Visiting Krušedol Monastery in the Fruška Gora

When we were planning our time in Serbia, my friend Aleksa asked me what I wanted to do during my time there and I immediately knew my answer. “I want to eat lots of Serbian food”, I said, “visit some monasteries and spend as much time with my friends as possible”. He was pleased because he could help me with all three.

But visiting the monasteries was not without its controversies.

Serbia is primarily an Orthodox country and the church is important from a religious, cultural, historical and political standpoint but just like in any country with a strong, established religion, there are those who feel that the church aids in the oppression and exploitation of vulnerable communities. One of my friends decided not to join us on our excursion to the monasteries on these very grounds, citing a prominent patriarch who had blamed the recent catastrophic floods in Serbia on the fact that Conchita Wurst won the Eurovision song contest.

I completely understood and respected my friend’s point of view.

It was interesting because it made me examine my reasons for wanting to visit the monasteries. I am interested in both history and politics and have, for example, read up on Byzantium and the rise of the Orthodox church in order to understand relations in Europe during that period. I will often visit churches, synagogues and mosques in foreign countries because I find that it helps me to understand the history and architecture in a country.

I was also aware of the religious aspect of the difficult history of the Balkans and how it fed into the conflict in both the Second World War and the conflicts in the 1990s. In short, I knew just how important the Orthodox Church is to Serbians and I wanted to see the monasteries for myself. Little did I know what an emotionally wrought day it would turn out to be.

Our first stop was the distinctive red  Krušedol Monastery in the Fruška Gora. Krušedol Monastery was founded by the Despot Đorđe Branković in 1509 and he built it as a mausoleum to his family. The monastery was attacked by the ruling Turks in 1716 and many important relics were destroyed.

The church steeple at Krušedol Monastery

The entrance to the monastery from the grounds

I have never seen anything like I saw in that church that day. Every inch of space on the walls, ceilings, arches and columns was covered in depictions of saints and important holy figures. The paintings are extremely old, some dating back to the 1500s, and they are badly in need of restoration.

The lighting in the church is kept to a minimum, to prevent further damage to the paintings and when the patriarch bent down to show us the age of a piece of work, paint and mortar crumbled away to the floor. It was painful to see and no doubt painful for the patriarch to experience.

For obvious reasons of conservation, there is no photography allowed inside the church and this is the reason I’ve included the post card above. Perhaps it would help to click on the postcard to view an enlargement.

I was able to take some of the outside of the church, depicting artwork from perhaps the last restoration in 1750.

Paintings on exterior of church at Krušedol Monastery

The monastery was a quiet place, certainly a place of reflection and while my friends lit a candle and prayed, I observed the patriarch in a moment of peace. Well, to be fair, he was peaceful until he spotted me taking his photo and so I quickly put my camera away.

After visiting the church itself, we decided to walk around the grounds. Krušedol is a self-sustaining monastery and the monks grow all of their own food, plus they own pigs and chicken too. I had a bit of a moment when I came face to face with a cherry tree. I had never seen a cherry tree before and assumed that they grew on smaller bushes like tomatoes or strawberries! We ran into another patriarch and a young monk and they encouraged me to help myself to a cherry. Oh my word, I can’t express how divine they tasted!

I followed this up with a drink of water from the miraculous underground well. It tasted chalky and strange as it is full of minerals but it is said to have healing properties.

We knew that we had another two monasteries to visit before lunch that day and so it was with some reluctance that we made our way back to the entrance and towards the Velika Remeta monastery.

Have you ever visited a place that was considered controversial or unfavourable by your friends and family? What were your reasons for doing so?

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An afternoon in the Fruška Gora, Novi Sad

Recently Tricia Mitchell asked me whether I enjoyed my time in the Fruška Gora and I decided to answer her in photos. Fruška Gora is a mountain range just outside of Novi Sad in Serbia and it is known for its pine forests, vineyards and monasteries. I spent one long, wonderful day there in June and this is our story in five (or so) photos.

