Well, this is the final Blog for our Europe trip, Hope you enjoy.
Thursday 26th Jan 2023
Breakfast of pork/beef mixture (sprza) on bread rolls (far right in photo), spinach pastry (pita) (far left), cheese pastry (pita) (center upper), meat that tasted like ham (veseljka – smoked meat) (centre), pork in jelly (pitije) (upper right), chocolate coated fingers (rum plocice) and jam filled donut balls (breskvica) (center left)with drinking yoghurt plus rakije with aronia (red stuff) and rakije with walnut (brown) and plain rakije (clear). Les also had aronia tea and Joy had coffee.
Headed off to register Joy and Les as guests in in a private home, at the Police Station, which is a law that we be registered. Joy, Joy’s brother and sister-in-law and Les set off to the village of Radonjica and then to Nis. Again, most of this is on the motorway. In Nis we visited the Skull Tower, a stone structure embedded with human skulls. It was constructed by the Ottoman Empire following the Battle of Čegar of May 1809. as a warning to non-Muslim residents contemplating rebellion. Next stop was the Nis Fortress, a complex and important cultural and historical monument. Had a look in souvenir shop and bought some stuff. The weather is quite cold and windy, so we had a quick look around and then headed across the river to a shopping area in Nis centre and had hot drinks. Back to the car and headed for home. Got home about 5:00 pm or so. Just after 6:00 we headed to the Cap Cap (pronounced Sup Sup) restaurant (just the 4 of us). Had mushrooms (left in photo below), fried cheese (pohovani kackavalj) (upper left), a cheese like a cottage cheese (far right), but made by beating milk to get the cream on top (kajmak), that you spread on bread, tomatoes (upper center), Serbian coleslaw (center) and bread (and that was just entrée).
Mains were Smoked Pork, pizza, Joy – beef schnitzel (not crumbed) (lovacki sos) with vegies and a vegie sauce and Les – chicken with sesame seeds, chips and coleslaw (which he did not eat), Meals were very big.
Dessert was 4 scoops of Ice cream between the 2 of us. We then walked home
with it snowing/sleeting. The only downside of the night was the noisy table
next to us which was a 12th birthday party with a dozen or so children!
There happy birthday song is not the same as ours. There were also people
smoking in the restaurant (a normal thing in Serbia), but luckily not very many
and not close to us.
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| Walking home in the sleet! |
Friday
27th Jan 2023
Breakfast of burek which is a filo pastry dish. There were spinach, cheese and meat options. We had ½ each of spinach and cheese, but they were very big servings. Joy also had coffee, aronia (herbal tea) and rakije aronia. Les just had the aronia tea. Overnight it had snowed and was snowing when we got up with the snow laying on the houses and the ground however the roads were clear of snow but were wet.
The temperature did not exceed 2 degrees all day. We started with a tour of some of Leskovac. We then headed to Devil’s Town (Djavolja Varoš) which is a natural formation of Hoodoo type formations – very impressive. It was about 2 hours to reach the formations and then we had about an hour’s walk through the snow to get there and wander around then get back.
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| Devil’s Town (Djavolja Varoš) |
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| Devil’s Town (Djavolja Varoš) |
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| Devil’s Town (Djavolja Varoš) |
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| Devil’s Town (Djavolja Varoš) |
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| Devil’s Town (Djavolja Varoš) |
During the walk it started snowing again but then turned more like falling ice (but not really hail), since snow tends to float more than fall straight down. Back to the car and back to Leskovac, topping out at about 150 kph, and another café for afternoon tea. Today it was 3 hot chocolates and 1 warm milk. The hot chocolate is closer to liquid chocolate than to chocolate milk!!
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| Hot Chocolate Drink |
Home just in time for tea which was chicken pasta, We all had at least 2 servings. Dessert was tolumba which is a bit like donut mixture cooked and then soaked in sugar syrup.
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| Tolumba |
Joy also had some chocolate wafers called oblanda. Quiet evening with Les heading upstairs to download photos and do the diary. Joy being taught how to make Slippers.
