Month: September 2018

Thursday, September 27

We started the day by going to lunch at a Greek restaurant that we’d walked passed several times.  The place was always crowded and the food looked amazing.  Unfortunately, looks can be deceiving: the food was so bland that we didn’t enjoy it at all.  Deborah ordered a chicken salad with yogurt sauce.  The sauce had no garlic or spices.  I had a pork gyro plate.  The tzatziki sauce had no garlic or flavor of any kind and, in spite of the fact that the pork was (too) fatty and grilled, it too was tasteless.  We ate very little of what was on our plates.

To make ourselves feel better we walked around a bit and found a cafe where we ordered cake and ice cream.  The portions were huge.  We split a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of cherry along with a piece of chocolate pavlova cake and a cup of coffee.  The dessert was good but not great.

Later that night we looked out our bedroom window to see the moon rise over the cathedral.  It was low in the sky and looked very yellow and very large.  It was a wonderful sight.

(An Apartment with a View)

Distance walked: 4.4 miles

Friday, September 28

Zagreb can be called the city of a thousand museums.  You can find one on just about every subject.  There’s the usual art and archeological museums but also some esoteric ones like The Museum of Mushrooms, the Hunting Museum and The Museum of Zagreb in the 80s.  Today we planned to visit the Mimara Museum, the art museum of the city of Zagreb.  It’s housed in 19th century building that used to serve as a school.

Here’s a fascinating article pertaining to this collection, the collections in Belgrade and the collections in the other former Yugoslavian countries.  It states that much of the collections in these countries originated from a man named Ante Topic Mirara who stole and/or forged many of the pieces.  We now seem to understand why many of the paintings we saw were said to be “Attributed to the School of”  famous painters rather than being authored by them.  It’s likely the entire story will never be told in our lifetime because it’s just too convoluted and embarrassing.

The permanent collection of the museum is contained on three floors and temporary exhibitions, which are included in the $6.25 entrance fee, are in the lower level.  We had to pay in cash as their credit card machine was down.

The ground floor has collections of far eastern art including oriental carpets, glass and ceramics.  The first floor is devoted to archeological collections of ancient civilizations and European sculpture.  Considering the size of the space there were few exhibits on display but what we saw was interesting and seemed to be of high quality.

The top floor contained a collection of paintings starting in medieval times through the 20th century.  Most of the paintings were unremarkable and we even commented at the time that the ones that were from old masters (or attributed to the studios of old masters) were not the best quality or in urgent need of restoration.  We didn’t know at the time that most of these works were probably forgeries.  Having seen the collection and having learned of its tainted history its hard to recommend a visit with any purpose other than a nice way to kill a few hours.

(Is This Really a Renoir?)

The temporary exhibit was by a Croatian artist named Izet Duzel entitled Retrospective.  His works were painted on large canvases in bold colors with highly abstract subjects.  Deborah liked many of them very well.

For lunch we went to a restaurant that specialized in Šis Čevapi, which roughly translates as shish-kebob or as we like to call it, “meat on a stick”.  It usually comes as several small, skinless sausages made from beef (sometimes beef and lamb) and is served on a toasted flat bread bun accompanied by raw onion.  We also ordered a side of ajvar, a sweet pepper relish that is a traditional Croatian condiment.  It was really good.

(Šis Čevapi)

Distance walked: 6.9 miles

Saturday, September 29

Today we planned to seek out one of Zagreb’s most iconic sights: The Lamplighter.  In the mid 1850s the upper town in Zagreb had over 350 gas lanterns.  Today 241 of them are still in operation and they are lit every evening  by a person known as The Lamplighter.

The lanterns are all numbered and The Lamplighter visits each one in turn.  He uses a long rod to pull on a handle that increases the gas flow so that the pilot light will ignite the several jets.  It’s become an iconic symbol of the city and is one of the most popular things to see.

While it was still light we had time to visit Saint Mark’s Church.  Saint Mark’s sits in the main square in the upper town between the house of the parliament and several other important government buildings.  It has a beautiful tile roof with representations of the Croatian coat of arms.

Inside the rather small Catholic church, the vaulted ceiling was painted in a very reflective gold.  There were several stained glass windows and some large faded frescos on the walls.

By the time we left the church we noticed that some of the lanterns had already been lit.  We were very excited.  We walked down several adjacent streets hoping to find The Lamplighter at work but could only see where he had been and where he was destined to be.  We waited near the square for him to make his appearance.  There were several lamps yet to be lit on the street leading to the square and two large lanterns in the square that were still dark.

Sure enough, after a few minutes The Lamplighter appeared.  We followed him down one of the streets and took a few snapshots.  Some of the websites we read said that The Lamplighters often dressed in jeans and sneakers and sometimes even rode on mopeds while they unceremoniously went about their jobs.  This gentleman was dressed in a traditional costume and even posed with his pole so I could take some pictures.  We also managed to get some high quality video.  There were a lot of other people around hoping to glimpse this iconic event.  The mood was festive and everyone was having a good time.

The Lamplighter At Work

After the excitement died down we headed for another one of Zagreb’s quirky museums.  We found it just across the square.  It was The Museum of Broken Relationships.  We’d read a number of articles about the city and The Museum of Broken Relationships was the number one attraction in town.  Even our tour guide had strongly recommended it to us.

The origin of the museum is an interesting story.  Once upon a time a long term relationship ended.  The two people found themselves with a lot of stuff to divide up.  This sparked an idea and they started collecting relics of other broken relationships.  Soon people started donating relics from their broken relationships and things progressed from there.

Entry to the museum costs about $6.25 per person.  Inside we found a series of stations where people recounted the stories of their heartbreak often accompanied by small mementos.  Some stations even had audio/visual  versions.  We haven’t seen such a collection of immature, winey, self-indulgent wallowing since we left high school.  We just wanted to screen, “GET OVER IT” at the top of our lungs.  We loved the concept but the implementation left a lot to be desired.  Judging by the people who seemed to be enjoying themselves this museum appears to appeal to a younger generation.  For us it was a colossal waste of time and money.

