Friday 5th July: Belgrade
The day dawned with a clear sky and the sun warming the roomy balcony adjoining the hotel room.
After breakfast in the hotel (cost effective, convenient and comprehensive) I decided to take half a day off sight seeing to catch up with personal and business emails, tidy up my record keeping, make a call to my mobile phone people to discuss an issue, make personal calls home, book a walking tour for tomorrow and do some washing to take advantage of the sunshine on the balcony!
All those things done I set out to explore the streets that run parallel to the main pedestrian thoroughfare that runs through the old town... and check out some of the shops offering large, end of summer sale discounts. A highlight was having a coffee in the famous street of umbrellas (see pic), snaring a couple of casual clothing bargains and stocking up on a few supplies.
In the process I snapped a few appealing scenes and didn’t seek out any major points of interest, but rather enjoyed the casual wandering, people watching and a session or two of ice cream eating!
But then dinner-time called and we set out in search of a restaurant that was dually recommended by a contact in Canberra and the hotel receptionist, so we thought it must be good.
However due to slight map inadequately, northern hemisphere sense of direction confusion, peak traffic and a major work on the city’s largest square, the walk there was by no means direct, and once the cobblestones street was located, the restaurant was tricky to spot due to the prominent Cyrillic script signs and the sign in English (Tri Sesira, meaning three hats) being hidden.
So despite not being able to sit outside due to the good tables being reserved, the table inside was fine, the waiter very helpful and the food (and wine) were great. As expected the recommended dishes were mainly meat and potatoes, but a side dish of vegetables made it all delicious. Also of note was the noisy life music (which was out of tune at times - apparently with gypsy origins) but everyone seemed happy and the atmosphere was noisily ‘local’.
The walk back to the hotel was as confusing as the one there, but improved by a decision to stop at a very nice hotel (which we passed often) with tasteful life piano music, to enjoy a delightful cream and ice cream laden banana split while people watching on what is a busy thoroughfare.
And I’m going to include daily steps from here on - since the cycle ride finished I have walked large number of steps, with even some driving days clocking up good number. Plitvice was the highest so far with 18,000+.
Today, 17,575 steps, 12.2 km
Saturday 6th July: Belgrade
After a late breakfast in the hotel we set out to join a Free Walking Tour at the Republic Square - and were joined by 3 fellow travellers, a lady from Morocco and a couple from Ballarat, Victoria, Australia - a great group size! Viktor our guide seemed well informed, was helpful and efficient (read Serbian) and he rattled off lots of insightful information about Serbia and Belgrade.
I can’t recall and don’t want to include the details but the highlights (reflected in my pics) were Republic square, Statue of Knezevic Mihailova (and the main pedestrian thoroughfare named after him) the central University area, Cathedral church (1845) dedicated to St Michael the Archangel, across the road from the seat of the Patriach of the Serbian Orthodox Church (1935), the major Belgrade fortress and the Bohemian Quarter, including last nights restaurant.
Notable points include Belgrade’s turbulent history with a very large number of wars that razed the city multiple times (including several times last century) requiring continued rebuilding and lack of truly ancient buildings despite the city’s age (one of Europe’s oldest), layers of building - roman, Austrian, Turkish etc, changing nationality / names, and tough times a lot of the time (including under the communists).
The tour done, with the temperature over 30 degrees, a cool down was needed in the hotel (not far) before the next activity which was to take in the Serbian National Museum.
An extract from a tourist book is a good summary.... the museum is complex. It is the largest and oldest central museum of Serbia, which today, after its long existence since 1844, preserves more than 400,000 objects that make up the unique cultural heritage of Serbia, the central Balkans and Europe. The permanent exhibition encompasses the immense chronological range from the distant Palaeolithic era to 20th century art (including Picasso, Monet, Rubin .
...).
The very early stuff was incredible and very well presented!
The plan for dinner was to then find another recommended restaurant - Manufaktura - using the inadequate map provided by the hotel. After a bit of time wandering along a familiar back street we realised that this restaurant was the same one in the umbrella street that I had coffee in two days before! As with the previous night’s very popular restaurant all the outside tables were booked, but inside was ok given the heat. Again to cut a long story short it was ok but wasn’t our favourite Belgrade dinner as the waiter made Basil Fawlty look like a kind hearted soul and my ribs meal wasn’t that great.
Still, the atmosphere was enjoyable and a drink and ice cream outdoors at the same hotel as last night gave our people watching skills a workout!
Today’s totals.... 21,773 steps, 14.6 km.
Sunday 7th July: Belgrade
The day began with a hotel breakfast including gluten free cornflakes that I found yesterday (yah) then auctioning a plan to walk to several points of interest remaining on a ‘must see’.
First was taking an unfamiliar way from the end of the street to find St Marks Church, past the presidential palace and around the corner from the massive National Assembly building (and near a massive, very unattractive building that I took to be government offices (yah for the public servants).
St Marks was interesting and striking. The Serbian-Byzantine church was built in 1940, with an interior full of unusual frescos and icons, done by some apparently well known Serbian painters. I was particularly taken with the outside and a cute little church nestled behind which seemed very well patronised - particularly as it was Sunday morning.
Then a significant trek to St Saba - which I had originally discounted as being too far in the heat, but it was an interesting walk. St Savas is is a Serbian Orthodox church located on the Vračar plateau in Belgrade, Serbia. It is one of the largest Eastern Orthodox church buildings and ranks among the largest church buildings in the world. It has a complicated history and is continually undergoing work.
I saw the crypt - excessively ornate by my standards (too much gold contrasting with the needs of the many beggars in the street) and frescos that were very much a boy’s club! And besides for me the number of cameras in action took away any religious atmosphere ...... !
Time then for cooling down before heading out for a hot, exhausting but very interesting walk taking in Cathedral Church, Princess Ljubica’s residence (unimpressive - now a museum I think but it was closed) and the bottom levels of the Belgrade Fortress. I mentioned the church yesterday - an today saw the inside, which was quite lovely with soft frescos and interesting side alters....
The fortress is more extensive than I realised an by apprising it from the river it’s height and multi layers more apparent than from the top. I did at one stage think we would never return to the top, but finally found a path and stairs that led up past a tiny Ruzic’s Church, then thankfully a cafe! Cool drinks downed it was time to wander back up the main pedestrian / touristy area, pick up some supplies for tomorrow’s travels, eat an ice cream and thankfully miss a storm that hit and gave the city a bath.
These totals tell that the day was an active one in 32 degree heat ..18,837 steps, 18 floors and 13 kms.
Heather McLeod
2019-07-08
Love the coffee shop with umbrellas!