Saturday
28th Jan 2023
Today we went to Macedonia. We first started by going to a local church to light some candles as we were not able to do so at the church at Devil’s Town as we did not have a lighter or matches. We saw part of a Serbian Christening that was happening at the church. As well as wetting the baby’s head, they dunk the baby’s feet in the water three times. Next stop was for Les to convert Euros to Serbian Dinars. Next was the drive to Macedonia which meant crossing a border, so we had to take our passports. When we arrived at the border you go through Serbian Immigration which was no problems and then drive 20 metres to Macedonian (or actually, North Macedonian) immigration where we had a problem. As we had a Serbian hire car we had to pay 50 euros to cross the border. We had no choice as the Macedonian Immigration had our passports at this stage Joy’s brother thought they had paid to cover this when they hired the car, so they will talk to the car hire people when they return the car. Then we headed to Skopije which is the capital of Macedonia. We wandered around for a while and then went into the old part of the town and the fortress followed by the many, many small shops including lots of jewelry shops.
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| Skopije Fortress |
We were able to find a shop selling coffee and hot chocolate.
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| Expresso Coffee. |
We found a shop selling furs and Joy tried on a black mink fur coat that was only 1,800 Euro (about $3,000 AUD).
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| Joy with the Black Mink Fur. |
We then needed to find somewhere to sit but also toilets. We tried several shops, but they either only took Macedonian cash or had lots of smoke. We eventually found one and headed inside. Joy and Les also shared a small lunch – gravce na tavce (It is prepared with fresh beans and can be found in many restaurants in North Macedonia. The name of the dish may be translated as "beans on a tava". (Tava being a metal cooking utensil)) with bread.
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| gravce na tavce |
Next was a walk down to the river and
along the river for a while. Back to the car and drove home.
That night
we went to a local restaurant with all the family so there were 12 of us at the
table. There was music playing and we had to ask them to turn off the speaker
in the room we were in as it was VERY LOUD!!!. Had a traditional Serbian meal
which means lots of food. We shared plates of tomato, coleslaw, fried cheese, kajmak
(like cheese spread) and bread. Joy had the pljeskavica (meat patty) but also
tasted a few things other people had. Les stuck with the chicken in sesame seed
(ie chicken schnitzel). Towards the end of the night the band started up again
so it was time for us to leave.
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| pljeskavica (meat patty) |
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| chicken in sesame seed |
Sunday
29th Jan 2023
Another big Serbian breakfast today with pork, fried capsicum, chicken sausage in bread, fresh bread plus condiments and jams before heading to Belgrade as our stay in Leskovac is coming to an end. Sad goodbyes as we leave a typical Serbian household and head to Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.
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| The Kids met some new friends and wanted them to come with us but we didn't have a spare suitcase. |
Joy’s sister-in-law drove us to Belgrade and dropped us at our accommodation in Central Belgrade. There was someone there to meet us and show us through the apartment. Next we did the shopping list and headed out to do the shopping. The supermarket is fairly large and is underground. At least this time we have a freezer in the fridge so could buy ice cream.
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| Snow on the upper floors of a new building in Serbia. No other buildings had snow on them. |
Monday 30th Jan 2023
Picked up at 8:00 from our accommodation for a tour to Manasija Monastery, Resava Cave and Lisine Waterfall. We were meet by Bojan (Guide) and Stefan (Driver) and we were the only passengers. Headed to the Manasija Monastery which is about 2 hours from Belgrade with a stop at a restaurant on the motorway for a morning tea break. We were given an informal tour of the monastery by Bojan and then given some free time to explore the area. The monastry request that you do not take photos in the main monastery building and even though Bojan said it would be OK we did not take any photos inside out of respect, but did take photos in the outside areas. The monastery was covered in snow and it had frozen so was different to the soft snow we had at Devil’s Town a few days ago. It was very slippery under foot, so we walked VERY carefully.