Our version of wallowing was to get pizza at one of the places our guide had recommended.  We split a Pizza Zagreb which came with salami, bacon and fried egg.  It was good but not great but it was comfort food and just what we needed to put the museum behind us.

Today we booked the next leg of our trip.  We’ll be in the seaside town of Pula, Croatia for seven days.  We can’t wait to see the Adriatic.

Distance walked: 6.7 miles

Tuesday, September 25

Another country, another currency and another free tour.  Here in Croatia they use the Kuna and the exchange rate is 6.31 to the dollar.  The conversion is not as challenging as you might expect but a calculator does come in handy.  It’s a little disconcerting to pay 12 HRK for a slice of pizza until you realize that it comes to less than $2.00 (still very expensive even for Croatia but it was the main square).

We headed for Ban Jelacic Square.  It’s the main square in the old town district and it’s where we found a hive of activity.  At the North end there was a stage where a large group of young people were dressed in traditional costumes singing traditional folk music.  Booths were setup all over the square selling souvenirs and all sorts of foods.  We later found out that it was a festival celebrating Croatian Traditions and would only be there for two days.  We were fortunate to happen upon it.

Our tour started at 10:00 am and the size of the group numbered at least 50.  Vid, our guide, said that most of the groups he handles are even larger.  The old town is divided into an Upper and Lower Town and we saw both of these.  He told us (and showed us) the market area where you can buy fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, fish and cheeses and explained that was the place that the locals shopped and that the prices were very good.  He also made some recommendations for restaurants.  He explained to us that Croatia, unlike many of the other Balkan countries, is overwhelmingly Catholic.  This is because Croatia collaborated with the Habsburgs and was never under Ottoman rule.

Fun Fact: The name of the country in Croatian is Hrvatska and it is pronounced just like it’s spelled.  You often see it spelled that way on official buildings.  It’s not clear to us how Hrvatska morphed into Croatia.

After the tour we went back to the main square and checked out the festival.  The sights and smells were overwhelming.  We decided to have a little lunch and then do some serious shopping.  We bought some traditional Croatian pastries called burek.  They’re made of phyllo dough and stuffed with all kinds of things.  Most of the Balkan countries have some variation of burek.  In Bulgaria they called it banitza and in Hungary they called it retes.  In Serbia burek is always vegetarian but in Croatia it usually has meat.  There’s an amusing cartoon that shows how important this issue is…

Telsa was Serbian, Telsla was Croatian,

Telsa was Serbian, Telsla was Croatian,

Telsa was Serbian, Burek has Meat!

We actually bought burek stuffed with cheese, one with beef and onions and one stuffed with cherry.  They were freshly made, greasy and absolutely delicious and altogether cost us just over $2.00.  After filling out stomaches we hit every booth and sampled meats, cheeses, honey, cookies and anything else that was for sale.  We walked away with a jar of chocolate flavored cream honey and an assortment of Turkish Delight including Rose, Banana and Chocolate flavors.

Afterwards we went back to the same burek stand and bought several to take home for dinner.  This time we got a beef and onions, a spinach and cheese, a cherry and a version with nut and honey.  We ate them with the Bermet wine we bought in Serbia.  It made for a nice meal.

Distance walked: 6.6 miles

Wednesday, September 26

Ok, let’s get this out of the way right away because there seems to be some bad feelings on this subject.  Today I bought TWO pairs of sneakers making my total three pairs of shoes for this trip (Deborah hasn’t purchased a single pair of shoes in the past 12 months).  We’ve walked over 1,800 miles this year which is the equivalent of walking in a straight line from New York City to Albuquerque, NM – and then some.  I’ve already worn out the two pairs of sneakers I brought with me and the pair of Nikes that I purchased in Prague (they didn’t last very long). The good news is that after a long search we finally found a New Balance store that had sneakers in wide sizes – and that’s why I bought two.  The clerk was surprised when I wanted to leave my Nikes at the store but when I showed her the many holes in the soles of both shoes she understood.

Today we planned to take another tour.  This one was all about a subject that has come to fascinate us: The Balkan Wars of the 1990s.  It was a paid tour and cost a little over $20.00 per person.  For that amount we were expecting something special but since that tour didn’t start until 3:00 pm we had a lot of time to fill – and fill it we did.

After purchasing sneakers we headed back to see some of the sights we encountered in yesterday’s tour.  First stop: The Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Lord which is one of the few Serbian Orthodox Cathedrals in the city.  The present day version of the church dates from 1861.  As usual the surfaces are all covered with frescos highlighted in gold but there are gaps between the pictures.  The iconostasis is very pretty but not crowded.  In this case less seems like more.  The church has a very soothing ambiance which was different and pleasing.

(The Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Lord)

Next we visited one of the main attractions in the city:  ‎⁨The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Kings Saint Stephen and Saint Ladislaus.  It’s usually referred to simply as “The Cathedral”.  The original church on this site dates from 1093.  There were many different buildings on this site but the earthquake of 1880 caused so much damage that the decision was made to build a brand new building.

(The Zagreb Cathedral)

The present day Cathedral is in the Gothic style and it’s an impressive site with beautifully painted vaults, gorgeous stained glass windows and a huge organ with over 6,000 pipes.  The Renaissance version of the church had one tower that was used as the city’s watch tower but after 1880 they decided to have a church with two towers.  The church was built with limestone from local quarries that unfortunately has “melted” over time.  Because of this the Cathedral is in an almost constant state of rehabilitation.  For historical reasons they are required to use the same limestone for all repairs.

(The Zagreb Cathedral)

Fun Fact: A congregant donated several chandeliers to the Cathedral that came from a Las Vegas Casino where he’d been working.  They were supposed to be temporary but they’ve been hanging in the church for over a decade.

For lunch we went to one of the restaurants that our guide had recommended.  The restaurant is called, “La Struk” and it sells a traditional Croatian food called Strukli.  He characterized it by saying that it’s one of the foods that everyone’s grandmother makes.  Strukli can be baked or boiled but we opted for the baked version.  Everything is made to order in this restaurant so every order takes about 20 minutes.

