Walking. Gossip. Travel.

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Belgrade Trip – Pobednik (Victor Monument)

Located within the Belgrade Fortress, this is the not inconsiderable Victor monument which stands where the Rivers Danube and Sava meet. Incidentally, I thought that the statue leaning was more evidence simply of my photographic prowess, but it is genuinely leaning which is sub-optimal for the city engineers. Like many things in the city, there were lots of arguments about this monument and where it was going to go. Designed by Ivan Meštrović, it’s not of any one particular person, it instead represents some sort of mythical being who has won the war and is now leading the city into peace. The monument wasn’t meant to be placed here (it was instead meant to be at Terazije which is in the city centre), but there were arguments that the lack of clothing meant it wasn’t suitable in case ladies looked at it, so it’s been moved out here.

As a quick timeline, the idea for such a moment came in 1913 following the Serbian victory in the First Balkan War when the Ottomans were defeated. The Hercules type statue was designed, but then World War One broke out and that caused somewhat of a delay, even when the conflict was over. Eventually, the monument was delivered to the city in 1923 and it was then put in a shed for four years whilst the authorities worked out where to put it. Bored of argument, a final decision was made in 1927 and this is where the monument was plonked down.

There he is, defending Belgrade. The monument is cracked and the whole lot has had to be repaired several times to stop it falling down, but it looks quite majestic today.

And that’s the view that he’s looking out onto. Some have suggested he isn’t guarding the city, but simply after all of the arguments the authorities wanted it looking away from the city centre so they didn’t have to look at him. Either which way, it’s quite an impressive monument.

September 12, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Belgrade Fortress (Zindan Gate)

Once again, I won’t be winning any awards for photography with the blurry photos, but it was raining for the entire time that I was at the Belgrade Fortress which has led to some (well, quite a lot) sub-optimal imagery. Belgrade Fortress has one of the most challenging histories to unpick given how many times it has been raided, besieged, stormed, attacked and so on, but this is the Zindan Gate or the ‘dungeon gate’.

The gate was originally built by the Hungarians between 1440 and 1456 and was the first part of the fortress to be constructed with cannons in mind. It worked for a while, but then the Ottomans took the fortress in 1521, but they didn’t do much more with the gate because the frontline had moved on from Belgrade and they didn’t need to defend it. The Austrians decided to get a bit aggressive for a while, indeed hundreds of years, and it bounced between their occupation and the Ottomans who would take it back.

The rear of the gate. Reminding me of the rather aspirational modernisation of Carcassonne Castle, the current design of the gate is modern and dates back to the 1938 restoration which gave it an appearance which it had never had. It’s possible to walk all around the gate and it has a more elevated position than might be evident from these photos.

Views from the top of the gate over the River Danube. There’s a wooden bridge now in front of the gate, this is recent, but there was once a drawbridge designed to keep the ruffians out. Today, it’s one of the main entrances into the Belgrade Fortress, a large complex which is free of charge to enter and there are plenty of interpretation boards to help explain the history of the site.

September 12, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Bora Todorović Mural

I’m not going to pretend that I knew that Bora Todorović was a famous Serbian actor, but there’s a Wikipedia page which gives more information about his life. I just liked the mural, the quality is really eye-catching and it’s pleasing that no-one has vandalised it, especially given that there was lots of graffiti elsewhere down the street. It was painted by the Grobarski treš romanticism group and I’ve seen more of what I assume are their artworks dotted around Belgrade. All very lovely.

September 12, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Other Highlights at Belgrade Zoo

I’ve wittered on already about the alligator, the snakes , the hippos and the lack of space at Belgrade Zoo, but it was an interesting place and only cost around £5 to get in. The ticket desk accepts cards, but a school group had decided to wait just in front of the ticket desk, which meant it was quite a battle to actually get to the kiosk and by that point the staff member had given up selling tickets as there was a school group cluttering up the area. After solving that little conundrum, mainly by standing there looking confused, I was handed a receipt and I was good to go.

I wasn’t entirely convinced that the single wire fence between me and that tiger was absolutely adequate to protect me. There was also ample opportunity for kids to shove their hands through, but what could possibly go wrong there?

Perhaps looking just a bit bored?

It was hard to identify which way up this orangutan was meant to go….

The wolf spent a lot of time prowling around following the same route, although I’m not sure what other options he had.

