Archive for May, 2010

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“U Srbiji je sve moguće”-part 1: in the middle of a procession…

Monday, May 31st, 2010

Now I want to share with you some stories from my holidays in Serbia, since I was unable to write them all when I was there. I will be publish them with the title: “U Srbiji je sve moguće” (in Serbia everything is possible). Part 1 will be a short story about a procession I was viewing by coincidence.

It was 13th May 2010 around 12h00, my first day in Serbia (for this holiday), when I was walking in the main street of Belgrade, Улица кнез Михаилова (Ulica knez Mihailova). I was surprised, because it turned out that there was some procession going on. I had no idea what kind of procession it was, but for Catholics it was that day Ascension day.

On the picture above which I  took  there is one famous men walking who is for most of you all unknown, but every Serb knows who I mean here…. Yes it is Patriarch Irinej the 45th Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Serbs, a position he is holding since 22nd January 2010.

A little research on the internet  helped me to found out what it was about. It was the patron Saint’s day of the city of Belgrade and Ascension church (?). The patriarch was just walking a couple of meters  away from me and I was really surprised, that I did not even managed to make a good picture…Update 05.06.2010: My friend Igor Obradovic commented that  His Royal Highness Crown Prince Aleksandar Karadjordjevic was also in the ceremony, he is the men left the men with the umbrellas.

It was very nice to see this and to experience this….Maybe I got secretly the blessings? It was only my first day in Serbia this time and I was already thinking: U Srbiji je sve moguće !!! :-)

Posted in Holidays :-), Serbia | No Comments »

Back in NL

Sunday, May 30th, 2010

I am already back since Tuesday in the Netherlands and I don ‘t know to write: I miss the Balkans a lot, I am speechless, confused… I try to pick up my daily life in the Netherlands and of course I am succeeding in this, but I have to look what I can do with this. The picture below is illustrative in this context…crossing a bridge…

Here you can find the pictures, I go to work on my website now.

The links:

Belgrade-Kraljevo-Kragujevac, Serbia 12th-20th May 2010

Vranjska Banja-Studenica-Kopaonik-Kraljevo-Beograd,Serbia 21th May-25th May 2010

Posted in "Daily" live in the Netherlands, Balkan region, Holidays :-), Serbia | No Comments »

Leaving the Balkans….

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

I am leaving this afternoon my beloved Balkans. I leave my friends here behind me, with only one hope: that I come back here soon and talk, have discussions, making a ” dobra fora” (=a good joke) and more like what I experienced and did last two weeks here……

I tried to find answers why I love the Balkans and /or Serbia, but my attempts were unsuccessful: I still do not know it, but I know one thing: I love it now even more then before: my love for this region become stronger and stronger.

Maybe I am too emotional, maybe I see the things to colorful, maybe it is indeed time to go home…At this moment I am  sitting on a terrass down town Belgrade and it feels like I lost my heart: maybe I lost it last Saturday on the Treska mountain on the ” border” between Kosovo and Serbia, maybe in Studenica,maybe in Kraljevo, maybe I am loosing it here right now or maybe I have already lost it a long time ago somewhere here on the Balkans….

Hajde, time to go :-)

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The “hidden” beauties of Serbia-part 3: Kopaonik

Monday, May 24th, 2010

Kopaonik is a ski-resort in Serbia,on “the border” with Kosovo.Last Saturday I visited this ski-resort, which is approximately on 1700 meters above sea level (with as top Pančić’s Peak, which is 2,017 meters above sea level. It was very strange to walk on the 22nd May through the snow and to throw snowballs to your friends…

All ski-pistes were closed and there was almost nobody there, it looked like a ghost town. My friends told me that when the ski-pistes are open that this is one of the hottest places in Serbia….

After we visited the ski-resort we drove a bit around and at the end we were not more then 50-100 meters of the ” border” with Kosovo: we parked our car and walked a bit (Darko knew the place, because he hired a cottage here). It is very strange to know that Kosovo is on your feet. The environment is beautiful and after a little climb we were on the top of Tresak. I felt so remote, so happy, a feeling I cannot describe: Kosovo was on my feet and despite all the problems with this troubled region it looked so peaceful: this is the heart of the Balkans.

We met also a Shepard, which was really friendly and my friends talked a bit (since I still do not know the Serbian language very well). He told my friends that he was from Kosovo and that he can cross the ” border” without any problems. You could see he was a very happy men and was glad to see us and of course he invited us to try some of his cheese, but unfortunately we had to go back….