We ordered two different kinds.  One was called Salty Cheese and the other was Blueberry.  In both cases we got a deep dish lined with dough and filled with a mixture of what they call cottage cheese (it’s more like ricotta), eggs and milk baked until bubbly and brown.  The blueberry version was sweet while the salty cheese version (which wasn’t very salty) was savory.  It sounds like it might be a custard but the consistency is more like melted cheese than anything else.  One dish would easily feed two people but of course we ate both down to the dish’s ceramic coating.  They were damn good.  Total cost for two cappuccinos and two Struki came to $15.85.  We’re planning to go back and try some of their other varieties including pepper, nut and honey, apple and cinnamon, truffle and pumpkin seed pesto.

(Salty Cheese and Blueberry Strukli)

After lunch we did some more exploring.  We found The Church of Saint Francis nearby.  It was another beautiful Gothic style church (we can NEVER see enough of these).  It was not nearly the size of the main Cathedral but it was worth seeing.  Next we strolled down Tkalcicvea Street.  The street was built on top of a creek that once separated two different cities that are now part of Zagreb: Kaptol and Gradec.  Today the street is lined with restaurants and is known for its nightlife.

Next we visited Dolac Market.  It’s a large, mainly outdoor, market.  This is the place where locals shop.  The market typically closes around 3:00 pm but when we got there around 2:30 pm the meat and cheese vendors had already gone for the day.  We wandered around the produce section for a while and patronized several booths.  We purchased a pound of figs, and bags of plums and mandarin oranges.  The total cost was less than $4.00.  We also checked out the hut where the fresh fish were for sale.  Most of the vendors were packing up but we saw huge shrimp in the shell selling for less than $10.00 a pound and enormous sea scallops in the shell that were incredibly cheap.  We plan to go back another day and get some to take home.

Our tour guide had told us about a public restroom near the square that was free of charge.  We headed over there before the tour began.  Most public restrooms in Europe charge some sort of fee to pay someone to keep it clean and stocked.  This one had an attendant, was clean and near one of the busiest places in town.  Deborah says it’s one of the best ladies room she’s been in.  The stalls as spacious and there are three hooks to hang your stuff on.  It doesn’t get any better than that.  (If you exit the square to the north on your way to the Cathedral it’s on your right).

Finally, at 3:00 pm we met our tour in the main square.  It’s called the War Tour and our guide, Kristina, has been giving this presentation for many years.  She began by talking about the region just before and after World War I and little by little continued the timeline until the mid 1990s.

After World War I Croatia, Serbia and several other countries formed as the Kingdom of Serbia.  By World War II the area encompassed most of what we came to know as Yugoslavia.  During World War II the Balkans were divided between several powers and Croatia was led by a Nazi Sympathizer named Ante Pavelić who headed up the Ustase movement.  During this time the Serbs in Croatia were persecuted and atrocities were committed by the government. The area was now called the Independent State of Croatia.

The anti-fascist Partisans, lead by Tito, defeated the Ustase in 1945 and eventually formed The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which was a communist state.

After the death of Tito in 1980, Yugoslavia was in a state of turmoil.  It was a time of Nationalism where old ethnic biases came to the forefront.  Many of the republics wanted their independence and on June 25, 1991 Croatia declared theirs.  Serbia inflamed tensions by invoking the atrocities committed by the Ustase and started a war with the aim of defending the Serbian population.  History is not yet clear as to whether Serbia was indeed concerned for the ethnic Serbs in Croatia or it simply wanted to keep power by keeping Yugoslavia intact.  In any event hostilities broke out between the two countries which, with help of the International community, ended only in 1995.

Today Serbia and Croatia still have some disagreements but they are confined to the political arena.  From our experience Serbs and Croats generally feel kindly towards one another and continue to enjoy their shared heritage.

Our story would not be complete without a recounting of what we had for dinner: fried shrimp, french fries and pizza.  It might not have been healthy or nutritious but it was really good.

Distance walked: 10.2 miles

It’s hard to be disappointed when you have no expectations and we had no idea of what we’d find in Belgrade.  We were pleasantly surprised.  The old town area has lots of well maintained pedestrian walkways with shops, cafes, street musicians and fountains.  It’s a lovely place to just spend some time drinking coffee and watching the world go by.  Prices are certainly cheap by Western European standards and there’s plenty to see and do.  The city does suffer from some decay but it’s not nearly as bad as Bucharest and we suspect it will get better more quickly as tourist dollars flood in.  You have to remember that these people fought several wars in the 1990s and haven’t fully recovered from them yet.  As one of our guides said to us, “I’m 26 and have already survived two wars”.  Some of the older population still harbor serious anti-American sentiment over the NATO bombings and, even the younger people, seem unhappy about the current situation in Kosovo, but if you stay off those topics there’s no reason you shouldn’t have a great time.

Here’s our must do list for the city…

• Kalemegdan Park and Kalemegdan Fortress.  It’s the number one attraction in the city for a good reason.  The fort is beautifully situated on top of a hill with great views with many things to see and do.  Admission is free.
• Belgrade Zoo.  Located in Kalemegdan Park it has a surprisingly large collection of animals.  Entry was about $3.00 per person.
• Visit the National Museum in Belgrade in Republic Square.  They have something for everyone: Archeology, Numismatics, Old Masters and Modern Art.  Entry is about $3.00 per person (watch out for the cats).
• Have coffee or drinks at a Kafana.  For a modern version checkout one of our favorites: Kafeterija Magazin.
• Stroll Prince Michael Street and the connecting pedestrian walkways.  This is the heart of the old town district.
• See historic Skadarska Street and eat at one of the many restaurants.
• The Hotel Moscow.  Pick up a piece of their famous Moskva Schnit, it’s different from anything you’ve had before and it’s delicious.  Have a meal there; the prices are surprisingly reasonable.
• Visit the Temple of Saint Sava.  You can only visit the crypt right now because they’re still constructing/decorating the main sanctuary (and will be for the next 20 years or so) but the crypt is quite beautiful and definitely worth a visit.
• Visit Saint Mark’s Church and see the tomb of Dushan the Strong, a very important leader from medieval Serbia.
• Visit the Royal Palaces.  You can only see them with a guide and must book through one of the tourist information booths.  Cost: about $6.50 per person.
• Take a tour of Novi Sad and all the nearby attractions (wineries, monasteries and Petrovaradin Fortress.
• Take a sunset cruise on the Sava/Danube Rivers.
• If you’re a tennis fan you can eat at Novak Djokovic’s restaurant (it’s a little pricey) or play at his tennis club (it’s incredibly cheap).

