As I had written previously, that one can write reams on Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia, has a rich and complex history that dates back over 7,000 years. We spent the Day 1 and the last two days of our ‘Serbian Sojourn’ in Belgrade. Belgrade, in its Serbian form means White City (Beo-grad), a … Continue reading Belgrade: A Serbian Sojourn: Part 1 ©Sangeeta Venkatesh

Topola: It was time to check out of Hotel Tornik and head back to Belgrade. En route we had planned to visit the small town of Topola. It took us a little over 2 hours to reach Topola (Oplenac) which resembles a 19th-century town till today.  In the 19th century, this area was covered in … Continue reading A Serbian Sojourn, Day 8: Oplenac and Topola regions ©Sangeeta Venkatesh

#Day5 Zlatibor town (Kraljeve Vode):  After a wonderful visit to the Studenica Monastery, we made our way to the mountainous western Serbian region of Zlatibor. It is said that Zlatibor was named after the white pines (Latin name is Pinus sylvestris variegata zlatiborica) with yellow needles that once covered the beautiful slopes of Mt. Zlatibor … Continue reading A Serbian Sojourn, Day 5, 6, & 7 : Zlatibor, Mokra Gora, Drvengard, Stopica Caves, & Gostilje Falls ©Sangeeta Venkatesh

The evening of Day 4 was spent at Niš. The town was named after the Nišava River, which flows through the city. It was first named Navissos by Celtic tribes in the 3rd century BC. From this term comes the Latin Naissus, the Greek Nysos and the Slavic Niš. This is one of the oldest cities in Europe and it represents crossroad between East … Continue reading A Serbian Sojourn: overnight at Nis ©Sangeeta Venkatesh

From the Golubac Fort, we made our way to Lepenski Vir. I remember reading about it in my Grade 10 History book, and did I ever think I would come to see it some 42 years later? One of the earliest known human settlements, is the Mesolithic (middle stone age era) archaeological of Lepenski-Vir. The … Continue reading A Serbian Sojourn Day 3 (Part 2) Lepenski Vir ©Sangeeta Venkatesh

Day 3 saw us driving from Belgrade towards the East to the Golubac Fortress and the Iron Gate Gorge, four kilometers from the town of Golubac. It took us about 2 hours to traverse a distance of 136 kilometers, and it was just wonderful to drive by the River Danube at several places. We reach … Continue reading A Serbian Sojourn: Day 3 (part1) Golubac Fortress, Iron Gate Gorge ©Sangeeta Venkatesh

One can write reams about the history of Serbia. Belgrade, the capital city is the central character in this story and I anticipate that it would take long to document and write about it.  But I want to share parts of our trip right away and so I have decided to describe Day 2 of … Continue reading A Serbian Sojourn: Novisad & Sremski Karlovci – the Cultural Capital of Serbia ©Sangeeta Venkatesh