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| Manasija Monastery |
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Next stop was Resava Cave where we did a tour with the guide from the caves complex, as well as Bojan, who did most of the talking. The cave guide basically only was there to shine the torch on the formations at the appropriate times. Very spectacular cave but would have been a bit better if we had a little more time. Felt a bit rushed but that could be a restriction by the caves people.
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| View from Resava Cave Ticket Office |
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| Resava Cave |
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| Resava Cave |
After this we headed towards the Lisine Waterfall. Originally, we were told the waterfall was closed and we would only be able to see from a distance however we were able to access the falls via the back entrance which just required a short walk down and then climb on the return trip but was worth the extra walking.
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| Lisine Waterfall |
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| Water Cascade |
From here we headed to restaurant Lepo Mesto for lunch. Bojan and Stefan sat at a different table as they were smoking, which is allowed in restaurants, etc to Serbia! Joy had pork ribs and they had lots of meat on them and tasted like ham. Les had goulash with pasta. We also shared a steaming hot bread called Pogaca. We could only eat about 20% of it.
All the surrounding area (inc the caves and waterfall) are covered in beautiful snow so after lunch we went for a short walk along the road to admire the snow.
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| Yes it does get cold here in winter! |
From here we then headed back to Belgrade where we were dropped at our accommodation. Like the idea of being picked up and dropped at accommodation!
Rest day today. Joy went to have a look in the wool/fabric
shop just up the road but did not buy anything. Could have bought some real fur
(fox) but decided against it. Spent the day doing diary, emails, sorting
pictures, preparing the blog, etc
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| View from Accommodation in Belgrade |
Tour does not start until 9:30. Picked up from our
accommodation and there are a total of 5 guests today plus Jelica (Guide) and
George (Driver). The other guests are 3 Indians who are here to play in a chess
competition in Belgrade.
First stop was the Belgrade Fortress and “The Victor” monument which was to commemorate the victory during the Balkan Wars. The statue is of a naked man holding an eagle and there was a bit of controversy when it was first erected, as they thought the women would be unable to cope with seeing a naked man. He is naked because they wanted him to represent all the tribes of Yugoslavia, but any clothes they might put on him would be seen as representing only one particular tribe.
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| Part of Belgrade Fortress |
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| The Victor (from behind) |
We then walked through more of the parklands and down some streets passing a tavern called the “? Tavern”. It was originally called the Church Tavern but the church opposite complained (even though it has been there for 200 years). The owners of the tavern were eventually told to change the name, so put the “?” there until they could decide on a new name. That has never happened, and so it ended up as the ? Tavern.
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| The "? Tavern" which has been there for over 200 years. You can see the "?" above the door. |
We then drove through the old part of Belgrade and across the river to New Belgrade, which only started being built in 1948, and is on what was swamp.
We drove through New Belgrade and out to what was a separate town but is now part of Belgrade – Zemun. It’s old with narrow windy streets. We were taken to a high point with a tower (Gardos Tower) and a good view across Belgrade. There was a café/pub there (Gardos Pub) and we stopped for refreshments. Joy had a coffee (what else?) and for once Les could have something other than warm milk – it was called a shortbread shake, and seemed to be a milkshake with Plazma shortbread biscuits crushed up and mixed through it, and then topped with cream. A bit weird, but tasty.
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| Menu. To work out Australian dollars divide Serbian Dinar by 300 and multiple by 4 |
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| Shortbread Shake and Cappuccino. |
There were a couple of cats in the café and we had to pick our seats so as not to disturb the cats, who were quite well settled in.
We then walked down steps from the tower to get to the main
part of Zemun, and then through a local market, which is apparently known all
over Belgrade and people travel a long way to get there. We saw a woman selling
what looked to be wattle flowers – they called it mimosa. After the market, we
headed down to the river (the Danube) and walked along there for a while. There
is an island in the middle of the river and there are little shacks along the
shoreline, presumably where people go to have a break and fish or something. We
then went back to another part of the market where they were selling fish and
all sorts of other seafood – again, it has a good reputation.