We left off a few of the standard attractions like the Tesla Museum, The House of Flowers and the Museum of Yugoslavia.  If time permits you might want to include these on your itineraries as well.

Monday, September 24

The bus station was less than a mile from our apartment but since we were leaving so early in the morning we decided to take a cab.  Of course, none of the cab companies (or cab company apps) in Belgrade take reservations.  We went to sleep the night before hoping that there would be a cab available at 6:30 am.  As a last resort we would still have time to walk as our bus was not scheduled to leave until 7:30 am.

As usual we were ready early.  At 6:10 am we used an Uber-like app to call a cab and three minutes later someone was at our doorstep.  When the driver learned that our bus was not leaving for over an hour he actually laughed at us.  We’d rather be early and avoid any drama.  Famous last words.

We’d planned our cash fairly well.  We started the day with 650 Dinars.  150 went to the driver as a tip, 200 for coffee and 100 for two trips to the bathroom left us with just 200 Dinars or $2.00 that, as is our custom, we would leave in Zagreb.  Of course it couldn’t be that easy.

With 15 minutes to go before our bus’ scheduled departure time we tried to pass through the gates to enter the area where the busses were parked.  An attendant stopped us and asked for our tickets.  We showed him our tickets but he seemed to indicate that he was looking for something else.  We came to understand that we needed to purchase a separate ticket just to get to the bus.  He told us to go to window 2.

We ran over to window 2 and showed the attendant our two bus tickets.  He said 180 Dinars.  We gave him cash and he gave us a ticket.  He didn’t accept credit cards.  If you’re keeping track that means that we were down to only 20 Dinars.  Talk about graft and corruption!

We hurried back to the gate and handed our new ticket to the attendant but he only let Deborah through.  He said we needed two tickets.  The bus was scheduled to leave in ten minutes, only one of us was able to get to the bus and we had no more cash.  Deborah waited by the gate and I ran back over to window 2 and told him that I needed another ticket but had no money.  He just shrugged.  I asked if there was a cash machine nearby and he pointed.

Now running, I and my luggage found a cash machine about 100 feet away.  I tried to get just 500 Dinars but it said it was unable to fulfill my request.  I assumed that it didn’t have any small bills and tried for 1,000 Dinars.  Same result.  One last try at 5,000 Dinars also met with rejection so I ran back over to Deborah and screamed, “give me all the EUROs you have!”.

Running even faster I went back to window 2 and offered the man EUROs.  He said that I had to go over to the exchange window.  I told him that I had no time left but he didn’t care.  He repeated his previous instructions.

I found the exchange window fairly quickly.  The lady in front of me was just completing a transaction.  Before leaving the window she counted her change three times.  Thoughts of murder passed through my mind.  😡 I handed the clerk a five EURO note and asked for change.  This was going to be close.

Back at window 2 I finally got my ticket and ran for the gate.  This time I got past the attendant and found Deborah standing in front of the bus explaining to the driver that he couldn’t leave until her husband got there.  We handed our luggage over to the baggage person and he said, “two EUROs”.  What?!  We had paid for our ticket AND the bogus fee to get to the bus and NOW we had to pay for our baggage?  More graft and corruption!  It was just too much.  I didn’t even have any EUROs.  He saw the bills in my hand and just took what he wanted in Dinars.  I didn’t care.  I just wanted to get on that damn bus!

Finally on the bus we settled in for the six hour ride to Zagreb.  It was a Greyhound style bus but without a bathroom or WIFI but we came prepared with empty bladders and a packed lunch.  After what we just went through the rest of the trip had to be smooth sailing.

When we got to the Serbian border the bus pulled over to the side of the road and waited about 30 minutes before a border patrol agent entered, collected all of our passports and exited through the rear.  Our driver came through the bus and handed everyone’s passport back to them.  That was a big waste of time.

Just a minute later we got to the Croatian border.  After another 30 minute wait we were told to exit the bus with our carry ons, collect our luggage from the belly of the bus and enter the customs building where, one by one, every piece of luggage was opened and subjected to a search.  After that we waited on line for a border patrol agent to examine and stamp (yeah!) our passports.  Deborah was the last person out of the building.  I stood in front of the bus and waited for her.  The driver yelled at me three times.  He wanted me to board the bus but I stood my ground and waited for Deborah to clear customs so we could board together.  The bus was now behind schedule and the driver didn’t even wait for us to get in our seats before pulling out of the station at high speed.

We arrived at the main Zagreb bus station about 30 minutes late and called an Uber for the 15 minute trip to our new apartment.  The driver seemed to be looking for a tip but every time we’ve used Uber we’ve paid the tip through the app – except, of course, in Zagreb.  For some reason there was no way to send the driver a tip.  We felt really bad about that.

Our new place is, of course, a three floor walk-up.  Not just a normal three floors but three flights consisting of 24 steps per flight (a normal flight is 12 steps).  We’d really like to know who we pissed off in an earlier life (we knew it was a walk up when we booked it).  Our host was waiting to meet us and gave us a some good information about nearby grocery stores, et al.  It’s a lovely two bedroom apartment with a toilet in the hall closet.  Now we know where the term “Water Closet” comes from.  Oh the joys of traveling.

We settled in and headed to the nearest grocery store but the doors were locked.  People seemed to be inside but they weren’t open for business so we walked about a mile down the road to the LIDL where we stocked up.

We’re in a nice neighborhood that’s a 15 minute walk to the old town district.  Our initial impressions of Zagreb are that it’s much more affluent that Belgrade or Bucharest and the general architecture of the buildings is more Hungarian than Ottoman or Communist.  We’re really looking forward to seeing what Croatia has to offer.

We were so exhausted from our trip that we went to bed at 9:00 pm.