There was a little bit of this - Krušedol monastery, Fruška Gora:

And a little bit of this - Velika Remeta monastery, Fruška Gora:

We also visited the women's monastery at Grgeteg, Fruška Gora:

We had a fantastic lunch at Hotel Norcev, Fruška Gora and I came face to face with a NATO missile:

And finally, I saw my first ever ex-Yugoslavia spomenik, a giant concrete World War II memorial:

And a final bonus photo of my time in the Fruška Gora - the communications tower targeted by NATO in 1999:

I can’t wait to tell you more about each of these and my post on the first monastery Krušedol is almost ready to publish!

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Today is just a short post and I’m glad that I’d put this selection of photos together on Twitter because that made it a little easy. Despite having prepared my photos and written most of the content for my post on Krušedol, I simply couldn’t manage to finish it tonight. 

Life is super busy at the moment with lots of dates with my friends and family, a gruelling study schedule and long days at work where I pick up new and more challenging duties. I’m beginning to feel like I’ve become very boring, I must admit! I wouldn’t want it any other way but it does mean that for the foreseeable future, I might not have as much time to blog here at Emm in London. I’ll try not to be too negligent though!

Having said that, I do actually have some posts planned over the next week. On Friday I’ll be telling you about a long-distance call app that I tried out and we’re back next Friday too with the monthly travel link up. The theme this month is Staycations. The idea is to share what people can do in your corner of the world, whether it is an afternoon, a long weekend or a holiday. I already wrote about Ten Things To Do In Johannesburg in May, so this time I’ll be writing about Kent.

What are you up to this summer? Are you getting everything done or are you like me, trying to squeeze more hours into an already full day?

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Postcards from the World: My Favourite Travel Photos

Brace yourself! Tonight is a bumper photo post and as always, it comes with a bit of a story. Very often when I go on a trip, I’ll save one of my photos and add it to my photo folder at work. My PC at work is set up to rotate a selection of photos as my screen saver and it is always a matter of some pride when a colleague will say that they love the photos on my screen saver and I can reply that they are all mine. Of course, they always express surprise that I have any creativity whatsoever because accountants aren’t exactly known for being arty!

For the longest time, I’ve wanted to share these photos with you and so it was pretty fortuitous when I received notice of this month’s travel link up: your favourite travel photo(s).

And so here you go… all fifteen photos that are absolutely my favourite travel photos. I’ve left links all over the post if you’d like to visit the original posts on the blog.

Turkey – The Celsus Library at Ephesus

Turkey was the first place I visited when I began this blog in 2008 and this photo was taken of the celsus library at Ephesus.

Italy - Alone in Riomaggiore

I’d wanted to visit Italy since I was 20 and finally got to visit last year – twice! This photo was taken in Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre.

London – Chinese New Year

This was my favourite of the photos I took during this year’s Chinese New Year celebrations in London.

Italy - Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan

The ceiling of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. This is where you can visit the Last Supper.

Serbia – The Name of Mary Church, Novi Sad

Given my love of Serbia, it should be no surprise that I would feature a photo from there. This was taken during my most recent visit to Novi Sad.

Italy – Duomo di Milano

The good news is that next week I’m finally taking you inside the Duomo in Milan. It is as opulent inside as it is on the outside. I loved this photo because of the inclusion of both the lion statue and the Duomo.

Bosnia – Jablanica

I’d heard about the beautiful turquoise lakes and rivers in Bosnia but nothing quite prepares you for a sight like this. I’m sure I’ve said this before but I would move to this country in a heartbeat. I think I left my heart somewhere here on the road between Mostar and Sarajevo.

Italy - Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Milan

People often say that they don’t like Milan but I don’t really understand that. I really enjoyed my time there and spent many long afternoons simply walking around or drinking coffee in sidewalk cafes. This was taken in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II which is one of the most beautiful structures I have ever seen.

London – The Eye

I can confirm that you can never take too many photos of the London Eye. It is simply not possible. This photo was part of a post I wrote about London at dusk.