For me it felt like I was in the heart of the Balkans, despite all the problems, it is a very peaceful place, with a friendly Shepard crossing daily for him unknown borders with his sheep’s and his dog ” Jacky”…..

A tear felt down when I had to descent with my friends and leave this beautiness behind me, but I carry it always with me in my heart, the heart of the Balkans….


Posted in Balkan region, Holidays :-), Serbia, Yugoslavia | 3 Comments »

The “hidden” beauties of Serbia-part 2: Studenica monastery

Sunday, May 23rd, 2010

Yesterday I went to the monastery of Studenica, which is approximately 40km southwest of Kraljevo. Stefan Nemanja, the founder of the medieval Serb state, founded the monastery in 1190. It is one of the richest and holiest monasteries of Serbia. It is also a UNESCO world heritage site. Together with my friends Darko, Radovan and Igor I visited this monastery in the early morning, because after we went to ski-resort Kopaonik on the ” border” Serbia/Kosovo.

The monastery is built in a peaceful environment: it is built in the remote valley of the Studenica river, a tributary of the Ibar and the monestary itself is surround by lovely mountains. In the church you will find the tomb of the first Serbian king Stefan Nemanja and the tomb of Saint Anastasia the mother of Saint Sava.

Saint Sava is considered as one of the most important figures in Serbian history. I was impressed by the beauty and the myths of this monastery and I was glad that I could visit it together with my friends.

More information about this beautiful monastery can be found on:
Wikipedia
UNESCO

Here some pictures, more will of course follow when I am back in the Netherlands.



Posted in Balkan region, Holidays :-), Serbia | 1 Comment »

The “hidden” beauties of Serbia,part 1: the spa of Vrnjacka Banja

Sunday, May 23rd, 2010

I still cannot pronounce this place, but last friday I have been there: Vrnjacka Banja. It is a very famous mineral spa through whole ex-Yugoslavia. Beside that it is a very pleasant village to walk around and to sit somewhere to relax.

Te site visit Serbia writes: It owns its reputation to its therapeutic effects known already to the Roman troops in the II century. Founded 1868 it is receiving the citizens from all South-West Europe coming here for rest or to treat some illness.

There is also a bridge of love,” love couples”  put a lock on the bridge: hey, where I have seen that before ? Exactly in Cologne, Germany…. The main street of Vrnjacka Banja is full with souvenir shops and when I walked there last Friday full with school kids having an excursion. If you want to spent a relaxing and nice afternoon you should really go there and maybe take a bath in the spa.

More information:
Wikipedia
Visit Serbia

Posted in Balkan region, Holidays :-), Serbia, Uncategorized, Yugoslavia | 1 Comment »

Kragujevac

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

Today I went to Kragujevac, the fourth largest city of Serbia. It is only an one hour bus drive from Kraljevo and my friend Dragan wanted to guide me, an offer I could not refuse. Dragan studies economics at the university of Kragujevac and by accident we talked last saturday about student organisations. I told him that I know a very cool organiosation, called AEGEE (European student organisation) , and that I could help him to get in contact with the members of AEGEE Kragujevac.

So I went by bus to Kragujevac where Dragan waited me. We eat something, had a good coffee and then we went to the museum “ 21 oktober” , a museum about the genoicide from 1941 in Kragujevac. The museum is in a strange building, but the exposition is not really big (Serbian museums lacking money).

Approximately 2796-5000 civilians people were shot on the 21th October 1941, as a repression of the German soldiers who were killed in Yugoslavia during that time. The figures says nothing, it were the personal messages showed on the exposition which made me dropping a tear… It reminds me just that I am a very lucky guy, who never was in war and that I propably never have to face war… War is bad and I just saw the ugliest part of it….Just look the pictures and decide for yourself…..


 After this museum we walked in the remembrance park called Šumarice Memorial Park which was really beautiful. It was also needed to clear the mind of the tragedy which we saw in the museum.

