SERBIA
I arrived by plane in Timisoara and then took the train to Belgrade which is not very far away.
Timisoara disappointed me a bit, after so many beautiful Romanian cities this one is not exceptional but still passable, at least for the large Unirii square with period buildings of various pastel-coloured styles and the central pedestrian mall with Austro-style buildings. Hungarian between the beautiful Orthodox church and the municipal theater. It was a beautiful spring day which allowed you to walk and sunbathe while sipping a drink or a coffee in the many outdoor bars.
The next day I took the train to ARAD, another large Romanian city on the border with Hungary, a little uglier than Timisoara, with only the imposing white town hall and with the return of the cold and rain
The next morning I took the train at 5.50 early, the only train to Belgrade; luckily I had stayed at the Gara Nord hotel right in front of the station for 22 euros for a single room with bathroom, TV and fridge.
The Romanian train was old, dirty and horrible with a Serbian-Romanian girl in my compartment who studies in Timisoara at the university because it's easier and returns to Belgrade on weekends.
Of course, from the conversation it seemed to me that he was grossly ignorant not only in terms of culture, but also in practice because he gave me incorrect information about Serbia.
The journey lasted almost 5 hours and in on the home stretch there were strange movements of Serbs in my carriage going back and forth, some getting off during a short stop, but outside the station. Evidently they had something to hide from the local authorities.
From the train I glimpsed the Kalemedgan fortress which is located at the confluence of the Sava and the Danube.
The arrival at the station was shocking, old buildings and rather neglected and dirty for a train station in a state capital!
Fortunately, immediately outside it was something else entirely, apart from some military buildings still damaged and abandoned after the 1999 NATO bombings, the city it had a nice appearance, elegant with many parks and buildings with late 19th and early 20th century architecture, alongside other modern buildings from Tito's era and other more recent Western-style ones.
Well-dressed people, all very tall , beautiful youth, some really sexy girls, many bars and restaurants and shops of all kinds, including some of our top designers.
Many trams and trolleybuses, a smart way to pollute less.
The The city is relaxing, not at all chaotic, very clean, it extends over rolling hills and you walk cheered by a nice breeze coming from the Danube.
In about 15 minutes on foot I arrived at the Manga Hostel in the center, a stone's throw from the church of S. Marco, in a horrible courtyard-parking lot, but then there is a two-storey building, very colorful and with very friendly staff: Ana Maria and Rado who speak excellent English and give me the keys to my single room at the price of 22 euros per night, with use of the kitchen, free internet and nice guests (an American from Chicago, one from New Jersey and a Russian girl just arrived from Novo-Sibirsk!) Belgrade has three beauties: the Kalemegdan stronghold with its green park at the confluence of the Danube with the Sava, dominates from above the rivers lined with lots of greenery, with the restaurant and bar boats along the quays, the barges that travel along the rivers and Novi Beograd in front with its modern skyscrapers and the old center of Zemun which was once the last territory of the Austro-Hungarian empire while on this side of the river there were the Turks who occupied the Balkans for over 4 centuries.
Kalemegdan is frequented by many young people who come there to flirt, watch the view, the beautiful sunset after having walked the other two beauties, the pedestrian street Kneza Mihailova with a parterre of black stones, many shops on the edges, artists who they exhibit playing musical instruments and couples even dance the Argentine figurative tango.
The third beauty is Skandarija, the central old artists' quarter with restaurants and bars with Roma music, but also romantic songs from the international live repertoire , the cobbled parterre, an atmosphere reminiscent of the bohemian district of Montmartre in Paris.
Belgrade is poor in museums, the national one has been under restoration for years and apart from a few modern art galleries, there are ' only the museum dedicated to the genius Nikola Tesla who died in 1943 after having practically invented the radio, modern electric motors, having understood electromagnetism, invented neon light and many other things that others smarter than him have attributed to themselves, including our Guglielmo Marconi.
In Belgrade there are many pubs, bars and discos to the point that the nightlife is considered the richest and only competes with some Spanish cities such as Madrid and Barcelona.
I then went by bus to see the capital of the former autonomous region of Vojvodina, NOVI SAD, two hours north, towards Hungary.
The city is famous for the young music festival EXIT which fills the city of young people who arrive from all over Europe in July. It has a nice pedestrian historic center and above all the fortress across the Petrovaradin river built by prisoners for over 90 years and which cost the lives of 7,000 people to have a garrison against the Turkish invasions.
It's not exceptional, there is a large yellow building at the top with a museum, a restaurant and some panoramic lawns as well as a clock tower. From above you can see the city opposite and the river crossed by various bridges, one of which was bombed by NATO forces during the 1999 attack against the dictatorship of Slobodan Milosevic.
The tomb is in white marble with the name and date of birth and death (1892-1980).
There were only two other visitors, they removed the guards of honor and in the tourist brochures there is no indication of the site , given that currently the Serbs do not like to remember the figure of the former leader due to the fact that he was Croatian and had not favored the Serbs who, being the largest population, expected advantages compared to the other republics of the Yugoslav federation.
I know that my city of Trieste is invaded by Serbs seeking their fortune abroad and many have emigrated to Germany.
