On Saturday we walked up to the top of Gardoš Hill in Zemun to check out the tower of the same name and the view. As you can see in the photo above, in the foreground is the now Belgrade suburb of Zemun, with the Danube (Dunav in Serbian) flowing by with the city of Belgrade in the distance.
The tower was built in 1896 to celebrate 1000 years of Hungarians presence on the Pannonian Plain. This is the large, flat, grasslands in the north of Serbia stretching into Hungary, that geologically, used to be a sea. Zemun was the southernmost city in the Hungarian Empire and towers were built in the four corners. It is common for nations to celebrate their largest historical empire. Listening to the radio commentator and historian Dan Carlin however, has me thinking a bit differently about this. He argues that people should think about the consequences of empire, that some other people were conquered and there was probably much death and destruction to build that empire.
The Gardoš Tower – January 18, 2014
In this case, the Gardoš Tower, which is also named after the 15th century Hungarian general, Jonas Hunyadi, is celebrated by both the Hungarians and the Serbs. Hunyadi’s armies repelled the Ottoman Turks, a common enemy of both the Hungarians and the Serbs.
Today in Zemun, one can immediately see and feel the architectural difference left by the Austo-Hungarian builders. Zemun, once a separate city, has a much different look than Belgrade. It was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the attack on Belgrade by the Hapsburg armies in retaliation for the assassination of ArchDuke Ferdinand was launched from here to start WW I.
I can see why people have gravitated to this spot over time. The Danube provided transport and the hill a defense against invaders. I could see the hill of Kalamegdan and Avala in the distance and understand the importance of the high ground in pre-industrial warfare.
Zemun today is quite pleasant to visit with a nice promenade and bike trail along the river. There are also quite a few restaurants and cafes along the waterfront, and the old buildings, cobblestone streets, and winding alleys make for a quaint atmosphere. My children love running up and down the levees on the banks of the Danube. Another nice thing about Belgrade is that the rich have not taken over the waterfront as in other places. One does not see private residences, luxury apartments or yacht clubs. In fact, most of the boats in Belgrade are like the one below, simple and for the common man.
I have a lot of nice memories of Zemun and will definitely miss it when I leave Serbia.
Last week on one of my bike rides I noticed the new fitness equipment in Friendship Park in New Belgrade. It was donated by Serbian tennis professional, Janko Tipsarević. He is still injured from last year and not competing in this week’s Australian Open. He missed the Davis Cup final in November, which caused Serbia to lose. Janko is currently ranked number 52 on the tour. There was a nice article about him in the New York Times last year.
Despite Tipsarevic being absent for the first Grand Slam of the year, Serbia is well represented with Novak Djokovic, going for the fifth consecutive title is into the third round already. The heat will not affect him as much as the other players due to his fitness and conditioning. Doubles specialist, Nenad Zimonjic, is through the first round and I see he is playing with Belgrade native, Daniel Nestor. On the women’s side, Ana Ivanovic won her first two matches, and is playing some of her best tennis in years after winning the Australian Open warm up tourney in Brisbane earlier this month. Jelena Jankovic is also through to the third round with two straight sets victories. I’ll post an update here next week on how the Serbs finish in the Open.
I took this photo on Saturday during a bike ride around Ada Ciganlija. The weather in January so far has been surprisingly warm. The historical mean high temperature for the month is 4C and this weekend, temperatures will go to 15C. So far this winter it only snowed once in late November. When one sits in the sun, it is almost warm! We did have several days of thick fog and cold, but mostly it has been sunny and warm. We biked around the lake at Ada, as always spending time at the exercise park and the excursion pictured above, exploring the woods on the island. The new bike path under the bridge project saves a lot of time and makes Ada much more accessible from Senjak.
