Life in a year full of Saturdays: Serbia

Showing posts with label Serbia. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Belgrade (SERBIA): What we took for granted...

Belgrade (SERBIA)

28 JUNE - 06 JULY 2022

What the hell just happened to us?

There we all were, sailing along calmly, serenely, in our own little pockets of a vast and expansive of ocean of tranquility, with endless blue skies, sunny days and forecasts for much more of the same. Then, in the same breath, a rogue wave took our collective ease and tossed it into a churning cauldron of uncertainty.

Many of us were unprepared, no safety vests, no items of buoyancy within arm's reach. We flapped and flailed, we swallowed inordinate amounts of salt water, and some of us went under. COVID, I hope, has been a once in a lifetime event that will be banished to the lines written in many an online entry, and accounted for individually in many a faded memory.

For my small family the impact was merely a nuisance rather than anything extraordinarily devastating. I was easily able to transition to working from home. For Inga however, whose area of work is based in hospitality, being located in one of the most locked down cities on earth (Melbourne) meant all reasonable chances for employment were lost. So like many economically displaced residents, we took part in the great northern migration of 2020-21 and found ourselves hiding out in our investment property on the Gold Coast.

....but wait, this is a TRAVEL blog, so lets get back to it.

The incantations of travel, those dreams of tranquility, of exploration, of discovery, all were removed within a 7-day period sometime back in April of 2020. One of those dependable constants in our lives was entirely erased and replaced with curfews, a 5km travel radius and infections rates. Long endless days bled into months of isolated tedium We all hoped for some visible endpoint, a psychological marker that we would be able to work to and know that through our own personal resilience we could achieve.

It was in these times that I thought back to the experiences we had in the preceding years. The small annoyances and grievances of travel such as the inordinately slow queues at check-in or whilst going through security. The steely, unfriendly, almost accusatory eyes of customs officers. The ridiculous price tags for any food or beverages acquired within a terminal. The fight for armrests, the post-service rush to the lavatory, the impatience of certain passengers and their need to furiously disembark through the single accessible cabin door even before the plan docks at the terminal jet bridge...all of this, each vexation, every irritant we had taken for granted within the entirety of the travel process. So small, and insignificant, they had all manifested into larger items of aggravation that was almost akin to denouncing the whole travel process, but now, now much bigger things had been taken away from us.

Our families and friends scattered across the world. The plans for reunions, catch-ups, special events. The conduit for this was encapsulated in the small aggravations that was longer available to us. Somehow the horrible process of minor inconveniences didn't seem nearly as problematic as we once imagined. Somehow what we had taken for granted was now what we desired most in order to get back to doing and seeing the people and things that we loved the most.

Almost 3 years had passed since Inga and I had been to Europe to see how families. This wait in many ways was quite unpleasant but looking back, it was also something that brought to us the realisation that you need to always appreciate what you have because one day it can easily turn into what you had.

Inga & Aiden - Melbourne, Tullamarine Airport - Victoria - Australia

Aiden - Melbourne, Tullamarine Airport - Victoria - Australia

That's not too bad of a set-up - Etihad Airways

There was something about arriving in Belgrade that felt comforting. As a kid landing at Belgrade's Nikola Tesla airport was always an event filled with excitement and anticipation. Waiting to see my mum's family, doing that familiar driver from the airport to Topcider. It was something that I have, and probably always will associated with good times, warm feelings and family. Certainly this time was no different. Even more so that having lived in Belgrade for three years between 2015-2018, and now, through COVID restrictions, having been removed for three years, it was something that I had certainly been missing.

Aiden & Inga - Trg Republike - Belgrade - Serbia

This old man, he's still 'the man' - BC - Topcider - Belgrade - Serbia

Knez Mihailova - Belgrade - Serbia

Hotel Moskva - Belgrade - Serbia

There was something familiar and also something a bit odd about taking Aiden around Belgrade, almost like a bit of 'history repeating'. A child this was the role of my mother and father, but of course this was also their city and both of them had family here. Somehow from my point of view the act of Inga and I doing the same thing feels random, or more serendipitous. Perhaps if you looked at the situation at arm's length you'd identify it as perfectly expected and orderly. I don't know, it often seems to me that life iterates itself in quite familiar ways although not repeating exactly.

I have to say that our time in Belgrade itself was really very nice, calming and refreshing. We all enjoyed our experience, especially being back in a place we were familiar with and being with the people that we had missed.