The bus then picked us up and took us to what is called the
“Hunger Street” (Goce Delčeva 27, Beograd, Serbia) in New Belgrade. The street
has about a dozen fast food shops in a row. We opted for food from the bakery
being bread things, one with cheese and capsicum sauce and the other was cheese
and prosciutto.
Headed out of Belgrade to Avala Mountain which was covered in snow. It is a mountain as anything over 500 metres high can be classified as such, and it is 508 metres high! Walked to the WWII monument on the top of the mountain although only 1 of the Indian guests did the walk to the top.
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| WWII monument, Avala Mountain. |
Next stop was the telecommunication tower (Avala Tower) which was rebuilt after the 1999 bombings destroyed the previous one. It was rebuilt to be exactly the same as the original one, with the exception of the elevators. Joy went up in the elevator to the viewing deck but Les stayed on the ground!
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| Telecommunication Tower, Avala Mountain. |
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| Plane Trail!! |
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| View from Observation Deck of tower at Avala Mountain courtesy of Joy! |
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| Temple of Saint Sava |
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| Temple of Saint Sava |
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| Caramello, Plum, Pistachio and Raspberry & Cream. |
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| Plum |
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| Raspberry and Cream |
8:00 pickup for today’s tour and we have Jelica and George again today but it is a private tour so we are the only guests. George arrived at 7:30 so we headed downstairs at about 7:45 and arrived just as the sleet/hail/rain started but it did not last long. Jelica arrived at 8:00 and we set off south and had a quick stop at a roadhouse for coffee (Joy and Jelica and possibly George) and lollies/chocolate. We soon turned off the main road towards the east and the roads deteriorate quickly. Looks like they use the toll money on the motorways and not much on the other roads. We pass through many small villages which have the houses built very close to the road. Probably a hangover from the days of horse and cart and some of the houses and outbuildings definitely are of that era.
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| Older buildings close to the road. |
The houses vary from very old to recent, from small to mansions. Most mansions are owned by Serbians who have worked/work in other countries and then come back to live or holiday in Serbia. It is very much a “Keeping up with the Jones” as they show their wealth by their flashy houses, many with fancy fences and their new big cars, although they may only live in the houses for a few weeks per year.
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| Some of the more modern houses. |
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Our first stop was Viminacium Archaeological Park which is an area that has several archaeological digs happening. The main sites are covered by a large cover to protect them from the weather. In the first one we also ventured underground to view some frescoes and this involved walking through tunnels only about 4 feet high. The guide told us about the park in Serbian and Jelica translated for us. When we arrived at the park it was raining but we were lucky as when we were outside it had stopped raining.
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| Viminacium Archaeological Park |
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| Viminacium Archaeological Park |
The site is right next door to a coal mine and power station so when they are mining they need to be careful in case they find more ruins. Our last stop at Viminacium is at an underground room that was made to house the mammoth bones they found when doing the coal mining. There is one full skeleton (one of only 20 in the world), and several other bones and tusks from other mammoths. The full skeleton is a different type of mammoth from the other ones, and is relatively small – about the size of an elephant. The underground room has been built to preserve the remains as it stays at a constant temperature.
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| Mammoth remains |
Next stop was Golubac where we were due to have a traditional Serbian lunch. However, the restaurant was closed so we went to Zlatna Ribica restaurant which was a bit upmarket but had a very nice meal and at a very good price (about $50 AUD including tip for both of us).
Lunch was: chicken pate with toasted bread, fried cheese (shared Joy and Les), grilled haloumi ie squeaky cheese (shared Joy and Les), lamb soup (Joy), chicken with cheese wrapped in bacon and potato wedges (Les) and freshly baked bread (shared Joy, Jelica and Les). George did not join us for lunch. We then headed to Golubac Fortress however we arrived at 2:10 and the fortress closed at 2:00 pm, so we only got to see the fortress from the front gate of the complex. Jelica hadn’t checked the opening times! Disappointed!!
