Know Belgrade to the strengths of Novi Sad • Tourism • Forbes Mexico

“Thanks”, I tell him very politely and thank him with the only Serbian word I know. The old nun just given me an apple. The bus driver, the tour guide and some guests who were close also received one. “Apple” is ” jabuca ” In Serbio, explains the kind driver. My second word. The nun disappears with her black habit in the church of the monastery, which is isolated from the world in the dense forests. Fruška Gora is the name of this mountainous region of Serbia, although the highest point does not reach 600 meters. But the landscape is wonderfully quiet and green. Forests, meadows and fields with hills undulating, as in an enlightened book.

Now it is a harvest time, explains the Dragic Tourist Guide. There is much to do. People are waiting for many hours of hard work in the field. At night, they sit in the banks in front of their homes and comment on the work of the day. At least in the field. When the harvest ends and peace returns, people meet to celebrate. Traditional celebrations, such as the Slava of Orthodox Christians, where the Holy of the Family is honored, offer a pleasant atmosphere during the cold and dark winters.

We enter the church of the monastery. From the outside, the Church looks very modern and is painted from a discreet target. Inside, it displays all its beauty. Decorated completely with colorful icons and wall paintings of the 16th century well preserved! The nun who gave us the apples briefly explains the most important sanctuaries and the history of the small monastery, which also includes a curative spring below.

Here are ten nuns. After visiting the church, they invite us to a glass of wine and homemade cookies. What sweets! And how rich! It seems that nuts are part of all Serbia cakes. If something does not wear nuts and at least ten eggs, it is not a real cake, as I have learned today! “Hvala,” I repeatedly thank the ladies of black and sorry not to speak their language. I would have loved to talk to them longer.

Novi Sad

The first thing I see from Novi Sad are the imposing fortifications of the Habsburg, built between 1692 and 1780. Petrovaradin, or Peterwardein in German, was the most important defensive fortification of the Habsburg crown in all the Balkans in the seventeenth century. Prince Eugenio de Savoy inflicted an overwhelming defeat to the Ottoman Army in this place in 1716. Again and again, the attackers were repelled from here. For the Ottomans, this strength of Vauban was impregnable.

Crossing the bridge of freedom, Reconstructed in 2005, we reached another younger area in the city, on the other side of the Danube. In 1999, during the NATO air attacks against Serbia during the Kosovo War, all the bridges of the city on the Danube were destroyed. His reconstruction took several years. During that time, crossing the Danube was not the only problem for the inhabitants of Novi Sad. The remaining fragments of the bridge blocked all maritime transport.

On the other side of the river, a monument commemorates the sad three -day extermination campaign carried out by the Nazis Hungaros in 1942, in which around 4,000 people died.

The city center, around the Catholic Church and the City Council, mainly evokes the time of Habsburg. Among them are beautiful buildings, well preserved and restored, including that of the Orthodox Patriarch. Only a discreet plaque on the wall of a commemoration house that Albert Einstein lived in Serbia, specifically here in Novi Sad, with his first wife. Mileva Marić was physical and much more than the first love of the founder of the theory of relativity. He was one of the first to support his work and played a fundamental role in the development of the famous theory.

Belgrade

It is still early, just 8 pm, when we go up to the old fortress. It will make too hot later, but for now it is still pleasantly frequently. At this time of the night, the green spaces are for people who walk their dogs or run. This is not really a fortress, but a large park. A few charming wooden banks border a small walk. An old man is sitting there, nibbling a loaf of bread that brought with him. Part goes to the birds. A little further back, I see old ruins, which may date from the Roman era, very close to the shore. From here, I have a perfect view of the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, known as the most beautiful square in the city!

To delight children, the land of the old castle are not only full of ruins, but also of dinosaurs in a meadow. They call it Jurassic Adventure Park, probably in reference to the film. After crossing the park once and returning to the main street, Pariska, the first sellers installed their stalls with memories, drinks and small snacks at the entrance of the park. But, for the moment, I only have euros. I have to find a change office in the center, which starts just when crossing the street.

Belgrade is not any city. The White Cityas translated, it was for a long time the capital of the multiethnic communist state of Yugoslavia. Today, Belgrade seems to me a place to live, not to contemplate. Its people seem to be their true treasure. The city has a difficult story behind it. Belgrade does not necessarily presume magnificent buildings. During the Balkan War, many buildings were destroyed by NATO bombings in 1999.