Distance walked: 3.7 miles

Sunday, September 23

The day started with another trip to Tennis Center Novak.  This was the third time in two weeks that I was on the court and my timing had finally come back.  I was striking the ball with authority and even managed to pretend that I could move my feet properly.  The coach was very impressed.  He said that if I could improve that much in a few days he would love to see what I could do after a month.  I’d like to know that too.

He decided that instead of just swatting the ball back and forth he would try to  teach me something so he concentrated on footwork.  I laughed as he explained the proper way to step across and push off.  It wasn’t anything I hadn’t heard a million times from my coaches in New York.  Footwork has always been my achilles heel.

After the session he invited me to play with some of his other students but I had to decline as this was my last day in town.  We exchanged contact information and promised to keep in touch.  He was a lot to fun to listen to and to play with.  I will miss him.

(Photo-bombed)

In the afternoon we had planned one last tour of the city.  It was the Mysterious Belgrade Walking Tour.  This was a paid tour that cost $12.00 per person and was supposed to explore some of the places (and stories) that most tourists don’t get to see.  Unfortunately, Deborah was just too tired to go so I went by myself.

The guide turned out to be Ana – the same guide that we had done our very first tour in Belgrade with.  She remembered me well. While we waited for the others to arrive we talked about all the things Deborah and I had seen and done in the past two weeks.  We’d covered a lot of ground.

For the most part the tour covered many of the places that we’d already been to but we did see a few new things.  We entered the Roman Well which, as she said, was neither Roman nor a well.  It was a large cistern for collecting rain water at the top of Kalemegdan hill and provided water for the garrisons.  Apparently it was one of Alfred Hitchcock’s favorite places in the city.  It wasn’t that creepy.

Next we went to a place that I wasn’t sure existed or was just a rumor.  It was Tito’s underground bunker.  Built at the top of Kalemegdan hill it was a series of passages beneath ground that was meant to protect him and his wife. Tito had angered Stalin and feared an attack by the Soviet Union.  It was also rumored that Stalin had tried to have Tito assassinated.  Fortunately for Tito Stalin died in 1953.

The third new place we saw was the Gunpowder Tower.  It had been a place to store weapons and materials but was now used to house many artifacts from the Roman period.  In communist times the tower had been used for rock band concerts and the vibrations caused one of the passages to collapse.  The outer courtyard area is still used for live performances but the inside is now used only for lectures and academic gatherings.

(Roman Artifacts in the Gunpowder Tower)

Distance walked: 8.5 miles

Saturday, September 22

Another tour.  This time it was a short hop over to the far end of town to see the royal palaces – but first a short history lesson…

When King Alexander I of the house of Obrenovic, ruler of the Kingdom of Serbia, was assassinated in a military coupe in 1903 his successor was Peter I of the house of Karadordevic.  Peter was followed by his son Alexander.  King Alexander and his wife had three sons and they all lived together in a palace in the center of town.  When Alexander remarried after his wife’s death, the family decided to purchase some land and build two palaces in what was then a remote part of town.  The Royal Palace was meant to be the primary living quarters for the king and his new wife.  The White Palace was where his three sons would be raised.  These two palaces can be visited only through a State sponsored tour that can only be booked at a Tourist Information Center.

We met the tour near the old palace (now the Town Hall) and took a short bus ride.  The site is in the same part of town as the House of Flowers.  We stopped first at the White Palace and saw all of the downstairs rooms.  The upstairs contains living quarters for five people but we were not permitted to visit them.  The tour has some rigid rules including dress code, no backpacks or luggage of any kind and most of all, no photography.

The main points of interest were the works of art.  King Alexander was a lover of art and literature and was an avid collector.  Most interesting to us were the fine quality family portraits.  Most had been destroyed during the communist period but a few had survived when they were hidden in the attic.  Tito used the White Palace as his primary office until 1975 when the House of Flowers was constructed.  During the communist period this palace was used for public functions and pictures/videos were often seen by the public.

The two palaces are situated in a large park-like grounds with many ancillary buildings.  As we traveled between the two palaces we saw guard houses, a thatched hut, a spa and a pool complex.  No doubt there are other buildings there that we were not able to see.

(The Pool Complex)

The Royal Palace was said to be in the Serbian Byzantine style but seemed to us to resemble an Italian Palazzo.  The entrance way is decorated with copies of medieval works of art and is meant evoke the greatness of the ancient Kingdom of Serbia.  Many of the formal rooms are decorated in different styles.  Most of the rooms were cooled by large windows that had access to private courtyards or the veranda that overlooked the valley below.  These were public rooms and their design was heavily influenced by the king.

(The Royal Dining Room)

The basement was private space.  The designers, who were from Russia, decorated it in Russian style with arched passageways, carved pillars and brightly painted murals.  There was a billiard parlor and the first private movie theater in the country.  During the communist period Tito and his family lived in this palace and his guests, including Queen Elizabeth II and Price Phillip, stayed there.  This palace was never seen by the public.

Since the outbreak of World War II the royal family has been living in exile.  During the communist period they were stripped of their property and possessions and their citizenship was revoked.  In 2001 Serbia invited HRH Crown Price Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine to come back to Serbia and permitted them to live in the royal palace.  They typically spend six months in Belgrade and the rest of their time is split between their homes in other parts of the world where they administer their charitable foundations.  The status of much of their property is being disputed in the court system.

Before we left the palace we learned that HRH Crown Princess Katherine was at home and planned to speak with us.  We all gathered in the Blue Salon where she made a speech about her foundations and the charities that she was associated with.  She implored all of us to help her promote these causes. After her speech we were able to speak with her privately and had a picture taken together.  When she found out that we were from New York she gave us her card, had her secretary take our contact information and promised that we would be invited to the next foundation event in New York City.  She was eloquent and charming and we thoroughly enjoyed meeting her.  If we had known we were going to meet royalty we might have dressed better!

(HRH Crown Princess Katherine of Serbia)

Total cost: $6.50 per person for the tour and $2.00 for the photograph.

Distance walked: 3.9 miles

Friday, September 21

We signed up for an organized tour to travel to the province of Vojvodina (voye-vo-DEE-na) where the second largest city in Serbia can be found: Novi Sad.  Vojvodina is known as the farm belt of Serbia and produces corn, wheat and grapes for its many wineries.