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| Golubac Fortress |
We did a drive through the Iron Gate Gorge however we did not really think of it as a gorge, just a wide river with steepish sides but not cliffs. The river forms the border between Serbia and Romania. The weather had fined up by this stage but was still cold.
We then headed back to Belgrade where we arrived at about 5:00 and were dropped at our accommodation. Had a quick look at the Monument of Stefan Nemanja which is just down the road. Stefan Nemanja was one of the most important Serbian rulers and the founder of the medieval Serbian state. It was only unveiled in Jan 2021.
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| Monument of Stefan Nemanja |
Back to the apartment for a cuppa and some serious packing as today is our last day in Serbia before we head for home. Had the 2 left over dumplings for dessert tonight.
Friday 3rd Feb 2023
An early start so we can finish packing and clean up the
apartment as we are being picked up at 8:30 to be driven to the airport. We
arranged with the Airbnb hosts and we paid 30 euros which is similar to the cost
of a taxi but we were picked up in the car park of the apartment. Arrived at
the airport just after 9:00 am as traffic was fairly light compared to normal
however had to be dropped a bit from the terminal as there is lots of
construction work going on. Only a 5-minute flat walk to the terminal so no
problems. Checked in our luggage and waited for Joy’s brother, sister-in-law
and her son who are driving up from Leskovac and dropping off the hire car. We
went through security fine however Joy was picked to have a body scan (still
not sure why she keeps getting picked). We had some morning tea whilst waiting
for our 11:45 flight. After morning tea we had to walk to the far end of the
terminal but boarding was delayed 15 minutes so no issues. The Belgrade – Doha
flight but we were in cattle class (Economy) near the back of the plane.
Boarding and alighting from planes is a real pain! Settled in for an uneventful
flight to Doha (about 5 hours). We had a layover in Doha which was 1 hour 55
minutes however once we had alighted from the plane and walked to the next
departure terminal we only had a 20 minute wait before they started boarding.
They have a boarding waiting room which is separated into “Groups” and we were
in Group 4. When we were called, we entered the plane in the front entrance and
then had to walk past the middle entrance to find our seats. Not well
organised. As it was the plane was about 40 minutes late leaving Doha. The
flight was long, about 14 hours but fairly uneventful and arrived about 30 minutes
late. Les had issues with the meals on these flights. The first flight ran out
of the pasta dish so he was able to get a vegetarian dish, but it was only just
warm ie not hot and not very nice. The only dessert was chocolate mousse, so no
dessert for Les. On the 2nd flight the dessert was espresso
cheesecake and when he asked if they could replace with a yoghurt (part of the
next meal) was told no but we can offer another pasta salad!! So, no dessert
for Les. The next meal was a snack being chicken pie although more like chicken
(sausage) roll which we both had. The final meal was the yoghurt and we had an
upside down cake (as our main). One of these did not go down to well with Les
and his guts started playing up but luckily not too badly.
Arrived in Sydney at about 7:45pm (Saturday 4th
Feb, we effectively loose a day) and rang the hotel to let them know we
were late, but they hold the room until 1:00 am so no issues. We were about the
last to do the 1st step of immigration which is self-serve passport
scan. Next is photo checking scan. Not sure this actually saves time. Arrived
at baggage collection and what a crowded mess. People everywhere and the
baggage carousel is so full that more suitcases cannot be added until some on
the carousel are removed. Eventually get our suitcases and head for Quarantine
checking as we have things to declare, medication, wooden souvenirs, lollies,
chocolates and that we had been in wilderness areas walking in the past 30 days.
After they commented that we looked very tired and ready for a good sleep, they
checked our shoes (which we had cleaned and were wearing) and sent us on our
way. Large crowd at the exit but no “Welcome Home” signs for us ☹.
Across the street to the hotel and a self-serve check in. Not a fan of these. Seems
a bit pointless when you have a staff member standing there directing you to
the self-serve and having to show you how to use it. Upstairs to the room with
Les still feeling a bit off. We both had a shower and in bed by about 9:30.
