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My dream of visiting Eastern Europe was born in Goa, India of all places. We spent many weeks at The Lazy Frog guest house in Carmona in 2015 and 2016, hosted by Serbian Oliveira and her Goan husband Roy. Oliveira and I spent many hours chatting as she waxed lyrical about her homeland. The green countryside, the history, the non-spicy food! The photos that she shared and her enthusiasm sparked an interest. Roll on 8 years and through many life changing events and we were reunited in the very place that she had been pining for.
Oliveira summers every year at her family home with her adorable 5 year old daughter Todora, her mother (shy from lack of English), 2 dogs, 4 cats and countless cuddly toys including Lily Lily the sheep and Oven Oven the cat. Lily Lily and Oven Oven accompanied us everywhere that we explored!
Oliveira is passionate about the history of her country and has an encyclopaedic wealth of knowledge. Unfortunately, I struggled to keep up with the bombardment of fascinating facts. Too many royal George's, Peter's and Alex's and this was only from 1805 to the present day. The take home message for me was that Serbians are fiercely proud of their independence. Passionate about their heroes Peter I (King 1903-1918) and his son Katadorde, Black George, who was so named because of his celebrated temper. We heard glorified tales of hanging family members, murder and war. We also learnt about Serbian customs. Aunts are called mother, cousins are called sister and brother and allegiance to your 'Godfather' is stronger than to your parents. The family unit is extended and sacred, as is the burial site of your ancestors. It is common to visit family graves and to picnic there; to include the departed in your meal. Oliveira refuses to give up her practice of taking food to her grandmother's grave despite the orthodox church asking for the practice to cease. The rats in graveyards are well fed! This concept is so alien to me. It's a fascinating privilege to get under the skin of another culture.
Understanding the importance of the burial site explains the stunning mausoleum of Oplenac which was built to house royal corpses. The church itself was beautifully decorated in mosaic but it paled into insignificance compared to the crypt below. Absolutely breathtaking.
Serbians have 2 more obvious passions, their food and their generosity as hosts. The combination of the two is daunting for somebody with a small appetite like mine! I really don't enjoy feeling full and I was full to the point of bursting 3 times a day!! Meat, meat and more meat, pastry, lard, cheese and sugar! All that I can say is that I am nauseous even thinking about what my poor body went through. Perfect for kick-starting a diet!!
In order to burn some of those calories, we went on a wonderful hike up to 'Holywood'. Little Todora was so excited about the surprise that awaited us as we followed the Wizard of Oz cutouts up the hill. The surprise was a stunning view, swings and a sign that I assume was supposed to say 'Hollywood'. What a beautiful country Serbia is and what beautiful people the Serbians are, Hvala Serbia.Read more