We were also fortunate enough to spend some time in Sopot, a town located about 45kms south of Belgrade, located on the slopes of Kosmaj Mountain. My family has a beautiful house/cottage located on a great piece of land in the area. Once again, as a kid we would often make our way here once or twice during our stay, only for a day at a time, but on this occasion, we stayed for (3) days. I have to say, I probably never truly appreciated the scenery in the area but there is certainly something very soothing and inviting about the hilly areas on Kosmaj covered with forests of oak, beech and common hornbeam. What's more, it appears that this area is also starting to get noticed from outside of Serbia with a bit of a boutique, artisanal vibe starting to permeate through some of the settlements in the municipality. Obviously the distance from Belgrade these days means absolutely nothing in terms of travel time and the environment and the setting is an attraction for anyone able to work remotely but also wanting to be within striking distance of a major city.

Kosmaj - Sopot - Serbia

Of course, when you turn 47 fireworks are obligatory

Happy birthday to me

I will have to say a big thank you to my cousin Vladimir for showing us all the new things that have popped up here in the last few years, for example;

Kabinet Brewery - which identifies as the first greenfield brewery project in Eastern Europe, and was also one of the first craft brewery projects in Serbia. An absolutely fabulous place to try beers of high quality and unique flavour. What's more, the location and more than pleasant outlook, based on one of the slopes of Kosmaj, made this place an absolute highlight for all of us

Vinarija Eden - Eden winery, an absolutely picture-perfect winery located near the village of Ranilović, near Arandjelovac, only an hour's drive from Belgrade. It is positioned between the mountains of Kosmaj and Bukulja, at an altitude between 240-260 m, perfect for growing grapes and more than fantastic for having a couple of glasses of white on a breezy Summer day.

Kabinet Brewery - Kosmaj - Sopot - Serbia

Vinjaria Eden - Ranilovic - Municipality of Arandelovac - Serbia

Whilst I'm at it, I also want to give a shout-out to another great find, this time in Belgrade, Dogma Brewing & Tap Room, a fantastic location, very close to where we live in Topcider. It has a great industrial, warehouse feel but such a cool atmosphere, great food and another brilliant place to spend an afternoon! Trust me, it's well worth the visit.

Dogma Brewery & Tap Room - Radnička 3 Čukarica - Belgrade - Serbia

A big thank you to my mother, my aunt, my cousin and BC! You made this occasion such a pleasure and it was so good to finally see you after so many years apart! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Belgrade (Serbia) - All that you can't leave behind

Belgrade (Serbia)

06 September - 11 September 2019

It’s not such a long time ago that I was flying into Belgrade with my parents, an almost a yearly occurrence as a child, to catch-up with relatives, predominantly from my mother’s side of the family, but also from my father’s side as well. Flying into Belgrade from Barcelona on this occasion, brought back some of those same feelings, some of year ago and of course, of more recent times, having lived there for nearly 3 years.

Grandmother and grandson - Belgrade - Serbia

First grandson

Grandmother and grandson - Belgrade - Serbia

Of course introducing a new member of the family was somewhat of a big event, if for no one else, then for me specifically. Strange how the cycle of life can reinvent an old situation but give it a modern day twist. There I was, now the parent, going to visit my mother in Belgrade, and introducing her new grandson. That was both me, and her, some 45 years ago, the same actors, just playing different roles.

Belgrade in many ways has always felt like a second home to me. I’ve said that many times within this blog over the last 12-13 years of writing. That feeling has obviously been heightened by having been based there for an extended period of time. Whereas a child I was still really a visitor, returning now I felt more like an expat, and hey, now that I hold a Serbian passport that view is technically correct.

Bigz Cultural Centre - Belgrade - Serbia

Restoran Frans - Belgrade - Serbia

Annija, Henry, Inga, Aiden & Davis - Knez Mihajlova - Belgrade - Serbia

There’s a lot I like about Belgrade. Of course it has its issues, proportionally more than many other European cities, but, it’s desperately underrated. Classically European in part, it also has a gritty, urban edge that’s becoming particularly trendy for travellers casting their eye further afield in order to look for something new. Not only that but value for money, for most travellers, is something that’s certain to be a draw card. For its night time culture, restaurants and hospitality, there’s a lot to savour. Whilst not aesthetically appealing as a whole there’s certainly some places where if you capture it in the right light or in the right mood you might just be surprised.

Bigz Cultural Centre - Belgrade - Serbia

Annija & Davis - Ima Dana - Skadarlija - Belgrade - Serbia

Restoran Frans - Belgrade - Serbia

Ima Dana - Skadarlija - Belgrade - Serbia

We spent a total of 5 days there. A few days a bit too short for me but a time frame that will likely become the norm into the future. As a child I always lamented our family’s lost opportunity of having access to the world, via my father’s employment with Qantas, but not taking advantage of that opportunity and utilising it only for bilateral purposes of bridging the time and space divide with annual family visits. There was so much more of the world that was available to us and yet our experiences never really extended further than the boundaries of Belgrade. Of course, personally, I’ve more than made up for that with my travels in the last 10 years, the inspiration of which I’m certain was rooted in both my travels as a child and my desires to see much more of what the world had to offer.

