. Sava’s is a lovely park that is a great place to go running.
In Belgrade's central Market.
Nothing quite like doing laps around the World’s largest Orthodox Cathedral.
Within the park there is also a fairly cool statue of Karagorge (Black George). Karagorge led the Serbs in revolt against the
Ottoman Empire between 1804 and 1817 (when he was assassinated).
Karagorge’s revolt was successful in pushing the Turks out of
Belgrade and many other important cities and by 1815 establishing defacto independence for
Serbia.
Serbia received its full independence from the
Ottoman Empire in 1878.
From St. Sava’s we walked to a café…
I guess this is a good time to explain the café culture of Belgrade for those of you who have not been to the city before.
Standing at the crossroads of Republike Square.
It sometimes seems that
Belgrade is perpetually on a coffee break because at any point in the day the cafés are filled with people drinking coffee, water and beer.
The cafés are a place for business, social activity, and relaxation and the sheer number of cafés spread throughout the city (most filled) is mind boggling.
Basically, the entire process of sightseeing in Serbia with Serbs is to see a sight, go to a café, meet with people, leave for another sight, go to a café, meet with people, leave for another sight, go to a café, meet with people, go to another café and meet with people, take a break and eat meat products, go to another café and meet with people etc… There are a lot of liquids being consumed a lot of bathroom breaks, a lot of cool things to see and a lot of fun laid back people to meet.
Drinking from a 500 year old Turkish Fountain.
The prices of course are fantastic compared to
Moscow, which made the café stops even more enjoyable.
Okay, back to the day…so we go to our first café, meet with some people have some beer relax and talk about what we’re going to go and do next. And by talk about what we’re going to do next I guess I mean the Serbs discussed where they were going to take me next as I didn’t really have a choice as to where I would go or what I would see or what I would eat (all of which were fine by me…sometimes you just gotta go with the flow and trust the judgment of the experts you’re hanging out with). After beer and coffee in two cafés it was decided that we’d hit the pedestrian mall Kneza Mihailova and walk from there to Kalemegdan Citadel overlooking the city.
During the drive from St.
Kalemegdan Fortress.
Sava’s to the Kneza Mihailova we made a quick stop at the public market.
Outdoor markets are always fun to see.
For one, they just aren’t that common in the
United States anymore…in fact I can only think of a few places in the
Washington DC and Baltimore area where they exist.
Second, it’s great to see people going about their normal day and interacting with each other rather than just seeing how people interact with tourists at the attractions and sights of a city.
After the pit stop at the market we parking and headed over Repbulike Square to begin our trek. Republike Square is a central and extremely busy point in Belgrade.
Belgrade citizens relax atop the walls of Kalemegden Citadel.
It was a central rallying point for Milosevic opposition and is main gathering point of Belgrade’s citizens.
The pedestrian mall, Kneza Mihailova, numerous public transit lines and some of the busiest streets in
Belgrade all converge here.
The square is relatively large stone structure with four streets jutting out from it.
Surrounding the square are numerous cafés and within the square there are is the National Theatre and a statue to Prince Michael.
Prince Michael was the Serbian leader responsible for fully expelling the Ottoman Empire from
Serbia in the late 1800’s.
Kneza Mihailova, the main pedestrian street, begins at at Republike Square and runs to the foot of the hill where Kalemegdan Citadel sits.
The sun sets over Belgrade and Kalemegden's military chapel.
Along Kneza Mihailova are shops, cafés, fountains and tons of people milling about.
As you reach the end of Kneza Mihailova you begin to ascend a large hill overlooking the
Sava River.
As you ascend along the Sava the massive Kalemegdan Citadel comes into view. The land the Citadel sits on was at one point the entirety of ancient Belgrade. First settled by the Celts in the 2md century it was inhabited (and by inhabited I mean conquered and inhabited) by the Romans, Slavs, Avars, Byzantines, Bulgarians, Huns and Turks. There were at least 115 battles fought for control of this land. Belgrade, for much of its history, was a frontier town separating the east and the west.
Chapel at Kalemegdan Fortress.
It separated the Romans from the tribes of Central Europe, the Byzantines from the Slavs and Avars and Western Europe from the
Ottoman Empire.
As a constant border town
Belgrade was often on the forefront of invasion and counter invasion.
What remains of the fortress today was primarily built by the Turks and is from the 18th century (though the core is even older). Kalemegdan overlooks both the Danube and the Sava rivers, which meet at the base of the Citadel. The views of the rivers from the fortress are impressive and one can easily spend a whole day wandering through the various layers of the fortification, visiting the grave of one of the Turkish Pasha’s, visiting the military museum and just relaxing at one of the many cafés within Kalemegdan’s walls.
Serbian girls as the sun sets over Kalemegdan Fortress.
We chose to wander the walls, visit the fortress chapel and stop at a café to watch the sun set over the Danube and Sava rivers. Kalemegdan was a fantastic spot to visit filled with neat nooks and crannies, interesting history and beautiful views of the surrounding area.
One of the things that really impressed me about the view of Belgrade was the greenness of the surrounding area. While the central city does not feel particularly green when you are atop the walls of Kalemegdan it is striking to see green forests flowing out from the far banks of the Sava and Danube rivers as far as the eye can see.
After finishing our beverages and watching the sun set we wandered back down to Kneza Mihailova and off to dinner at a traditional Serbian Restaurant with Marko’s friends.
Sunset reflected in my sunglasses while enjoying Tuborg in a cafe atop Kalemegden Citadel.
At dinner I sampled some good Serbian beer, a shot of Pelinkovac (made from various herbs and grasses) and a shot of Serbian pear Rakiya.
Both were really strong but I could have drunk a bottle of the stuff and it would have made no difference to my sobriety considering the amount of food we were eating.
We started dinner off with hearty and hot flat bread. Following the bread we were served appetizer platters containing various kinds of spreads. The spreads were fantastic except for the one made from tripe…here’s a travel hint…if you’re with a bunch of locals and no one is eating one particular dish maybe you should take that as a sign not to smear a whole bunch of the stuff onto your piece of bread and eat it…there’s a reason that those in the know are not eating the stuff.
Once we’d finished the appetizers soup and salad arrived and finally huge servings of Serbian meat and potatoes showed up.
Drinks in Belgrade
Steak Karagorge was ordered for me and it was fantastic.
Marko had been raving about this dish since I’d met him in
Moscow so it was absolutely necessary that I eat it on my first night in the city.
Steak Karagorge (I was informed that it is also known as a “ladies best friend” �" I’ll let you figure out how and why it has that nick name) is a generous helping of beef rolled and stuffed with cheese and garlic and other goodies.
It is then battered and deep fried to a golden brown and served on a platter with a huge helping of sliced potatoes.
Extremely Tasty!
We ended the first day of my trip around 11:00 PM (2am Moscow time) after two and a half hours of eating and drinking. I enjoyed my first day in Belgrade and the first day of my immensely, though I was exhausted, and I was definitely looking forward to my remaining days in Belgrade.
Tanya in front of St. Sava's. HUGE!!!
More pictures are available at… http://picasaweb.google.com/mpadraicmurphy/August2007HolidayAug9Day1Belgrade
