Belgrade - Let's party on a boat!

By -



 

When I think about Serbia, some war stories come to my mind. This country was under Turkish occupation for around 500 years. The Independence Day was a big celebration and all Serbians talk with proudness about the warriors who fought hard to get the country back.

 


 
Not too many know words about the monarchy decade, who was who and who did what, maybe because the  Serbian history is started from  its independence war  1835–1867 .



I spent 5 days in and around Belgrade, a very picturesque city.  In the centre there is the Moscow Hotel, an architectural beauty dated from 1908.   Opposite to the hotel, in a kind of communist building, at the top flour,  there is a luxurious  restaurant called Caruso.  I could see a good part of the city from that height and the view is amazing! The food is also good and you can eat nicely with 60-70 euro per person (with wine and a tasty dessert included J).





 

But let’s talk about the Serbian food. Even though I wanted to keep myself in shape - as I have a wedding to attend and need to fit in my tiny dress – I could not resist to their cuisine and gained around two kilos instead. Basically, if you give me Serbian food, I can eat all day long. I am not joking J




Well, they have a wide assortment of soups (ciorba), many ways to cook meat (and they have a very good lamb and beef meat), a lot of grilled and cooked  vegetables, beans, stew vegetables and stew of beans, some  cake with corn flour and cow cheese, Serbian baklava (which is totally different than the Turkish one), fish from the Danube and …rivers, and so on.  And yeah, you cannot visit Serbia without trying their traditional plum Rakia – a strong brandy made from plums (having around 50-90 grades).  It’s natural health to drink 100 ml every day before lunch, they say J. Me, I got the flu during my journey in Belgrade and after I drunk 200 ml of Rakia before sleep, I woke up completely healthy next day. No flu!

 
 




Being back healthy, I could walk on the Belgrade streets freely, meet my friends and enjoy my trip there.  In Belgrade, there is an unique ‘Mystery House' (Escape Games), a live game made after the calculator game with the same name. Well, there are some more places like that in the World, but Serbians didn’t want to pay for the Game Licence and did this Mystery House in their way. And it’s wonderful how they did it. Well, you have to form a team between of 2 to 5 people and choose to go inside a living room or a laboratory. You are locked there one hour and during this time, passing a lot of trials, mystery requests and mathematical calculations, you have to find the key to go out from the room. It’s a real adventure and I felt like I was in a Sherlock Holmes movie there (as I chose the laboratory Mystery Room). You cannot take pictures inside, so cannot show you anything, but it is worth to go if you are smart enough to make connections , calculations and observation in order to find the key to rescue yourself. 


 

And it is worth to rescue yourself and go outside as there are a lot of fit guys and tall beautiful girls. If you want a slim, tall, white skin and brown hear, natural woman, you should go in Serbia! I couldn’t stop watching them! Guys are usually fit but Serbian girls are complaining that they are not so tall, hehe probably comparing with them –sic - ) .






What else……., around Belgrade there are mountains (Avala mountains) and a very beautiful view. Back in the city, there is a fortress (built for the protection against Turks) from where you can see the two rivers meeting (Sava and Danube). On the rivers there are many big boats and my friends told me that there are organized parties each week. Well, the boats are actually pubs inside and you can throw a disco there with no problem. How nice is to say that ‘I went in a pub on a boat last night and I’ve met my dream soul mate’. Romantic, isn’t it? :P







 

And the most important thing: I was in Belgrade for training for trainers organized there. I have met wonderful people, good souls and joyful hearts. We spent 5 wonderful days together and we felt like being in a family. And I’ve learned so much form them. Life is about knowing how to make good connections with people and keep them close to you.  All that happens in life is with and because of the people you meet. I have met special human beings during this training and I am happy because I had the chance to participate and be with them.










 
 
 

Life is short. Live it!

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hakkari, Turkey

By -
Image
      If I would not get the opportunity to see Hakkari through an Youth in Action project, I probably would have never visit ed this blessed town, settled in the middle of the mountains. Hakkari is a place situated in the South East corner of Turkey, close to the border with Iraq and Iran.   It is composed of a Kurdish and Assyrian population and has approximately 57,844 people.     The history of this place takes your breath away. It was a refuge for the persecuted Christian Assyrians who ran away   in   the mountains to protect themselves against the Timurlane occupation (Turko-Mongolian   emir) in the 14 th century. Then in the 19 th century, they   were conquered by the Kurdish people and were turned into slaves or executed. There were also many conflicts between the Kurdish population an d the O t toman (later, Turkish) control. Hakkari was considered and it is still seen as an unsafe place to live.   Still, there is no r
Read more

Bitola. It's all about history here

By -
Image
Thanks to Youth in Action programme again, I came across an old, historical, Macedonian city called Bitola. Situated in the S-W part of Macedonia, Bitola settles at the foot of Baba Mountain and it is crossed by the Dragon River.   The place represents an important junction between the Adriatic Sea, the Aegean Sea and Central Europe. You would never guess, but this city has an impressive history.     It was founded as Heraclea Lyncestis (City of Hercules upon the Land of the Lynx) in the middle of the 4th century BC by Philip II of Macedon and it was an important settlement from the Hellenistic period until the early Middle Ages. Then, the Romans conquered this part of Macedon in 148 BC and destroyed the political power of the city. Still, the city remained prosperous because of the Via Egnatia Roman road which passed by the city. In the early Byzantine period (4th to 6th centuries AD) Heraclea was an important episcopal centre and bishops like Bishop Eva
Read more

The Summer University of Ramnicu Sarat on the Communism Crimes

By -
Image
1. The Prisons I was so anxious about this summer school. I was thinking many times if it is a good idea to participate or not. I was afraid that I will not be able to take more information about the crimes during communism because already I knew something from Roxana (my colleague from the Historical Film Festival Summer School) and it was so painful to find out what happened in those cruel times.  Roxana:) After her story, I couldn’t sleep a couple of nights. But this it was good. Actually, it was the best preparation for the following hard information. Her introduction in the Communism regime was so helpful for me. In the first day, we went to visit the Ramnicu Sarat Prison . It was the first time in my life when I entered into a prison. This prison was no longer active. Well, this prison was built in the    period of King Charles the First ofRomania ( 1839–1914) as a small prison . In the Communism regime, it was known as the Silence Prison as e
Read more