Meeting By The Horse in Belgrade
Early this year, JG and I went to
Belgrade in two separate weekends. One in February when winter was still in its
freezing full swing, and then in April when the weather was warmer and flowers
have bloomed in the Spring.
The first time was a weekend
getaway, part of JG’s quest to visit cities that the Danube passes through, as
well as his crazy preference to travel in the dead of winter in below zero
temperatures. The second time wasn’t a personal trip, The Philippine government
does not have an official embassy in Belgrade (but has an honarary consulate), and so it is part of the seven
other jurisdictions that is handled in Budapest where we are posted. Basically JG went there for work, whilst I just came along.
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If there is a place to start when
you visit Belgrade, it would have to be Republic Square. For historical
purposes because if you look towards the east, just beside the National
Theater, was said to be where the old gate of the city used to be. It isn’t there
anymore, but somewhere there is a wall that has a carved replica of the said
passage.
For a more contemporary use, the
square is where you will find the statue of Prince Michael mounted on a horse,
whom I believe sent the Turks home in the 17th century, but more
than the Prince’s achievements, today, his trustee steed is much more popular
among the locals as it is considered the go-to meet up place in the city. So
much so that when you want to meet someone, you just say Kod Konja, which translates to by
the horse! And true enough, almost everyone there is either waiting for
someone, waving at someone they agreed to meet, and is leaving with someone they
just met up with.
The Republic square is actually
located in Stari Grad, or the old town, may also be known as downtown. It is
easy to see this when you get there as you will find many of the old buildings
and a pretty definite grid lined outlay.
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| Republic square, the unofficial-official meet-up spot in Belgrade - just say "by the horse" |
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Also in the area is Kneze Mihaila street, a pedestrian-only cobbled kilometer stretch that is today’s the city’s shopping district. But if you have the time to research it, is one of the oldest that has many famous buildings built as old as the 17th century.
Another interesting thing we
found during our February visit was this large Christmas tree at the beginning
of Kneze Milhaila. The holiday displays were still up around Liberty Square,
even at February, but that wasn’t weird to JG and I, since we come from a
country that celebrates Christmas for three months. What was interesting was the
big “83K?” formed with plastered stickers around the fence surrounding the
tree. Apparently, the city paid a whopping eighty-three thousand Euros for the
said Christmas tree, so the tour guide explained that because many locals shookt
by the preposterous amount, believes the tree’s hefty price be put to good use,
and that they fully expect it stays there until the next holiday.
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While Republic Square is the city’s
unofficial-official meet-up place, Terazije, or the City Square, is said to be
the center of the city. If you do look at a city map, it does sit somewhere in
the middle, plus sort of connects the different areas of the city, so you would
probably wouldn’t miss passing this area. The name was from the Turkish word
for water, and was the sight of a water tower built by the Ottomans to supply
water to the city. Today, the tower is replaced with a fountain erected in 1865,
as part of a beautification project. Except for the said fountain the look of the
area has changed over the years, especially during the communist era when the
most of the renovations was made.
Other interesting points to see
in Terazije, is the first skyscraper in Southeast Europe, Palace Albanija. I read somewhere that
last June a nest of birds was found somewhere in the building. Okay, that’s not
exactly news, what is interesting is that this the first time that such type of
birds was found in this area, and that this interprets the transition of
Belgrade from a Continental to a Mediterranean climate – if that is not climate
change, I don’t know what is. (Okay, I know what climate change is, but interesting
right… right?).
Still in the Terazije square, is
the Hotel Moskva, a wonderful building in the art nouveau, intended as a
palace, was the Gestapo HQ during WWII, and today is a 4-star hotel where big
wigs from all sorts stay when in Belgrade. Among its famous guests were Alfred
Hitchcock, Michael Jordan, Pavarotti, and Muamar Gadaffi. Well actually I think
he hiked-up his tent and his camels by the front door, and perhaps had breakfast
at the mess hall?
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From The Horse, walk up through
Kneza Mihaila towards the river, and you will find yourself at Kalemegdan, or
the Fortress. Built in the 3rd century, it used to be the heart of
the city within the walls. It was then placed in the hands of the Romans, then
the Turks, a ton of turn overs… Today it is a beloved park with a great look-out
spot along its walls to the Rivers. This is where you can find a romantic view
of where the Sava River meets the great Danube, and they say that there is
known practice to make a wish along this merging.
Aside from the medieval vibes the
old walls, iron gates, and wooden moat bridges give out, the fortress also
hosts as an awesome concert venue, home to epic dance parties, and the tragic last
appearance of the late great Amy Winehouse. They say, ticket holders were truly
disappointed but at the same time felt really bad for the singer, since it was
obvious that night that she wasn’t fit to perform.