I think this was the largest enclosure in the zoo. It’s not exactly the sweeping plains of Africa.

A big bird, which I think is a condor.

Aaahhhhh…..

Majestic.

Some wet camels.

Very cute, I think it’s a wallaby.

A happy little soul.

The zebra looked quite perky.

As did the penguin.

Wherever zookeepers put a box, the cats will sit in it. Or they might have just been trying to keep dry under the tree.

It’d make a cute pet (and I think it liked me), but I suspect it might be difficult to manage on flights. The zoo gave the fun fact that cheetahs are the only ones of the big cats that can’t fully retract their claws.

I liked watching the flamingos go sauntering by…..

And that was that, a perfectly entertaining way to spend 90 minutes or so. It was quiet, which wasn’t a surprise give the kids are at school, it was raining and it was a weekday in September.

September 11, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Belgrade Zoo, Visitor Behaviour and is There Sufficient Space?

Zoos have a problem, they can do great good in education, in breeding programmes and conservation efforts. But, they also have to ensure the well-being of the animals they are caring for, and there were some evident problems here. I remember going to a couple of zoos in China and was genuinely shocked by how visitors were feeding the animals any old rubbish they could find out of their bags, with no-one seeming to care. I particularly remember one bear begging for food, it all felt sub-optimal. Anyway, back to Belgrade and these goats (or whatever they are) were minding their own business when a visitor broke off a piece of branch from the hedge and starting feeding the animals. A zookeeper walked by and didn’t say anything, but I suspect this is common as there are signs not to touch the hedge and not to feed the animals.

This lion had it tough too. A series of visitors were banging to get her attention and then taking photos with their flash on. Again, there are signs saying no photos using flash, but they’re ignored. I visited on a rainy weekday in September, I can imagine that some animals must be suffering somewhat if this is repeated multiple times per day.

I was also wondering whether some of these animals had enough space. This was the size of the hippo enclosure, it doesn’t feel ideal for two hippos.

And the parrots didn’t seem overwhelmed with space either. In fairness to the zoo, TripAdvisor marks the zoo as “meets animal welfare guidelines” but the standards for this seem very low.

The zoo was first built in 1936 and there have been numerous efforts recently to progress a project to build a larger zoo on a new site in the city. I suspect they really need the space, they’ve welcoming over 400,000 visitors a year to this site and it’s really not very large. The zoo is getting a lot of negative reviews about their facilities, it seems inevitable that a new zoo will be opened at some stage, no doubt as soon as funding is sorted out.

September 10, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Belgrade Zoo and Snakes

I don’t like snakes. It’s nothing personal and I don’t want them hurt (well, unless they’re attacking me) but they always look shifty to me. I’m quite content with their natural habitat being behind glass, so this whole zoo arrangement is perfect for me. I can look at them and they can’t attack me, or at least, as long as the zoo-keeper is competent. This is a boa constrictor and they can live for 30 years shuffling around in Central and Southern America. The zoo have a fun fact which is that these snakes have two lungs, one is a small nonfunctional one and the other is large and very functional, all designed by evolution to fit into their bodies.

A Burmese python and apparently (I’m just reading this from the zoo’s display boards, I don’t claim to be a snake expert and that isn’t something I’d want to be really as I’d have to look at them a lot) they can live for 20 years if they get lucky. They were once just in southeastern Asia, but some people in the United States decided they’d make a lovely snake and then some escaped and now they’ve an invasive species to Florida.

A reticulated python and the zoo notes that these are amongst the few snakes that prey on humans. It’s the world’s longest snake and the damn thing can swim, so they have been found some way out in the water.

A corn snake and these are one of the most commonly kept snakes as a pet. I have no idea why someone would want one of these in their house. But, each to their own, I suppose not everyone wants a furry pet they can cuddle.

My two loyal blog readers can pat themselves on the back if they guessed that this was an Honduran Milk Snake. As it looks like a coral snake, lots of predators stay away from it. Reading up on this, I’ve discovered you can keep one of these as a pet, but it must be kept alone otherwise it might eat the other snake.

This Californian Kingsnake is treating its water bowl as something it should sit underneath.

This horrible thing (yes, this is a verbal attack on snakes) is a black-headed Python. I mean, perhaps he’s lovely and I shouldn’t judge, but this one was on manoeuvres and he spent a lot of time eyeing me up as prey I thought.

