Dobar dan !My serbian adventure started a couple of years ago when I decided to join the Meetup’s anglophile group for a biking tour from Lille to the Mosaic park in Houplin Ancoisne, so for the first time I met Neda, my serbian friend and Christophe, her boyfriend….
a fine spring day which continued with some of us in a bar along the Deule for a drink…and ended in a restaurant, I don’t remember its name, but the best, according to Christophe, for welsh, I agree with him, it was so “nourishing” that I never tried any other since that time.
So I want to introduce blueplum escape, the travelling organization created by Neda and Christophe based on ecotourism which proposes active holidays in the Tara National Park in Serbia and the best way is to go on with the pictures and comments in the following messages.
Meeting of the five “tourists” in Charleroi : our french-british, so french and sometimes so british Bryony,
…Sandrine
..Patricia and Marcus (a German guy living in Lille)
and the author of this blog
2 hours later we arrive in Belgrade where Christophe welcomes us with the schedule for our following day in Belgrade and we join our respective guesthouses, Hostelbridge for Patrica and me, a very cosy and charming hostel hold by Ivana and Andrea.
Neda and Christophe had made a reservation for a guided bike tour in Belgrade. Early in the morning, the temperature is already high when we arrive at our meeting point. Our guide informs us that we will visit new Belgrade which is the only flat part of Belgrade for biking, indeed ! So we start along the Danube which is really blue, probably due to the colour of the sky.
Our guide shows us from there the fortress with its most popular symbol, the Victor,
and then we take an elevator to arrive at the top of the bridge, and we cross it to arrive in new Belgrade. We pass through some old public buildings, which are the heritage of the communist period…and we arrive in the very nice quarter of Zemun, a small stop for a drink near the Danube, in a shady place, it was very nice !
Our comeback is hard due to a higher and higher temperature, and then, as recommended by our guide, we arrive in a small and typical serbian restaurant, and we appreciate the warm welcome (in a relatevly fresh place) of our host who suggests us some delicious dishes, specially the “dish of the day”, (stewed mutton, hmmmm !).
Then we get to the fortress area….
and each of us appreciate a stop in the bar for irish coffee, icecream, turkish coffee a..s.o…and then we wander the main street of Belgrade which is so peaceful, as much as the inhabitants, before coming back to our guesthouse.
Now we have to join our destination, the Tara National Park, which is the purpose of our trip…so rendez-vous with Dado, our driver, and his van, and Peter, our guide. We leave Belgrade and quickly we discover very nice hilly landscapes.
A first stop to admire the view, and then for a lunch in a small snackbar, which is a foretaste of the Serbian gastronomy.
Christophe has prepared some cards with drawings which would help us to learn the serbian words necessary to our survival ! This language seems so difficult, in spite of our efforts ! and finally our survival will be not in peril ! lol !
About 5 hours later, we arrive in our chalet, superrrr !
then Dado drives us up to the lake for swimming, our boatman is waiting for us and we cross the Perucac lake up to the “beach”. I’m a little bit too lazy and also, I do not like to walk barefoot on stones….and finally, I prefer taking some pictures of my friends swimming….and our romantic or rather herbalist boatman…(if someone remembers the name of these medicinal flowers, thanks for your help)
Then, we are awaited in the restaurant….which will be our main breakfast and dinner place…and our first dinner is composed of a creamy soup, meat and vegetables, cheese, the whole in astronomic quantities, without speaking about the breakfast : fried eggs or omelets are prepared with 3 eggs ! my god ! oh my cholesterol ! + the zajmak, the fattiest matter I have never eaten, but so good ! + the yoghourt and I cannot forget the delicious bread and the raspberry jam….hey the ham too, so tasty !!! In short, our stay in this place is really hopeful !
And obviously, before the dinner we drink the local aperitive drink, the famous rakia, (already tested and tasted in La Madeleine)… the first time you drink it, your mouth, tongue and stomach burn, but the second time you begin to appreciate the blue plum taste (sometimes apricot) and it “passes” very easily, with only a warm feeling. In fact, it’s better to withstand because it is the beginning of the rakia story !!
Our breakfast is as described previously, i.e. largely nourishing, and we are able to start our first hiking starting from the restaurant. We walk through the forest up to a wonderful view of the valley and we come back up to the church where Marco, a volunteer managing the old monastery area, welcomes us with a turkish coffee……and of course, the rakia, it is already better than the yesterday’s one, we are becoming serbian guys.
And then, through a very nice path in the forest, we stop in a lovely place for our pic-nic prepared “à la carte”, by the restaurant (delicious, of course !).
After that, we join the plant nursery in which we are awaited for showing us the different medicinal and aromatic plants growing in a pure “bio” tradition. Of course the presentation is followed by a turkish coffee….and rakia !!! All is right !