Novi Sad is a little over 1.5 hours from Belgrade and has a very interesting history…throughout most of the time that Belgrade was occupied by the Ottoman Empire Novi Sad was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  People of many ethnicities and religions found their way to this city and it became a cultural center and the de facto capital of the Serbian people.  Even today it bears more resemblance to a Hungarian town than a Serbian city.

Our first stop of the day was to the Novo Hopovo Monastery which sits on the Fruska Gora Mountain in the town of Sremski Karlovci.  The monastery, which dates from the 14th century, is run by nuns.  It’s a small compound with the main attraction being its church, which is decorated with frescos in the Orthodox style.  To help support the monastery the nuns sell wines and honey made from the grapes that they grow and the bees that they raise.  The gift shop had a nice selection of items for sale.

(The Novo Hopovo Monastery)

Our next stop was at the Marcus Aurelius Probus Winery.  Marcus Aurelius Probus (not the Marcus Aurelius from the movie Gladiator) was a Roman emperor who was born in Serbia.  He had his legions plant the first vineyards  in that region.  This winery is named in his honor.  It’s a small family run operation that produces about 17,000 liters per year.

Fun Fact: 18 Roman Emperors were born in Serbia.

Before stopping in for our wine tasting we hit a convenience store to get some food.  By now it was after noon and none of us wanted to drink wine on an empty stomach.   We tasted seven different wines.  The first five were typical wines that most of us had tried before but the last two were special wines that are only produced in this region of Serbia.  They are called Bermet.

Bermet typically contains between 16 and 18% alcohol.  It’s on the sweet side and is normally served as a dessert wine.  Besides its high alcohol content Bermet is flavored with around 20 different herbs and spices.  Each family has its own recipe and it’s a carefully guarded secret.  Bermet was said to be a favorite of the Hungarian Empress Maria Teresa and was one of the wines found in the wreck of the Titanic.

We started with the red Bermet.  It had a deep, rich flavor that was similar to Tawny Port but, because of the herbs and spices, was reminiscent of mulled wine.  Most of us liked it very well.  This winery also produces a white Bermet which is much less common and was not liked nearly as well.  For fun the owner offered us some traditional Serbian Rakia.  By now most of us had their fill of alcohol but two of us (one of them was me) had the plum and quince flavors.  The Plum flavored variety is traditional and was very good.  Neither of us liked the quince very well, although it is also said to be quite popular.  We bought a bottle of the red Bermet to take with us.  It cost us about $10.00.

Right across the street from the winery was a most interesting church.  It’s called the Chapel of Peace and it’s the place where the Treaty of Karlowitz was signed in 1699 between the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires.  Unfortunately our schedule did not permit us time to visit the church.

Back on the bus we headed for the Petrovaradin Fortress which sits on the opposite side of the Danube from Novi Sad.  The Fortress is perched high on a hill overlooking the region and has been home to settlements since the Paleolithic times.  Construction of the fortress started in 1692 and was completed in 1780.  It was built primarily to deter the Ottomans from getting to Vienna.  The fortress was never conquered but the Ottomans eventually besieged Vienna just the same.

The fortress contains the famous “Drunken Clock”.  The long hand tells the hour and the short hand tell the minutes.  Why was this done?  Fisherman in the river depended on the clock to tell the hour of the day.  The small hand was too small to be seen from a distance so the hands were reversed.

(The Drunken Clock)

Our last stop of the day was the center of the old town section of Novi Sad.  Our guide walked us through the main pedestrian way and introduced us to the many historical buildings and events that took place there.  By now it was 3:30 pm and we joined most of the group for lunch at one of the many restaurants in the square.  At 5:30 pm we met our guide for the trip back home.

It was a long day but we had a great time.  We really enjoyed getting to know the rest of the people in our group.  They came from as far away as Canada, Israel and Abu Dhabi.

(At Lunch with the Group)

Distance walked: 3.9 miles

Thursday, September 20

During our time in Belgrade we’ve learned a lot about the history of Serbia and it’s many rulers.   Regarding recent history the more we learn the more we are puzzled.  The people here are reluctant to talk about the Balkan Wars of the late 20th Century and have an unexpectedly positive view of their country during the Communist period.  Today we planned to visit the Museum of Yugoslavia and the House of Flowers to try to learn more about the time when the communists were in power and Tito was president.

The day started with a three mile walk to the far end of town.  The museums are in a more affluent part of town on top of a hill at the end of a long drive. Entry for both museums was about $4.00 per person.  Surprisingly there were no signs of any kind indicating the location of the museums.  Thank you Google Maps!

Our first visit was to the House of Flowers.  This complex was built in 1975 as a place for Tito to work and to rest.  At Tito’s request he was buried there.  The place became known as the House of Flowers due to the fact that his tomb was always surrounded by flowers.  Today white rocks stand in place of the flowers.

(Tito’s Tomb)

The building is rather small and, in addition to the tombs of Tito and his third wife Yovanka, is filled with memorabilia from his life in office.  There was a large collection of ceremonial batons that was presented to him on the anniversary of his birth from various guilds, organizations and municipalities throughout Yugoslavia.  The date of his birthday became a national holiday known as Youth Day.

There was an interesting collection of gifts and memorabilia from his meetings with other heads of state.  Among the many things we saw a silver desk set presented to him by JFK and a signed photograph of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip.  There was also a model of the so-called Blue Train.

(A Gift of a Desk Set from JFK from 1963)

The Blue Train was manufactured out of train cars that had previously been used exclusively by the royal family prior to World War II.  Tito had it made into a traveling office and frequently used it to visit far off towns in Yugoslavia and state capitals throughout the world.  He often entertained heads of state in its elaborate interior.  Today the Blue Train can be rented out for special occasions.  It is possible to tour the train but information on the procedure is scarce.  We were able to learn that you can set up an appointment by sending email to srbijavoz.marketing@srbrail.rs.  Tours cost 300 RSD per person (about $3.00) and are available Monday-Friday from 9 am – 1 pm.

