Serbia

My first visit to Serbia is now over. Well, almost. I fly home from Belgrade next week so I’ll have an overnight stay there, but in a hotel near the airport.

Skadarlija - Belgrade's bohemian quarter

I’ve had 4 nights in the capital, and 1 in Niš – about 250 km to the south. I’ve driven all the way from Belgrade to the southern border with Macedonia.

I got off the beaten track, and visited the Manasija monastery near Despotovac. I even had coffee in Keti’s father’s summer house nearby – the non-drivers had home made šljivovica (plum flavoured firewater) which made me jealous! A glimpse of village life.

šljivovica

I like the people. Warm and friendly, with a sense of humour. They don’t like the Brits much (NATO bombings a decade ago) but are too polite to say so.

The food – lots of meat. Salads taste great. The beer – Jelen mostly. Well it’s not Germany or Belgium, but it’s cold, wet and refreshing.

Rita, Katherine & Yelena put on a show for Maciej

The countryside can be spectacular. The roads can be scary, but I made it. I was only ripped off 2 or 3 times. Aah… taxi drivers can give any country a bad name.

They arrested Ratko Mladic (alleged war criminal from the Bosnian conflict) the day after we left (no, he wasn’t hiding under my bed). That could a big step forward politically. But Kosovo is still an issue.

I had a very informative meeting at the British Embassy which could be the first step towards more visits…

Bitola, 27-5-11

© iain taylor 2011


 

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter
This entry was posted in Serbia. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.