See? Definitely didn’t like me. These snakes are from northern Australia and can be kept as a snake, but apparently it’s a premium priced one and they don’t come cheap. Personally, I think I’ll save my money for craft beer….

It was all nicely laid out in the zoo’s reptile enclosure, although that’s enough snakes for me for September….

September 10, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Belgrade Zoo and the Oldest Known Alligator in the World

This is Muju and he’s the oldest known alligator in the world, thought to have been hatched in a German zoo between 1925 and 1935. Unfortunately, the zoo records were lost during the Second World War, but it’s known that he came to Belgrade Zoo in 1937. He’s gone through the Second World War, the collapse of Yugoslavia, the NATO bombings of the city and I suspect he might well be getting a little bored now. Although that requires it to be possible for an alligator to be able to be bored, I have no idea whether that’s a thing for reptiles. He got gangrene in his front leg in 2012, so it was cut off in a bid to extend his life.

Apparently he doesn’t move much and his food is put in front of him, which sounds a convenient way to live a life, although not necessarily entirely fulfilling. But, alligators probably don’t feel the need to be fulfilled in their lives, so he just remains on display in his little pond. I was worried that I might drop my phone on him, so I was very careful, but I do wonder what has fallen into this pond over the years. Just in case he gets bored of sitting in this pond, they’ve built him a little cave area to lounge about in as well.

The BBC have even made a video of the alligator, just in case one of my two loyal blog readers wanted to find out even more….

September 10, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Stari Dvor (Old Palace, City Hall)

This was a rather attractive building and it’s located opposite my hotel (more of which later on during the week, but I’m very much liking it) and it is known as locally as Stari Dvor, meaning Old Palace. It’s currently used as the City Hall for Belgrade, but it was also used as the Royal residence of the Serbian royal family between 1884 and 1922. The history of this city is brutal, Wikipedia notes (and I have no reason to disbelieve it) that “the city was battled over in 115 wars and razed to the ground 44 times”. That’s sub-optimal for the residents of Belgrade if I’m being honest.

And that brutality was evident on the night of 10 June 1903, when a group of military officers entered the building next to this palace and assassinated King Aleksandar Obrenović. and Queen Draga. They then disembowelled the royal couple, mutilated their bodies and threw them out of the window into piles of manure. That building was demolished soon after and it’s now a park next to Stari Dvor. I can see the park from my hotel room and it’s a little odd to think all of this went on relatively recently in the city’s history. The current structure has been much amended since it was first built between 1882 and 1884, not least as it was damaged in the First World War and the Second World War. It was used briefly as the city’s Ethnographic Museum, but has served as the City Hall since 1961.

Also of interest (well, to me anyway), in 1919 and 1920, several meetings of the Provisional National Assembly of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes were held here. This was the formal name at the time for the new country known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia that was established in 1918. The building feels like something of a microcosm of the wider city, it has certainly been through a lot.

September 10, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Belgrade Airport to the City Centre by Bus

Last week, I stayed up late one night pondering on how to get to the city centre of Belgrade from the airport. It’s the sort of thing that I like to get sorted out in my mind in advance (and these things usually concern me at night, which is the worse time in practical terms to have to think about such things), then I know I can sort everything else out when I’m there. The public transport system is chaotic, the city has switched to a new provider and it seems to have confused a lot of people. A new system was brought in where locals could text a number and that gave them a receipt for their journey and charged them accordingly. But, they rather forgot about visitors who didn’t have a Serbian SIM in their phone. They introduced an app instead which numerous people seem to hate judging from the on-line reviews, but it seemed to work OK for me when I downloaded it last week.

Well, I say seemed to work OK, but I was reliant on wi-fi (I have a lot of countries included in my roaming package, including the United States, but Serbia isn’t one of them) at the airport and so I bought a 90-minute Zone A ticket. This cost me 32p, which I thought was suitably cheap. After some faffing, I found where my ticket was stored on my phone and then went outside to look for the 600 bus. I had just missed one, but the next one was in 23 minutes and that was meant to take around 40 minutes to get to the city centre.

I then had around eight taxi drivers come and try and get to take me to the city centre. I think I have a generally confused look, but I tried to have an annoyed look to put anyone else coming over and that seemed to work nicely. It didn’t help I had to keep moving around to get the wi-fi connection from the airport terminal, so these eight or so taxi drivers probably thought I was desperately lost. I have a theory that you can tell about the development of a country by whether rogue taxi drivers are allowed at airports to try and get people into their vehicles at what are usually exorbitant prices. I have a lot of theories actually, but that’s besides the point here.