(A Sculpture of Tito in the Garden)

Next door we found the Museum of Yugoslavia.  Yugoslavia, which means the union of southern slavs, was a country that came into being after World War I.  Initially it was called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and was created out of territories that previously belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  In 1929 it was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.  At the start of World War II the royal family fled to Great Britain and the country was controlled by Nazi Germany.  Starting in 1946 a communist government was established and the country was renamed The Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia.  From 1946 until his death in 1980 Tito lead the country as Prime Minister, President and finally President for Life.  The new country of Yugoslavia was made up of six socialist republics including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Serbia while Serbia also contained the two autonomous provinces of Vojvodina and Kosovo (by the way it’s taken us a week and half to figure this out and we’re now beginning to understand some of the present day regional politics).

The museum building and its collection are both undergoing a major renovation.  The main building is closed.  The exhibition is being temporarily housed in a nearby building where a small cross-section of the artifacts are on display.  Most of the displays had items that were associated with Tito – mainly gifts and memorabilia from other heads of states.  There were  a few items about the development of technologies during this time and finally a few items on the post Tito period.  It’s hard to evaluate the museum in its current state.  Together the House of Flowers and the Museum of Yugoslavia seemed more like propaganda for Tito and the communist state rather than an objective, historical re-telling of the facts.

We decided to walk back into town and have lunch at a place that my tennis coach had recommended.  It was about midway between the museums and our apartment so it made for a nice stopping point.  We decided to split an order of pljeskavica and a shopska salad.  The portions were huge.  The pljeskavica seemed to have more beef than pork and it came with a large pile of chopped onions.  We ate the entire salad and most of the meat.  We tried to order plum pie for dessert but they were out so we split a piece of baklava.  The syrup was made from sugar rather than honey, which we prefer.  Still, all of the dessert vanished in our seemingly endless gullets.  Total cost: $15.34.

Distance walked: 6.8 miles

Monday, September 17

Our day started with a return to the Moscow Hotel.  For lunch we ordered a bowl of tomato soup and spaghetti carbonara (we haven’t had really good carbonara since we left Italy).  Our meal came with a basket of bread along with some house made spreads.  It wasn’t easy to tell exactly what they were but one had red pepper, one had eggplant and we have no idea what was in the third.  They were all really good.  Deborah loved her soup and the carbonara was decent.  Why would anyone want to leave Rome?  For dessert we split a piece of the Moskva Schnit; it didn’t disappoint.

We waked off lunch by taking a turn around the neighborhood that’s called London.  It’s not clear why it was so named – it doesn’t resemble London at all but we did find quite a few embassies.  There was a large banner across the street from the British Embassy protesting the NATO bombings from 1999.  It’s still a heated topic of discussion and an ever present issue.

We circled back and found the one remaining synagogue in town.  The building survived Word War II because the German’s used it as a nightclub.  Virtually the entire Jewish population of Belgrade was killed in Nazi concentration camps.  Today the Jewish population of Belgrade numbers around 30.  Because of continued anti-semitism that number is expected to get smaller and smaller.

(Temple Sukat Shalom)

The synagogue was originally built by members of the Ashkenazi sect but now supports a Sephardic congregation.  The grounds also host a kindergarten.  The interior is fairly large but plain.  We had a nice look around before heading back out.  The $2.00 entry fee also covered entry to the Jewish cemetery but it was several miles away and we did not see it.

Our last stop was at one of the coffee shops we frequent to purchase some krofne.  Krofne are Serbian donuts and they are supposed to be filled with some sort of fruit jelly.  The ones we got were made out of a bread dough that was fried and topped with chocolate but had no filling.  They weren’t very good and were hardly worth wasting the calories.  They’re reputed to be a popular pastry but we’ve had some trouble finding them.  We’ll continue to look in the hopes of finding a better version.

Distance walked: 4.8 miles

Tuesday, September 18

We took a free tour of Zemun.  Throughout its history Zemun was a town unto itself but in 1934 it was absorbed into the municipality of Belgrade.  The interesting thing about Zemun is that during most of the 500 years that Belgrade was occupied by the Ottoman Empire Zemun was part of the Habsburg Empire and, as a consequence, has a completely different character from Belgrade.

We met the free tour near Republic Square and took a bus for the seven mile trip over to Zemun.  Our group consisted of three couples and a tour guide.  The ride took just ten minutes and we were deposited near Zemunski Park which played an important role until the middle 1800s.  The park was the demarcation line between the Ottomans and the Austro-Hungarians.  Anyone traveling between the two realms was required to be quarantined in this park for several weeks to help prevent the spread of diseases.  The park contains Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches that ministered to those who were waiting to be released.  We visited the Orthodox church.  It was rather small but was nicely decorated.

We meandered through town for a while and saw the main street.  It looked very European and would not have been out of place if it had been located somewhere in Hungary.  Nearby we saw “The White Bear”.  It’s the oldest Kafana in town and was opened in 1717.  Today the tavern is closed and efforts are underway to turn it into an official historic site.

Next we walked up a steep hill via several series of stone steps to get to Gardos Tower.  This tower was built in the late 1800s as part of Hungary’s millennial celebration.  It is one of a number of towers that were built at the time and is the only one that is outside of present day Hungary.  The view from the top of the hill was wonderful.  We could see the entire town of Zemun, War Island, the far side of the Danube and parts of Belgrade.  For two EURO you can climb the tower but we didn’t have time for that during the tour.

(View of Zemun from the Top of the Hill)

Finally we walked down through the main market square and along the waterfront.  There is a large marina there and many land based and boat based restaurants all along the waterfront.  Our guide took the other two couples back to Belgrade on the bus but we stayed to eat lunch and look around some more.

We chose one of the waterfront restaurants and got a table overlooking the river.  For our meal we ordered river fish: Deborah got Carp Cutlets and I had Smoked Trout.  Both came with a combination of spinach and sliced potatoes.  The food was good but river fish do tend to be rather bland.  The best part of the meal was the view from our table.

(Carp Cutlets)

After lunch we walked around the main square and checked out the booths.  Zemun is not a touristy area so most of the booths were selling practical things like housewares and clothing.  Nearby was a large farmers market where local farms sell their produce directly to the public.

After a little more sightseeing we got on the bus and headed back Belgrade and our apartment.

