“Serbia and the Discovery of a New Nation”

• August 6, 2020
• By Daryl
• 0 Comment

After entering Serbia, we are struck by the beauty of the countryside and farmlands. This is the pride of Serbia, as it shows the vast agricultural contribution Serbia offers. Raspberries are supplied to Europe on a grand scale. Seeing all the raspberry farms, we had dreams of repeating the raspberry thing, by purchasing from roadside stands, but the season was over. Corn and other crops in orderly fields are surrounded by bits of forest as windbreaks. There are also fields of wildflowers for the honey bees.

We saw farm houses with strange looking chicken coops and brick distillery’s in their yards. The coop is a structure made of weaved material that was elevated and had a terra-cotta roof. We think it is for chickens.
Flower pots and window boxes line the patios with a bright display of color. Things are orderly and very beautiful.

But, when traveling through the cities, chaos seems to rule. Pride of ownership seems to drain into despair. The flower boxes are gone, and demolished cars are stacked by the road and in yards. The apartment buildings have laundry hanging off the patio rails.

We drove for hours and never saw a hotel. In fact, we became nervous when darkness loomed. As we were leaving the cities, the mini suburb once again showed pride of ownership. The homes are large; big enough for extended family members and flowers in orderly patterns.

We did find a few churches that were being built. One was like nothing we had ever seen. The murals where in the process of being applied. We searched for a castle that we did not find. After researching, only the foundation was left, anyway, so no big loss, other then time wasted looking for the castle, yet the scenic drive was stunning! As we burned up the last bit of daylight, my concern increased about finding a room. Bunny will sleep in the car, so she doesn’t have a worry. I’m not interested in sleeping in the car.

We saw a small Gypsy, or more politically correct a small Roma cart beside the road; only large enough to carry provisions for the nomadic groups that roamed this area. 70% of the Roma people live in Eastern Europe and were originally from India. The name Gypsies was derived from people thinking they came from Egypt but DNA proves a different heritage.  

We passed a cave and a church perched next to it. The church was small, but interesting. The cave was amazing with bats fluttering around our heads. The many limestone formations are awe inspiring  The air seemed so cool and pure, even though there was a distinct bat smell. Bunny said the ones that flew by my head were about ten rinches long, I think her eyes were enlarged  The mountains are mostly limestone, so the waterways are pure and a bright blue or green color.

As we drove through the mountains I saw many depressions along the roads where water can not flow out of. The water perks through the vast underground rivers that come up in giant springs, which may start rivers, many miles away from its source. 

We found the only hotel available, as it would seem, and they had a couple of overpriced rooms that we could not negotiate a lower price on. The air conditioning was excellent and we had a nice meal. Bunny’s corn bread she ordered to go with her soup, turned out to be beef dish, rolled up and deep fried. A little surprising but that is what it is like when traveling and reading non-English menus