In speaking with my friend over the holiday, I said life’s pleasures change for every age. As I am getting older, going for walks or bike rides in nature is just so refreshing and re-energizing. Belgrade is blessed with many parks and easy escapes from the city life. Ocean is shown below being silly in our walk on Sunday in Košutnjak Park. With no leaves in the trees, one can see across the valley from the park into the Royal Palace grounds in Dedinje. I can see why the Košutnjak started as the King’s hunting grounds. He could probably look across from the palace and see the wooded hills on the other side of the valley. We had a nice father-daughter outing talking about all kinds of things. She was really interested in moles after seeing the many piles of dirt made by them, and I ended up having to explain the natural history of the European Mole. We even went on line after we got back so she could see their tunnels, what they looked like, and the traps used to catch them. We finished the hike by collecting sticks for our fireplace. What a great day!
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of several Eastern Orthodox Churches that celebrates Christmas and New Year on the Julian Calendar instead of the more common Gregorian Calendar. Some of the Orthodox Churches celebrate on December 25 (Greek, Cypriot, Romania), but most like Macedonia, Russia, etc. have the holiday on January 7th, 13 days after the 25th of December. We attended the service at the largest Orthodox Cathedral in the world on January 6th, Saint Sava’s Cathedral in Belgrade. This is our final year in Serbia and it is a tradition of our family to go to the service and toss the badnjak (Oak Tree Branch) into the fire. Ocean did it this year as you see above. This ritual dates back to the Slavic pagan yule log and the tradition of fire of the family hearth and the winter solstice should all resonate with us. I am very curious what Europe would look like today if Christianity never spread out of the Levant. Would we be burning the oak in honor of Perun?
Orthodox mass (I was raised Catholic) is much different than the Catholic services I grew up with. Most of the service is sung in A capella and as usual, people came and went during the mass in the huge St. Sava Cathedral. The video I took below will give you a little taste of a Serbian Orthodox church service. Last year I attended the Serbian New Year services, and hope to do so this year on January 14.
As they say in Serbia on Christmas, Христо се роди!
We had an extra three days in Krakow, Poland due to Nadia suffering from back spasms. More on that later.
I can see why the city is a UNESCO World Heritage site with so many buildings dating back to 1000 years. It has a very medieval feel with fortresses, churches, and cobblestone streets. The kids are pictured in front of St. Mary’s Basilica in the massive main square (Rynek Glowny) of Krakow. The Krakow Marathon was being run on our first day in the city and it added to the tourist throngs. Close to nine million tourists visit the city yearly. Amazing to think of all that has passed in and around the square throughout the last 1000 years!
My wife Nadia loves Polish pottery and so we searched for a store selling it. We found the main vendor of the famous Boleslawcu factory. Polish pottery is based on the “eye” of peacock feather, a sign of prosperity and is heavy on blues and greens. There are many traditional designs and every year, some contemporary designs are released. Nadia bought several serving bowls, trays, and cooking dishes.
We were staying in an apartment across the river from the Wawel Castle, another stunning piece of history. City officials really did a nice job of keeping the river green with a bike and jogging path on both sides. It made for our family “night walks” very scenic and in the refreshing Polish winter air. The Vistula River banks were hours of entertainment for the kids, with them chasing pigeons, playing tag, feeding the swans, etc.
Ollie and Ocean with Wawel Castle and the Vistula River in the background
Poland is the most Catholic place I have visited with many churches all around the city. Our apartment in the Debnicki section of the city, was next to Pope John Paul II, home parish. He was Karol Wojtyla before coming Pope in his hometown of Krakow. One could spend a year studying all of the history in the city and in the churches. We walked through the cathedral in the castle. Lots of time and care went into the details of the facades, altars, floors, arches, etc. People are not as fanatical about the church as they were then to produce such magnificent architecture.
I also got to sample several different types of Pierogis, a western Slavic delicacy. My favorite was this Slovakian variety below, boiled dough filled with plum jam and topped with a poppy seed sauce. None however, compare to Cathy’s!