Only in the commercial streets of the city center the beautiful neoclassical buildings still retain a trace of their old glory. Although most of them have seen better days, they seem lovely and ancient, worthy of their age. As if they hid exciting things yet to discover. But many city buildings also remember the time, quite gray, of communism.

Finally I find a exchange house that is already open at that early time. Serbia is not part of the European Union and, therefore, has its own currency. In Belgrade, it is paid with Serbian Dinares. As I am only in Serbia one day, I do not need much and only change a small amount. The man of the exchange house is very friendly, but, unfortunately, he does not speak a word of English and I do not speak any Serbian. With clumsy gestures and many smiles on both sides, we achieve it, so in the end, man gets my euros and I love the dinares.

Then I find a pleasant cafeteria. There are not many people in the morning. I let myself fall into a comfortable armchair and ask for an express. I am surprised a little prices. They are not expensive, but they are very similar to what we pay in Barcelona. There is a television on on the upper floor wall. Of course, I don’t understand anything and I have no idea what the movie is about. It looks like a documentary, at least, with Latin subtitles. Although the official alphabet in Serbia is Cyrillic, newspapers and television also usually use Latin with pleasure.

They are eleven in the morning. It’s already hot. In an hour, the thermometer will mark 35 degrees Celsius. But as soon as I leave, the delicious aroma of freshly baked products reaches my nose and I have to follow it. Shortly after, I am in front of a bakery. Curious and hungry as always, I enter and take a look. A kind customer speaks English and helps me with my order. The baker’s wife prepares me some delicious integral muffins with sesame and some other type of sweet cake, and then return to the ship docked in the port of the Danube.

The Iron Gate – Danube

Information about trips to Serbia:

Peterwardein fortress
Belgrade
21131 Petrovaradin / Novi Sad
Serbia

Manastir Put Petkovica
22207 Ležimir
Serbia
The Petkovica monastery is located near the town of Sišatovac in the southwest part of Fruska Gora, between Divos and Sisatovac.

Serbia’s second largest national park is Fruška Gora (pronounced Fruschka gorra ), A mountain chain that once had to arise like an island from the sea of Panonia, the lowlands today. Even today you can find shells in the rocks. The largest national park of Serbia is the Iron Door This is not a lock, as its name suggests, but a natural landscape. Deep throats and narrow valleys may seem beautiful, but the rapids they believe used to make this part of the Danube one of the most dangerous water sections, that only the most experienced pilots could navigate. After the construction of the lock and reservoir, the Danube is now safer navigably here. A special attraction along the route is the Board Traiana a rock slab dating from the year 100 d. C., which is said that the Romans dedicated to their emperor Trajan.

In Serbia, the Djerdap National Park is known as the Porțile de Fier Natural Park; In Romania, on the other side of the Danube, the iron doors are called The Iron Gates Natural Park. In Romanian territory is the Monastery of Mraconia and a gigantic male face carved in the rock. It is a statue of 55 meters high of King Dacio Decébalo, carved in the stone by several sculptors over ten years. Since 2004, the former king contemplates the passage of ships through the Danube.

Practical tips for Serbia:

Since Serbia is not part of the EU, be sure to deactivate roaming on your mobile phone and use only wifi connections. The Serbian coin is the Dinar. The exchange rate in August 2018 was 1 euro for 118 Dinares.

Hola – Hello (Hello)
Gracias – thank (thank)
Por Favor – please (please)
Lo Siento – pronunciation (pronunciation)

Note: My visit to Serbia took place as part of a cruise on the Danube river, which I was invited by A-Rosa.

This article and its photos are reproduced with authorization from the author.

The author loves to travel, and he believes that it is not always necessary to go very far, because even in central Europe there are still small unknown places, exciting landscapes and exciting stories that expect to be discovered. After finishing his studies, Nicole Biarnés moved to Spain, where he has resided near Barcelona for 23 years. As an independent writer, she writes travel books, writes texts for several websites, conducts in situ research for television productions and reports life in the Mediterranean in her travel blog www.freibeuter-reisen.org.