The usual suspects presented themselves during our stay. We saw the sights in Belgrade, spent an afternoon in Kosmaj, had ourselves an exceptional lunch in Frans, spent an evening in Skadarlija and introduced the little guy to his grandmothers side of the family. In addition, we also has a drop in visit from Davis and Annija who were kind enough to fly in from Riga for two nights just to catch up with me – which was a very cool thing of them to do.

Outbound flights to Dubai from Belgrade usually happen at 6:30am, it usually means leaving the apartment at latest 4:30am - so not a bad photo considering this is us at 4:00am

Our ride to Dubai - Air Serbia from Aerodrome Nikola Tesla - Belgrade - Serbia

A nice little 'flight bite' to commence proceedings

A great few days altogether and amazingly no arguments with my mother on this occasion. A rarity these days but I was more than thankful for the reprieve.

Saturday, November 26, 2016

Paris (France) - Time is the longest distance between two places

Paris (France)

26 November 2016

The last time we were in Paris together we were virtually strangers, meeting for only the second time on our first date. That was only two years ago but my, hadn’t we all rung in the changes since then. Up until that point my life had felt static, like I had slowly but surely found a way to sink deeper into the quicksand of complacency and the commonplace. I had all the right to get me out of the quagmire but I just hadn’t been able to utilise them in the right fashion. It wasn’t for the sake of my own effort either. What it took however was a seismic shift, and when that necessary circuit break of rudimental certainty came, it flipped everything on its head. It also gave me the opportunity to take my life back.

Two years ago in this city I stood in the centre of my life’s own Venn diagram. There’s quote by Graham Greene that says, ‘A story has no beginning or end; arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead’ – symbolically or actually, Paris represents the end and start points of where I got to and where I’ve gotten to now.

Place de la Concorde - Paris - France

Roue de Paris - Place de la Concorde - Paris - France

Paris - France

Place de la Concorde - Paris - France

Only two days earlier I had asked Inga to marry me. Now he we were, in the city where we’d had our first date only two years ago, standing now on the precipice of a life together. It was a poignant moment in many ways, filled with impactful, stirring memories. It sought to act as a great way to allow us reminisce but also, plan the way forward.

In these last gasps of Autumn Paris produced another wonderful day. Cold, for sure, but the sun was out, the leaves had reached a deep yellow, amber colour and symbolically underpinned this moment of change in my life.

Roue de Paris - Place de la Concorde - Paris - France

Jardin de Tuileries - Paris - France

Avenida de Champs Elysees - Paris - France

Jardin de Tuileries - Paris - France

Transit cities for entering/exiting Belgrade to somewhere else is almost an obligation for travel out of Serbia (other than Australia, strangely enough), so Paris was a necessary stop, but one that we were happy to have. Even though our time in the city was short we did spend a bit of time walking around the Jardin de Tuileries, before entering the Place de la Concorde and taking a turn on the Roue de Paris, a 60mtr tall Ferris wheel that offers some fairly impressive views over Paris.

Late Autumn in Paris

River Seine - Paris - France

Cathederale de Notre Dame - Paris - France

Pont Neuf - Paris - France

Cathederale de Notre Dame - Paris - France

Walking in Paris is always a pleasure and we took on a small-ish circuit by heading down to the Seine, and casually strolling to Pont Neuf where we ‘locked ourselves’ into a chained fence, like so many before us. Strangely, the origin of the ‘love lock’ or pad lock dates back to an old melancholic Serbian tale of World War 1, with an attribution for the bridge of Most Ljubavi, in the spa town of Vrnjacka Banja. Apparently, as the tale goes, a local school mistress named Nada, who was from the town, fell in love with a Serbian Officer named Relja. After they committed to each other Relja went off to war in Greece where he fell for a woman in Corfu (and of course who wouldn’t want to stay in Corfu, I mean the place is gorgeous). Nada was of course devastated, never recovering and died eventually from a heart-attack, literally a broken heart. A young woman from Vrnjacka Banja who knew of the situation wanted to do something to protect their own loved ones and thus came up with the idea of affixing padlocks on the bridge where Nada & Relja used to meet.

Pyramide de Louvre - Paris - France

A late night Aperol special - Paris - France

Charles de Gaulle Airport - Paris - France

After locking ourselves into Paris for eternity, or until such time the locks are forcibly removed, we had an afternoon meal before finishing up with evening drinks somewhere in the 1st.

Paris, you are always a pleasure, and so nice to have you take part in this part of our journey. You're a city where we can both reminisce about what was, how we got there, and now also, where our collective futures will take us.

Life in a year full of Saturdays

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