Then, Dado drives us to a church under construction along a very narrow road, and as it is late to start a walk up to the medieval fortress ruins, Dado drives us on a cahotic road, his friend told him that he takes this road every day…..with his tractor…Dado is a champion !
After our visit, some of us decide to hike and on our way, women are cropping raspberries and we ask them if we can do a small picking, but they want to give us their picking ! so cute, but we cannot accept, and it’s so amazing to pick and eat and eat and pick, isn’t it ?……
On our way….a dangerous snake is as afraid as us ! just some milliseconds to take the picture.
Going back to our restaurant…..and of course rakia before a consequent meal (paprika farci and cheese) and dessert, on Sandrine’s wish, pancakes with jam !!
A well-scheduled and -filled day, and going back to our chalet for a tisane and a good night.
Rdv to the restaurant of the Tara park for the breakfast and then we are welcome by the Park’s staff with a video about the policy of protection of the species of spruces growing there, specially the endemic tertiary species named Serbian Spruce or Picea omorika and also about the wild life in the park, brown bears a.s.o.
Vladimir provides us with some comments on site in the forest.
Then, with the help of our biking coach, Sacha, we choose our VTT and we start the biking tour in the forest to arrive up to a very nice view on the lake, the colour of the water is emeraud, fantastic !! Pic-nic in this exceptional site
and then we will have a historic meeting with a bear eating sweet corn, please do not disturb !
Neda proposes an additional bike tour, but this time, it will be flat, I think we have not the same definition of flat country, so with Sandrine and Neda and Christophe, of course, I have experienced the serbian flat country by a long going downhill…..and of course we went back by the same way, so…..
After this good time, Dado drives us up to the lake upstream the dam of the Drina…..we take a boat which brings us in the gorges of the Drina and stops for a swimming time…. superrrrrr !!!
A complete day : hiking, biking, swimming, (eating and drinking of course) !!!! So great !!!
We come back to our van and Dado drives us to a restaurant overlooking the Drina, the river with which we’ll have another story at the end of the week.
In the menu, grilled trout….so delicious ! we are near the waterfall, the place is magical ! But first, obviously, rakia !!! Ziveli !! and then we taste a wine of the region, it is tasty and pleasant in the mouth, Ziveli again !!!
The decoration inside the restaurant is a pure heritage of the communism period.
Going back to our chalet for a tisane and a good night !!!
Compared with the preceeding days, this one will be quiet.
After our rich breakfast, Dado drives us up to the house of a Serbian prophete….if it is difficult to believe in his predictions, the place is nice and peaceful
and then we are going to the Mokra Gora railway station, and take the train the route of which is 8-shaped, we have a relaxed time in nice landscapes ….
and then we arrive in the wooden Kustarica village. The place is too sophisticated and touristic for most of us, and is not what we preferred in Serbia, moreover, high temperature is not favorable to the visit. On the other hand, the homemade strawberry juice was really tasty.
Afterwards, Dado drives us up to the starting point for hiking until the farm in which we will learn how to produce the delicous cheese and mainly the zajmak we are eating every day !! But before everything, we are welcome with a turkish coffee….and rakia, cul-sec ! Ziveli ( as soon as the glass is empty, the farmer’s son fills it in !!!) ziiiiveeeeeliiiiii ! hips ! all is right ! the cheese pie cooked by the farmer’s wife and of course the zajmak, (the best I have eaten) absorb quickly alcohol.
We have a very good time with this family, our discussion with them was very interesting.
But it is not finished and our dinner in the restaurant is ready….it’s too much for me but it’s so delicious that we do justice to the serbian cassoulet ! Prijatno !
and then we walk along the Tara torrent, happily the way is shady, the temperature (about 40°) is more and more difficult to stand, and at the end of our walk we appreciate the arrival of Dado and his van,
which spares us the sunny part of the walking way, and we take a good time for our pic-nic near the Drina close the bridge leading to Bosnia, on the other side of the river, and a rest during the hottest time, so we abandon the idea to walk at this time.
and then we visit a wooden church of the 17th century which probably escaped from destruction thanks to its completely hidden position.
Then we join the restaurant near the Drina, some of us go and swimm, the others have a drink in the restaurant, a really relax day.
To-day, it must be great time with the regata ! Peter is very excited with this event !
Our canoe is waiting us along the Drina, and amongst a lot of canoes with students and fanfare, a.s.o. we start our caneoing in a real festive atmosphere which is quite equivalent to our braderie de Lille famous for beer drinking ! Swimming in the freezing water is not really attractive and only Neda and Peter do it !
After about 6 hours we arrive at our destination and from this point we start a walk along the main road, it is not a good idea, it is too dangerous. and our van is welcome to bring us up to the city. When we arrive, most of the shops are closed, it is Saturday !!
Then we come back in our restaurant for the last dinner in the Tara Park area.