Your visit to Belgrade wouldn’t
be complete without visiting Skadarska or The Bohemian quarters. And this isn’t
just some beat-down old street that hipster turned into their main hub. It has
been the main place for poets, writers, artists, and free-spirited souls since
the 17th century.
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| OG-Bohemian Dura Jaksic by his house |
They even have a commemoration to one of its most known residents, Dura Jaksic whose house can still found in the area. This guy was so OG-bohemian that he lived each day, drinking and bumming around, paying his way with his poetry or art works.
Today Skadarlija is home to many
well visited Kafana or cafe/bar, as called by the locals. Serbians love to
sit and drink coffee and partake of the sauce, and said that they find it offensive to drink and go, instead
practice a very laid-back, long conversations, talk about life, love, etc. approach
to enjoying their drink. I think this is also where you can find nice place to
experience the night-life in Belgrade, and sample, or maybe go to town on their
Rakia.
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| Cevapcici at To Je To |
The said fermented alcohol is part
plum (or whatever fruit) brandy, part medicinal tonic for all sorts of needs, said
to be responsible for the long and vibrant lives of many of the elderly in
the country. I tried some of the honey flavored ones, and I gotta say that the
body ache I was experiencing from hunching from the cold all day went away like
ice melting poured with something warm.
There are also nice restaurants
in the area where you can enjoy the Balkan favorite Cevapcici, or sausage in
Pita bread. A short six-minute walk from Jaksic’s house, is the highly rated by
the internet (by that I mean Trip Advisor) is To Je To. I bet there are other great
selections in the menu, but we loved the basic Cevapcici so much, we came back the
next day for lunch and ordered the same thing we had for dinner.
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You would also be remiss if you
did not go inside one or two Orthodox churches in Belgrade. The great Sava
church is a masterpiece in scale and design. Not that I’m getting lazy in the
writing part, but I think it would be best if you just discover and learn what
you can when you visit as I am not exactly the best person to explain Christianity,
let alone the Orthodox branch. The Sava Church was under renovation when we
visited, but make sure to go down the basement to see a smaller scale church
with some awesome byzantine Orthodox fresco art works.
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Coming from the train station
walking down Nemanjina Street, you can see one of the buildings that were
bombed by the NATO forces. Apart from
the former Defense building, you will find some of these destroyed buildings in
parts of the city.
I was in high school during the
height of the Yugoslav Wars, this was in the late 90’s when NATO intervened.
Even back then, despite it being mentioned in class, and some news bits on TV,
I was both literally and psychologically thousands of miles away from being
fully aware of what was happening in that side of the world.
Growing up in Manila, the only
time that I really thought about the Balkans was because two people, Divac and
Kukoc. Basketball is big back at home, and the popularity of these Europeans
coming in the NBA was something of a memory to me as a kid, and further into
their careers. Years later, even before I knew I was going to be visiting and
living nearby, it was this innate interest in Basketball, that I finally gained
a bit more understanding of that part of history, after I came across the ESPN
“30 for 30” documentary.
Here in Europe there are many
monuments and remnants of history that have violent and sad stories about them,
but for something so relatively recent to be around, it’s hard for me to
imagine what the locals might think when they see it every day. But I did hear
that for some, especially for the younger generation, what they would like is
to move forward.
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On my second visit in Spring, JG
and I got to spend some time with locals, and for him, got to meet our fellow
Filipinos who were living and/or working in Serbia. And I must say that they are
really nice people and a bit refreshing in a way because the Serbians are not
so guarded with what they tell you, so it is easier to get a better sense of
who they are today and a clearer idea of the sites you see around their city. This
also includes the not so good parts, for example as I mentioned earlier, many
of the museums and national public and/or cultural places are closed, often marred
with controversies in how it is or should be ran, as locals would explain.
One of our tour guides, explained
that she, who has a master’s degree in history, and would like to be able to
teach is at present actually disallowed from applying as there is no telling
when a governmental position will be open for her or her fellow young academics.
Because of this she makes use of her education as a part-time tour guide, part-time
curator, and since she has the time is currently pursuing a doctorate degree
because it is the only logical step she could take, even though she isn’t
really sure such a tenure would be recognized in a state university anytime
soon.
And for me, apart from its dark
and unresolved pasts, it is always the people that sort of makes or break your experience
of the city. All of Europe has its own individual charms, some more advanced,
some more gritty than others, but it is its inhabitants that tilt the scales
especially when they are welcoming and generous with what they can share about
their city. I saw a city map of Belgrade that says, invest in the people, and I
think it’s kind of true.
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