At this moment (and I must have forgotten to look generally annoyed), I seemed to become the new customer service point for the bus company with four people coming over to ask for help. It mystifies me why the airport hasn’t put any support, whether staff or signage, out here on how to buy tickets. Anyway, all I managed to do was pre-worry everyone because I was the only one with an app that had a ticket.

What happened next is that around 30 people boarded the bus and tried to buy a ticket using a combination of cash, card and phone, but the driver just waved them all on. None of them had a ticket to travel, so the bus company must be throwing some money away here. I had a front row seat to watch all this excitement. Then the bus drove off and the public transport app promptly crashed. I re-opened the app, which had my ticket on, but it now required an Internet signal and wouldn’t show the ticket off-line. Completely sub-optimal…. I had been pro-active here by trying to screenshot the ticket in advance, but the app prohibits that. So I was in the position of having a valid ticket but no easy way of displaying it. I had a plan, if a ticket inspector got on, although they would likely be distracted by the other passengers, but I had been able to screenshot the e-mail confirming the ticket order to show them. Fortunately (for nearly every passenger) there were no ticket inspectors.

We had to stop every three minutes for the driver to wipe down the condensation from the front window. Sometimes we didn’t stop whilst this was taking place which added a little jeopardy to the journey.

Then a little crisis happened. I had saved the maps of Belgrade to my phone and GPX works without roaming and I realised that the bus was hurtling off in the wrong direction. I thought my pre-planning had failed and the 600 bus might have two routes. The blue line is the route of the 600 bus service and the blue dot is where the bus was, which was not on the route. With only a small quiet sigh, I decided it might be useful to get my phone charger out as this might be a long night, but I was delighted to see that the bus reached the junction and then returned back the way it came. It was likely that there were just road works or the like, but it meant that soon enough we were back on track. I was relieved if I’m being honest, there’s a limit to how much adventure that I need in my life.

We arrived into Belgrade at pretty much what time I had hoped for. My 90 minute ticket meant that I could in theory get a connecting bus to the hotel, but there was no way I could access the ticket and since it was just a 30 minute walk I thought it’d be nice to see some of the city at night. In safe and sound, all rather lovely.

September 10, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Wizz Air (Luton Airport to Belgrade)

Finally, my ‘riveting’ series of posts about this trip starts to have some relevance to Belgrade….. I’ve never been to Serbia before, so this was a new experience for me. The boarding arrangement was smooth and well managed, I had a wait of only around five minutes in the boarding queue before going down the stairs to board the aircraft, I was suitably impressed. I am aware of the negativity that Wizz Air receives, but so far (and this might change at any time, I fully accept that) I’ve not had any problems with them.

There’s the aircraft, looking ready for action.

And boarding. I prefer not to board with an air bridge as it lets me get a photo of the aircraft and work out the registration number and not have to look it up later. Those with disabilities might have a different point of view on this though.

The aircraft is G-WUKO, which I don’t think I’ve been on, but I don’t always record them which limits how useful these sort of comments are. And I’m not sure if anyone is really too focused on whether I’ve been on a particular aircraft before if I’m being entirely honest to myself. The Wizz Air fleet is one of the newest and this aircraft is an Airbus A321 which was delivered to the airline in May 2021.

I didn’t pay for a seat reservation, so I went for a random one and was fortunate enough to get a window seat. There was no-one sitting next to me, so it was quite an agreeable flight. To put this into perspective as well, the flight cost me £10.49, so it would be hard to be too disappointed here. We arrived into Belgrade on time, the aircraft was clean and the cabin crew were professional and friendly. The aircraft was only around 75% full, so despite the low prices, this wasn’t the most popular of services. This is the sort of flight that I think the unlimited flights pass that Wizz Air are selling will be trying to fill up a bit.

Around 15% of customers bought something from the refreshments trolley, a couple seemed tempted by the perfumes that were being sold, it all made a bit of money for the airline. Unfortunately for Wizz Air, I didn’t much help their bottom line with this flight. I had a look at the air passenger duty that Wizz Air have to pay, and for the economy seat to Serbia, they have to pay £13 to the Government. Anyway, I was very pleased again with the airline, everything went smoothly and I received what I considered to be excellent value for money.

September 10, 2024