Sunday 5th
Feb 2023
Had a bit of a sleep in as check out is not until 11:00 and our
train does not leave Central until 12:25. Accommodation included breakfast so
at 9:00 we went down for breakfast of cereal, juice, pastries and Les had small
serve of bacon and eggs. Joy made a cappuccino but it was more like warm milk
so she did an espresso and added that to the cup.
Checked out at about 10:45 and over to the railway station under the airport. Train to Central where we bought muffins and drinks for the train trip to Lithgow.
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| Getting ready to leave Central Station, Sydney |
Left Central at 12:25 and arrived Lithgow at about 3:00.
Then on to a coach for the final part of the trip to Bathurst Station. When we
arrived there were no taxis waiting so we had to ring to order one. Home about
4:30 exhausted.
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| The Kids showing Franc (from Switzerland) what Australia looks like. They hope franc will get to see a Kangaroo. Not sure how Franc will handle the hot weather! |
Pizza for tea!!
General comments about Serbia
Have seen many eagles as we’ve been driven around – mostly
perched at the top of trees, and some on the top of fence posts.
Many abandoned buildings
Farming is different. Farmers live in villages and travel
out to the farming plots. The plots aren’t really paddocks as we know them –
they may look like it, as there aren’t many fences, but some big, fenced areas
and cultivated in strips probably 20 metres wide, with each strip being owned
by a person (or family). There are no fences to separate the strips of land –
they just seem to know where their bit is.
Wealth is shown by how big your house is, not so much in
terms of space taken up on the ground, but in height. So, if your place is 3
storeys high, you are seen as better than someone who only has 2 storeys.
TRIP SUMMARY
Length: 61 days
Hours on planes: about 41 hours with longest being 2 stints
of 14 hours.
Hours on trains (excluding city/metro type trains): about 48
hours.
Distance on trains: about 3,300 km
Countries visited: Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein (but only
passed thru on the train), Switzerland, Italy, Vatican City, Serbia, Macedonia,
Qatar (layover in airport only twice).
Highlights (besides having the whole of Joy’s siblings and
their children and partners in Salzburg for Christmas! What a Miracle!!):
· Christmas Markets (Joy),
· Swiss Chocolate (Joy),
· Gornergrat Cog Railway next to Matterhorn, even though Les was ill,
· Bernina Express,
· Finally getting to see Catacombs that Joy missed on previous trips,
· Travelling in 1st class on the trains,
· Seeing the Matterhorn in perfect weather,
· Snow,
· Most people we met in shops, restaurants, café, etc were patient and helpful even with our very limited foreign language skills (especially Les!). The Mobile Translator App came in handy.
Disappointments (although not Lowlights):
· Schonbrunn Zoo. Looks really dull and sad, especially during winter,
· The tour guide on the Hallstatt tour from Salzburg (can’t win all the time!),
· Amalfi Coast tour in really bad weather, not the tour but just the weather. We really only had 2 days on the whole trip when the rain made things miserable,
· The Glacier Express did not live up to the hype. If purchasing seats (not using the Eurail pass we had) would have been about $775 AUD plus food. The Bernina Express would have been $410 AUD plus food. The Bernina Express is shorter (by about 1 hour) and not as luxurious but better scenery in our opinion. Having said that glad we did it and have ticked off the bucket list. By the way, you do not see any glaciers on the Glacier Express!! If you have to choose between the two, we say Bernina Express,
· Tours ending at different locations to starting points with no instructions on how to get home,
· Butterfly House in Vienna. What an absolute waste of money and time, but at least it was warm. Our cameras fogged up the whole time.
Lowlights:
· Les getting sick in Switzerland,
· 2 x 14-hour plane rides with some severe turbulence on the way from Sydney to Doha,
· Inconsiderate people when boarding and alighting planes and some left the plane in a real pigsty, We all want to get on and off and collect luggage, so chill out and just wait like the rest of us!!,
· Joy not being able to get a coffee in any size bigger than a thimble (well, that what it seemed like).