After we walked back to the city where I arranged a meeting with members of AEGEE Kragujevac. We had a nice pub meeting and it was nice to see current active members of AEGEE who tried to convince my friend Dragan to become member and yes he will become member… Also they explained me that they are now trying to built bridges with other AEGEE locals in the region (like in Bosnia-Hercegovina), to forget the past and work on the future…

And as an extra bonus a picture with my favourite car :-)

Posted in Balkan region, Holidays :-), Serbia, Yugoslavia | No Comments »

A cool professional dentist in Kraljevo

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

Yesterday I went also to the dentist, I think I just had the coolest dentist ever: Igor my friend from Kraljevo is a dentist and he want ed me to help to get rid of a little problem which I had, so I went to his dental practice.

First he invited me to go to the pub and drink some beer :-) So I took two beer, he drunk one and then we went back so he could help me. First he wanted to give me some anesthesia, which I refused, come on I am not a sissy. Igor did really a great job and he is a professional: everything went smoothly and every minute he asked me if I was fine and if I had pain: come on I am not a sissy, I have no pain ;-)

It was very friendly of him that he helped me, and after he did I invited “my dentist” for a beer which he of course accepted….This is Serbia, everything is possible : You go to drink a beer with your friend dentist , he helps you after on a very professional and good way and then you drink a beer again after…..



Posted in Balkan region, Holidays :-), Serbia | 1 Comment »

Coffee & Politics and the relationship between Serbia and the Netherlands….

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

Yesterday, 18th May I was invited to drink a coffee with Radovan at his office. He is an active member of G17+, a political party in Serbia. The party can be the best described as Christian Liberal Democrats / Conservative party: I would say look here. I was invited to a little press conference of the local leader in Kraljevo, Vukman Rakocevic.

It was very interesting to be there and to see how politics are done here in Kraljevo, I hope I will have talk later this week with Vukman so we can discuss more in depth about the local political situation in Kraljevo.

They presented me in the meeting as a Dutchmen, studied policy sciences who is interested in the Balkan region. Local television was also present so it was also my first time on television in Serbia. After the press conference a journalist wanted to have an interview with me and I agreed. Darko my friend translated , so we could start the interview.

The journalist was interested in my point of view about Serbia and the relations between Serbia and the Netherlands. You all know I like Serbia, otherwise I would not be here and I explained why I love the Balkans and Serbia more specific. The relationship between the Netherlands and Serbia are not so good, due the fact that Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadžić are still not in the hands of the ICTY (International Crime Tribunal of the former Yugoslavia).

The Netherlands is now refusing to accept Serbia into the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) which is the first step for membership of the European Union. The journalist asked why the Dutch government follows this policy and I told him that this is possibly, because of the role the Netherlands played in Srebrenica.

Of course he asked if this is still an active subject in Dutch politics and society and I had to deny this, because it is not. In the Dutch media you see and hear only something when there is an interesting trail of the ICTY (like the one from Karadzic), but “ hot” news it is not any more. My personal opinion is that my government is keeping Serbia hostage of only two men: we have to look forward, not backwards. Of course these to men has to appear before the ICTY, but blocking Serbia is too much.

We switched subject and talked about the media. Press freedom is a right and a democratic society cannot function without press freedom. I explained him in short how the media does function in the Netherlands. I also explained him that newspapers loosing their share in favor of television and internet media. After some other subjects the interview was finished and he thanked me for giving this interview.

You see, drinking a coffee with a friend can turn out completely different then you expect, so the motto “ this is Serbia , everything is possible” stays as it was for me :-) .

Posted in "Daily" live in the Netherlands, Balkan region, Central and East-Europe, Holidays :-), Serbia, Yugoslavia | 1 Comment »

Why do I love Serbia?

Sunday, May 16th, 2010

I am now a couple of days in Serbia and there was not a minute that I did not like it to be here, in contrary, I am loving it :-) Now I am in Kraljevo, yesterday I came from Belgrade here, via a stop in Lapovo. In Lapovo I took the train to Kraljevo: I managed to sit next to the train driver, so I could make very nice pictures.

There is a question in my mind since I am here (and even before) and that is why do I love Serbia ? I tried and still try to find the answer, but until now I did not find any answers.

It is not because the roads  or transports are splendid here, neither the public services.There are not great monuments like in Rome and Venice, but there must be something else why I am in here and loving this country. The nature is great, the food splendid, but there are more countries who have that…

I think it has to do something with the people, because the people here are very friendly, hospitable and helpful. I experience it every time when I am here and it makes me very happy :-) So,maybe I love Serbia, because of it ‘s people….

Posted in Balkan region, Holidays :-), Serbia | No Comments »

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