We also introduced our children to World War II and the Holocaust. During the long car ride, I told the story of World War II and its aftermath. We watched Saving Private Ryan and Schindler’s List. We then visited the remains of the Jewish Ghetto and Schindler’s Factory, refurbished thanks to Steven Spielberg and it is now a museum. That is a nice thing about long car rides is that it puts the family together and the kids get so bored, they want to hear stories. I think I explained every world religion in addition to World War II.
Nadia in front of Schindler’s Factory gate
Our trip was going fine until the night of January 1. We just returned from a “Kralovec Family Night Walk” (we do these often before putting the kids to bed) and were getting ready to pack because the next day were going to visit the famous salt mine and drive by Auschwitz. Nadia was stretching and all of a sudden she collapsed on the floor in pain. Her back, as we found out later, was going through spasms and she could not move. It was quite traumatic and eventually we called 999 (the 911 of Poland) and paramedics came and injected her with pain killers and took her on a stretcher to the University Hospital. This is a new public hospital and we were pleased with the diagnosis and treatment. However, the Poles are quite dour and cold, which is in stark contrast to the warm and exuberant Serbs, and their customer service had much to be desired. Nadia was discharged late the next day and the next night we confirmed the diagnosis of the public hospital with an English-speaking, back specialist. We are used to private clinics being able to give patients exactly what they want. We wanted stronger pain killers and a room to spend the night, but they didn’t do that. They also didn’t make house calls, which we also wanted the next day. Perhaps Krakow being the second city of Poland does not have many expatriates. The language barrier was also difficult for us in dealing with hospital personnel. They were very “socialist” in their mindset, but this just might be the university hospital and this particular clinic.
Kralovec children asleep – 4:00 AM at the University Hospital
Several of the neighbors helped the ambulance find the apartment, and throughout our time, we did get help from many Poles, including one gentleman who paid for our parking because we didn’t have any coins. But we did notice that they were in general, quieter and less happy in appearance than people in the Balkans.
After several days of nursing Nadia back to health, we were able to drive back Belgrade. We bought the inflatable bed from the apartment owner, Agnieszka, and put it in “Jacko” our reliable and huge 2005 Chrysler Town & Country to get Nadia back home. Agnieszka was very nice and a big thanks to her for her help! It was a trip we will never forget and a crazy way to begin 2014! Happy New Year to my readers!
We had a very nice few days in the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia visiting with friends. We were hosted by Bill and Kalina Mays and they showed us the best of Sofia. The picture above is from lunch at Kalina’s parents apartment. They prepared a traditional Bulgarian meal, as with all Balkan countries, it was heavy with meat. We also sampled Hristo’s homemade rakija and I learned the origin of the Šopska Salad, which is from Bulgaria. We were quite satiated and were touched by the warm hospitality.
Owen is pictured in the hip downtown of Sofia
We were very impressed with Sofia and the city had a positive vibe, similar to Belgrade. In many ways, Bulgaria is very similar to Serbia and it could have easily been part of Yugoslavia. The Bulgars call the Macedonians brothers and they share pretty much the same language. Serbia should have closer relations to Bulgaria, as they share the same religion, a Cyrillic script, and I understood much of what was said and the Bulgars understood my Serbian.
A good feature of the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe is plenty of public space and Sofia has many parks. The communists put people in small apartments and the city planners put in a lot of common, public space like parks and plazas. Today if makes cities like Belgrade and Sofia have many green areas spread throughout the city and enhances the community feel.
The Russian Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia
Bill and Kalina not only treated us to fine dining and drinks, but they were tour guides for the important museums and churches of the city. Above is the main cathedral of Sofia, and it was built in honor of the Russians and others who helped the Bulgars repel the Turks. The Turks were here for a long time as well!
I would like to thank Bill, Kalina, and their beautiful daughter Maggie for a wonderful visit! We hope to meet up again in the spring here in Belgrade.
I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and best wishes for peace and joy during the holiday season.