Italy – Gondolas in Venice

Somehow I’ve always liked this photo of the gondolas in Venice. I like the composition and the contrast of the blue material in the gondolas against the blue sky. I still have so much to tell you about Italy!

France – The Abbey of Mont St Michel

Taken during our most recent visit to Mont St Michel in France. I just loved the detail here of the old Gothic abbey and the blue sky.

Bosnia – Stari Most, Mostar

The most beautiful bridge in the world. This photo was taken from Koski Mehmet Pasha Mosque where they promise you the best views of the bridge in all of Mostar. The view from our hotel Villa Anri was pretty special too.

Italy - Museo D'arte Antica, Milan

I love this photo because it was hard to decide which was more impressive in the Museo D'arte Antica in Milan – the exhibits or the frescoes.

London – St Paul’s Cathedral

I love this photo simply because it was taken on the first day of spring this year. London is beautiful when the sun shines!

Bosnia – Stari Most at Dusk

And finally, my favourite photo of all time. I took this on my first night in Bosnia on the eve of my 40th birthday. There was nowhere else on earth I wanted to be more than there in Mostar. I’ve printed two enlargements of this photo – one is hanging in our bedroom and the other is in my brother’s lounge.

Do you have a favourite travel photo? Feel welcome to link to it in the comments below!

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A Walk in Novi Sad’s Golden Hour

My recent trip to Serbia was incredible and everything I’d hoped for. I had wanted to return with Stephen since the moment I left four years ago and this time I wanted to explore the culture, history and food in the region as well as spend time with my friends. We spent 4 days in Novi Sad and I have so much to tell you but I’m going to do something unusual on this occasion – I’m going to start with some snapshots that I took on my iPhone on our final evening in Novi Sad. I left my camera at home so that I could stop being a tourist but as we took two dogs for a much needed long walk around the city centre, I tried to capture the atmosphere of a late summer afternoon in Novi Sad.

Our walk began where it ends in Trg Slobode, which translates as Freedom Square.

Novi Sad hosts the world famous Exit Festival each year and the whole town was ready for the July activities.

You know how I have a tendency to take photos of the same buildings over and over again? The Crkva Imena Marijinog is one of those buildings and is the Catholic Name of Mary Church in Trg Slobode.

In the background here you can see the Orthodox Saborna Crkva (Cathedral Church) as well as Vladičanski Dvor (the Bishop’s Palace).

This is Ulica Dunavska which translates as Danube Street. Novi Sad is located along the banks of the Danube river which is known locally at the Dunav.

We stopped for ice cream in a sidewalk cafe. During the golden hour in Novi Sad, locals flock down to the centre of Novi Sad and sit relaxing in such cafes until late in the night. It is a fantastic, festive culture.

Once we finished our ice creams, we continued on towards Dunavska Park, the big park in central Novi Sad. In English that would be Danube Park. We had to take a slight detour to get there because there was some sort of live performance happening at the end of Ulica Dunavska.  Which is great because I got to explore an alley way…

… and spot some local street art.

We got to walk past the old military garrison. Novi Sad was once an important army town and Yugoslavian youth travelled from all over the country to serve their compulsory service here.

We finally entered Dunavska Park and I was thrilled to see take a different route to the one I’d taken on previous occasions. We walked down long promenades…

… and past a tranquil wooded area.

Once we exited the path, we turned back towards the city centre but kept walking past the south entrance to Trg Slobode.

We chose instead to enter via the West entrance which offers a breathtaking view of the Crkva Imena Marijinog. By the time we arrived, the golden hour was up and dusk had officially fallen. Is it any surprise that I can’t stop taking photos of this church?

Thank you for joining me on this walk. I still have so much to tell you about monasteries, NATO bombs, World War II memorials and breakfast on the Danube River.

Linking to Our World Tuesday.