The war burned them, but in my opinion they deserved treatment special, not perhaps the bombing, for all the aggressions perpetuated against neighboring republics.
I hope they have finally understood that they must respect neighboring countries, peace and goodwill for all
.
![]()
S
.
The next day I took the train to ARAD, another large Romanian city on the border with Hungary, a little uglier than Timisoara, with only the imposing white town hall and with the return of the cold and rain
The next morning I took the train at 5.50 early, the only train to Belgrade; luckily I had stayed at the Gara Nord hotel right in front of the station for 22 euros for a single room with bathroom, TV and fridge.
The Romanian train was old, dirty and horrible with a Serbian-Romanian girl in my compartment who studies in Timisoara at the university because it's easier and returns to Belgrade on weekends.
Of course, from the conversation it seemed to me that he was grossly ignorant not only in terms of culture, but also in practice because he gave me incorrect information about Serbia.
The journey lasted almost 5 hours and in on the home stretch there were strange movements of Serbs in my carriage going back and forth, some getting off during a short stop, but outside the station. Evidently they had something to hide from the local authorities.
From the train I glimpsed the Kalemedgan fortress which is located at the confluence of the Sava and the Danube.
The arrival at the station was shocking, old buildings and rather neglected and dirty for a train station in a state capital!
Fortunately, immediately outside it was something else entirely, apart from some military buildings still damaged and abandoned after the 1999 NATO bombings, the city it had a nice appearance, elegant with many parks and buildings with late 19th and early 20th century architecture, alongside other modern buildings from Tito's era and other more recent Western-style ones.
Well-dressed people, all very tall , beautiful youth, some really sexy girls, many bars and restaurants and shops of all kinds, including some of our top designers.
Many trams and trolleybuses, a smart way to pollute less.
The The city is relaxing, not at all chaotic, very clean, it extends over rolling hills and you walk cheered by a nice breeze coming from the Danube.
In about 15 minutes on foot I arrived at the Manga Hostel in the center, a stone's throw from the church of S. Marco, in a horrible courtyard-parking lot, but then there is a two-storey building, very colorful and with very friendly staff: Ana Maria and Rado who speak excellent English and give me the keys to my single room at the price of 22 euros per night, with use of the kitchen, free internet and nice guests (an American from Chicago, one from New Jersey and a Russian girl just arrived from Novo-Sibirsk!) Belgrade has three beauties: the Kalemegdan stronghold with its green park at the confluence of the Danube with the Sava, dominates from above the rivers lined with lots of greenery, with the restaurant and bar boats along the quays, the barges that travel along the rivers and Novi Beograd in front with its modern skyscrapers and the old center of Zemun which was once the last territory of the Austro-Hungarian empire while on this side of the river there were the Turks who occupied the Balkans for over 4 centuries.
Kalemegdan is frequented by many young people who come there to flirt, watch the view, the beautiful sunset after having walked the other two beauties, the pedestrian street Kneza Mihailova with a parterre of black stones, many shops on the edges, artists who they exhibit playing musical instruments and couples even dance the Argentine figurative tango.
The third beauty is Skandarija, the central old artists' quarter with restaurants and bars with Roma music, but also romantic songs from the international live repertoire , the cobbled parterre, an atmosphere reminiscent of the bohemian district of Montmartre in Paris.
Belgrade is poor in museums, the national one has been under restoration for years and apart from a few modern art galleries, there are ' only the museum dedicated to the genius Nikola Tesla who died in 1943 after having practically invented the radio, modern electric motors, having understood electromagnetism, invented neon light and many other things that others smarter than him have attributed to themselves, including our Guglielmo Marconi.
In Belgrade there are many pubs, bars and discos to the point that the nightlife is considered the richest and only competes with some Spanish cities such as Madrid and Barcelona.
I then went by bus to see the capital of the former autonomous region of Vojvodina, NOVI SAD, two hours north, towards Hungary.
The city is famous for the young music festival EXIT which fills the city of young people who arrive from all over Europe in July. It has a nice pedestrian historic center and above all the fortress across the Petrovaradin river built by prisoners for over 90 years and which cost the lives of 7,000 people to have a garrison against the Turkish invasions.
It's not exceptional, there is a large yellow building at the top with a museum, a restaurant and some panoramic lawns as well as a clock tower. From above you can see the city opposite and the river crossed by various bridges, one of which was bombed by NATO forces during the 1999 attack against the dictatorship of Slobodan Milosevic.
The tomb is in white marble with the name and date of birth and death (1892-1980).
There were only two other visitors, they removed the guards of honor and in the tourist brochures there is no indication of the site , given that currently the Serbs do not like to remember the figure of the former leader due to the fact that he was Croatian and had not favored the Serbs who, being the largest population, expected advantages compared to the other republics of the Yugoslav federation.
I know that my city of Trieste is invaded by Serbs seeking their fortune abroad and many have emigrated to Germany.
The war burned them, but in my opinion they deserved treatment special, not perhaps the bombing, for all the aggressions perpetuated against neighboring republics.
I hope they have finally understood that they must respect neighboring countries, peace and goodwill for all
.
S
.
Comments
Post a Comment