As you can see in the photo, Christmas is for children and the Nerf guns and Ferbie that Santa brought were big hits! They were up early on Christmas morning. The weather has been unseasonably warm with temperatures in the 50s (13 C) and sunny skies. Ocean, Ollie and I went for a bike ride yesterday at Ada Ciganlja.
Nadia was a superstar chef and Christmas-spirit promoter with a perfectly prepared 10-kilogram, special ordered turkey from Jagodina. We had friends over last night for a big Christmas dinner. Today we are traveling again to visit friends in Bulgaria.
Most of the city of Budapest is a UNESCO World Heritage site because of its beautiful architecture of the time of the Hapsburgs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. But it has another beauty underneath, the geology. The Romans and then the Turks settled here because of the geothermal, mineral-rich waters which bubble up from an extensive cave system under the city. The dolomite and limestone hills of Buda, are full of not only thermal springs, but an extensive cave system. In the 1930s, the city was known as the “City of Baths” and before modern medicine, people came from all around to soak in the medicinal waters.
Yesterday we toured the Palvolgyi Cave and swam in the spa of the Gellert Hotel. The hotel is beautiful, being fully restored to its Art Nouveau architecture style in 2008. The lobby alone is worth visiting and walking through the hotel and in the baths is truly breath taking. The kids enjoyed the 36 degree waters looking over the city last night. The baths are not as crowded as the Szechenyi, but lack the whirlpool and have less outdoor pools. It was fun to go from the hot pool to the cold tub and back.
We took the tour of the Palvolgyi Cave and the kids really enjoyed going through the narrow passages of the limestone. They did a nice job of stairs, ladders, and lighting to make it accessible to the public. It would be an adventure to do a more extensive tour of the many cave systems nearby, and someday when the kids are a bit older, that would be a good experience for us.
Ollie on the cliffs outside the cave
Today is our last day in Budapest before heading back to Belgrade to celebrate Christmas. It was a relaxing way to start the holidays.
Since this is our final winter in Europe we are going to be visiting several countries this Christmas holiday. We are in Budapest, Hungary this weekend, one of our favorite places in central Europe. We are renting an apartment near Christmas market. I am very happy to be on vacation and focusing on my family and relaxing instead of working and the usual hectic pace of school and taking care of the kids.
I like the mulled wine (Forralt Bor) at the market and Nadia loves seeing all of the crafts for sale. To fight off the sub-zero temperatures, we went to the Szechenyi Thermal Bath last night. There are several hot spring baths in the city and the Hungarians frequent these to warm the body’s core. It really is relaxing and very easy to do. We took the subway to the city park where the baths are located and in 10 minutes, were floating in 37 degree natural spring water. I was surprised to learn there are many natural hot springs in the city, which being away from a geological active area, there would be numerous geothermal water sources. I highly recommend a visit.
A frigid Danube!
I am hoping for snow! Temperatures have been below zero Celsius all week, but only fog and no precipitation.
The kids really like the Christmas favorite Kurtos, a roasted rolled sweet bread that they serve in the streets.
One of the traditional activities of the holiday season are musical performances. This year all three of our children had roles in the huge, International School of Belgrade’s Lower School, “A Menu for December” performance. The event had over 150 students on stage and was well attended by parents and family. Oliver, above, was with the third graders and they were featured in a jazz-type dance number.
Owen on the Guitar
Owen played guitar for the song “La Bamba” and he also had a small speaking part. The fifth graders had to carry the show and they spent a lot of time helping the Early Childhood students. Ocean played a fairy-butterfly and was a leader for her group, as her teacher, Ms. Ana said in this video.
Finally, Nadia also got into the act with her singing in the International Choir of Belgrade. The Canadian Embassy of Belgrade organizes a 70-strong choir of expatriates. They performed in the Serbian Army House (Vojske Dom) in Belgrade in a charity concert. The proceeds went to the the Union of the Blind of Serbia.
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