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Returning to Novi Sad, Serbia

Apart from posting photos of warm and sunny places, I have another cunning trick for avoiding the winter blues this season: planning my vacations outside of the UK next year.  For various boring reasons, not least of which was the fact that Stephen was applying for his British citizenship and passport, we haven’t left this country since January 1st. I don’t know why this makes me so sad, but perhaps it is because we are so close to the wonders that Europe has to offer.

It is our tenth wedding anniversary next year, so I have demanded planned a trip to Italy in April.  We were also planning on going to Croatia and Bosnia in September but that might not pan out anymore.  We’re definitely going to South Africa in December though. 

With all that travel planned, I still wanted to return to Serbia, the country I fell in love with last year.  So I made a promise to myself: if I could manage to put aside some extra money, I would reward myself with a short trip.  It worked and I can finally say with some certainty that I will return to Serbia in 2012.

So this week’s instalment of Blue Skies and Sunshine is dedicated to Serbia.  This time I intend to spend at least 1-2 days in Belgrade as I didn’t see much of the city last time, apart from the airport.  It would be great if we could spend some time in the famous Fruška Gora mountains too, if only so that I can smell that glorious pine-scented air again.

I haven’t decided whether my trip will coincide with the Exit Festival again.  The problem is that the more time I spend at the festival at night, the less I am going to see of the surrounding city and area.  Regardless of when I go, I intend to explore more of the Petrovaradin Fortress, especially during the day.  Exit Festival is held inside an exquisite 18th century Austrian fortress, making it the most beautiful festival I have ever attended.

I also hope to see more of the streets of Novi Sad and Belgrade, to observe the stunning architecture and the contrast between old and new.  I want to see more of the graffiti and street signs, especially as I’ll be able to read it this time (I taught myself to read Cyrillic after my last visit).

I’d also like to visit some of the towns and cities in the surrounding area of Vojvodina, maybe Pančevo or Subotica. That would only really be possible if I didn’t visit during festival time.  I guess I’ll have to wait to see who is headlining before I decide.

When I visited in 2010, we went up into the mountains for a barbeque with Maja’s friends.  There was something so familiar about it all, about the hills and countryside, the pig on the spit, the friends sitting around the fire, chatting all afternoon and drinking beer.  It really reminded me of South Africa and it just felt like home.  Home with a stunning array of neoclassical and Baroque renaissance architecture just a half hour away.

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Novi Sad: Sunset Over the River Dunav

It’s taken me a long time to post this final post about my visit to Novi Sad.  As unbelievably hackneyed as it will sound, I simply didn’t want the sun to set on my Serbian trip. 

These photos were taken on my last evening in Novi Sad.  I was attending a special event at the Petrovaradin Fortress, which is where the Exit Festival is held each year and was looking out over the river.  Looking to the east, I saw the Fruška Gora mountain range over the Dunav river.  You might know the more popular name of the Dunav river: the Danube.

That is Liberty Bridge that you can see there in the middle of the photo. It is a cable-stayed bridge that was rebuilt between 2003-2005 following the NATO bombardment of Novi Sad in 1999.

Looking straight ahead, I could see the city of Novi Sad over the river.  (You can click on any of the photos for a higher resolution).  The prominent spire in most of the photos is the famous catholic church in Trg Slobode (Liberty Square).

My eyes were streaming with tears as I looked straight into the sun to try and take these photos.  Seeing this blazing sunset over the Dunav river will possibly remain with me to the end of my days.

To the right of the photo is the Varadin Bridge which was built in 2000, again following the NATO bombardment which specifically targeted bridge among other targets.

I love this photo with the pink-orange sky and the sun peeking out to the right.  It absolutely captures my mood at that moment as I realised that I simply had to return to this country and this city.  I still intend to return, both to visit my friend Maja and to show it to Stephen but also as part of a bigger goal of extensively travelling across the countries that comprise what was once Yugoslavia.  My friend Nina has already begun to scheme with me to visit Croatia in August. 

This is the famous clock tower at the Petrovaradin Fortress. It was visible from the river the guide sailors and is distinctive because of its larger hour hand.

Love.  That is all I have left to say about the city of Novi Sad.

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