Distance walked: 6.8 miles

Wednesday, September 19

I had an appointment to play tennis with a coach over at Novak Djokovic’s tennis center.  The tennis center is located near the Lower Town along the Danube River.  We’d seen the tennis center on a previous day and I was able to arrange an appointment by email.

My coach was a very engaging fellow who had actually traveled with Djokovic for seven years and worked as a coach and hitting partner.  He had lots of interesting stories to tell and I listened with interest as he relayed an insider’s view of 2017 when Novak had a terrible year on the tour.

The center is first rate with good quality red clay courts and an active development program.  I learned that Novak had been there just two days before.  Unfortunately he is no longer in Belgrade as he is scheduled to appear at the Laver Cup in Chicago.  I was disappointed not to have seen him.

(Playing at Tennis Center Novak)

Distance walked: 3.2 miles

Saturday, September 15

Another country, another currency.  Here in Serbia they use the Dinar.  The exchange rate is about 0.0096 per dollar which makes it rather easy to convert to Dollars.  We just divide by 100.  We’ve been typically paying about RSD 1,300 for lunch which is just a little less than $13.00.  “It’s close enough for Jazz”.

It’s almost impossible to get rid of every bit of currency as we go from country to country but we’ve been careful and only once have been left with more than one dollar.  We’ve developed a little ritual: every time we leave a country we leave a little of the previous country’s currency behind in our apartment.  Our hosts are probably puzzled by this but we find it amusing.  Anyway, it’s a good way to get rid of small change that we can no longer use.

We had another late start today and our first order of business was lunch.  We wanted to try another one of Serbia’s iconic dishes called Karadorda.  It’s a pork cutlet stuffed with cheese that’s been rolled up, breaded and fried.  We went over to Dva Jelena (The Two Deers) on Skadarska Street and shared an order.  It came with french fries and tartar sauce and we ordered a shopska salad to go along with it.

Shopska salad is something we were introduced to in Bulgaria.  It’s a chopped salad with tomato, cucumber, red onion and feta cheese; it has no lettuce.  Sometimes you’ll see it called Balkan Salad.  In that case you’ll get white cheese (we still don’t know what that is – we’ve been eating it for almost a year and all we know is that it’s not “yellow cheese”) instead of feta.

We’ve found that the foods and the language are quite similar in many of the Balkan countries.  Our guide told us that Bulgarian is not like Serbian at all but we certainly think otherwise.  They share many of the same words, use the Cyrillic Alphabet and have similar pronunciations.  We’ve been told that the other former Yugoslavian countries use the Latin alphabet.  That will make life easier for us as our Cyrillic is now a little rusty.

Like a Chicken Kiev, once we cut into our Karadorda the cheese ran out all over the plate leaving the meat a little dry.  We used the meat to mop up the sauce.  The end result was ok but nothing to write home about.

(Karadorda for Lunch)

We also tried a local Serbian beer called Jelen.  Jelen Pivo is served everywhere in Belgrade and has no relation to this restaurant.  It’s a rather light ale with a watery texture and little flavor.  We drank about half of it.

Next we visited the National Gallery of Art in Republic Square.  Entry to the museum cost $3.00 per person (we thought our guide had said it was 300 EUROs but it was actually 300 Dinar, which makes a HUGE difference).

The first floor had a nice archeological display running from pre-historic times until the Roman period.  The artifacts on display were all from Serbia.  They had stone age tools, jewelry, pottery and artwork on display.

Nearby was an unrelated collection of currency and medals throughout the ages starting about 500 BC and running through the present day.  It was a really nice collection.  Most interesting to us were the different currencies that had been in use in the region in the 19th and 20th centuries.  The region had gone from Ottoman to Austro-Hungarian, to Yugoslavian to Serbian and each time the currency changed.  There were bills in the billions of Dinars from the time when hyper-inflation was rampant after the fall of communism.

On the second floor we found more archeological artifacts extending to the middle ages and a display of religious icons.

The third floor contained a collection of Yugoslavian / Serbian Art from the 20th century and a European Old Master’s Collection.  The Yugoslavian collection had some nice pieces but really wasn’t the kind of thing we typically enjoy.  The Old Master’s Collection was surprisingly large and contained a number of notable pieces by well known artists including Renoir, Monet, Degas, Rubens, Tintoretto and more.

(Portrait of the Painter Symington by Jovanovic)

We spent a very pleasant afternoon in the museum.  Given its broad range of collections there’s bound to be something for everyone to enjoy.

In the evening we took a tour of the Sava and Danube Rivers on a Turtle Boat (they’re called turtle boats because they have a glass ceiling in the shape of a turtle shell).  We met the boat near Kalemegdan Fortress and cruised South on the Sava River passing several bridges.  There was a guide on board who described all of the points of interest along the way.  Upon reaching the last bridge we turned around and cruised West on the Danube towards Zemun.  By the time we got back to the fortress the sun was low in the sky and we were treated to a sunset over New Belgrade.  The fortress was bathed in light and was brilliant against the blackened sky.

(Zemun in the Setting Sun)

Along the Danube we passed Great War Island which is now a bird sanctuary.  On the North Side of the river there were a sparse collection of homes.  The houses were not permitted which means that when their properties are flooded by the river the government will not provide any financial assistance.

The cruise lasted about two hours and, after a quick stop for a slice of pizza, we were back in our apartment by 9:00 pm.

Big news: you may recall that when we were in Rome last year we signed up for a service called Achievement which is supposed to reward you with $10 for accumulating 10,000 points (points are awarded for various kinds of physical activities).  Well, as you know, we walk quite a bit and I finally accumulated enough to get a reward (Deborah only has about 8,800 points at present even though we walk the same amount).  According to our records we both walked 1,786.2 miles.  That comes to 0.0056 cents per mile which is a pretty poor rate of return if you ask us.

Distance walked: 6.3 miles

Sunday, September 16

Deborah needed a day off so I went to play tennis.  We found a lovely little tennis club at Kalemegdan Park.  There are six red clay courts nestled in what was a medieval moat just outside the walls of the fortress.  I hit with a local pro for an hour and had a great time.

The cost for the court and the instructor came to $28.00.

Distance walked: 1.4 miles