29th and 30th May 2016
Seems we just can’t stop cycling …… we chose to do a 4 hour bike tour of Beograd. The tour consisted of a small group of four of us plus the guide, us on our tandem and a retired couple from the Netherlands.
Our guide took us across the river, which involved a second trip in the bike lift at the bridge.
First we saw a site that had been originally been built as as an exhibition area . But during WWII it was used by the Nazis as a concentration camp, which involved the extermination of all the Jews living in the city at that time .
We then moved on to see various buildings from the Tito era and heard about it taking the extensive building programme all over Yugoslavia masterminded by Tito. Apparently it took quite a while to complete some buildings as the unpaid labour of young people from different parts of Yugoslavia was used; but additionally, parties and concerts and all sorts of cultural events were organised. Those that took part in this, including our guide’s parents certainly saw this as a great time and look back it with fond memories . Amongst the buildings constructed apart from houses and apartment blocks was also included the Yugoslavian parliament building.
Young people from all over the newly formed Yugoslavia got to know each other and their languages and dialects and it helped to bond the new nation together quite effectively.
The tour then took us in a boat to an area that is almost an island, just joining the mainland by a narrow strip. 
It is clearly a very popular place for a Sunday afternoon bike ride. After stopping for a welcome cold drink, we rode back to the city centre.
Following a visit to the tourist information, we took an early evening boat ride in what was called the “Turtle Boat” because of its turtle like observation floor on the upper deck. We were able to see the array of bridges spanning both the Dunav and the Sava rivers linking not only places but histories.
The next day we took advantage of an open topped bus tour of the older part of the city seeing the various buildings that survived or were rebuilt after various wars and conflicts.
We also passed several bombsites dating from when NATO launched a series of targeted bombing raids which destroyed various buildings related to the Serbian Military and its resources. In fact, just opposite where the tour bus left there was a huge banner with hundreds of photographic portraits which referred to those who lost their lives in the “Albanian incursions” and ” NATO aggression”….
We were also able to appreciate the place that Serbian Orthodox religion, the memory of Josip Broz Tito, and the more benevolent communism had in the sense of Serbian nationhood and identity.
We took advantage of our unladen tandem to travel over Brankov Most (a bridge named after Branco Radičević, a Serbian romantic poet) to reach the “surburb” of Zemun an interesting place that once formed the boundary of the Hungarian Empire. A tower built on the prominent hill above the town in 1896 is the last remaining tower built to mark the millenium of the Hungarian Empire each of them marking the extremities of the Empire across central Europe. Although the origins of the tower date back to the 1400’s. The town also marks the boundary between Roman Catholic influence (Holy Roman Empire) and the Serbian Orthodox church, each with their characteristic architectures.
Catholic churches and cathedrals with spires and “onion shaped”
domes on them and the squareish look of Orthodox churches and cathedrals with middle eastern looking domes.
We’re now on the way to the Iron Gates…..
The campsite was slightly above the river and we could see our destination in the distance.
We saw a church with the most amazing glittery gold decoration on the steeple catching the evening sun, and also came across one of the pedestrianised streets with an attractive collection of umbrellas strung up over the street to provide shade from the sun – not much good when it’s raining we fear… but for now we have sun!
27.05.2016
Simon had a Mexican corn soup to start, then rice and grilled vegetables. Diana had a mushroom and rice dish. A fruit and nut roll and chocolate mousse finished the meal nicely.
The clocktower has an unusual feature in that the hour hand is longer than the minute hand so that from a distance the hour can be seen more clearly.
We came across a sign which indicated “pension”, camping and food in 3km and sure enough in a tiny hamlet called Surduk we came across a house with a sign outside.
The owners clearly grew a lot of their own food – there were numerous net bags of hazelnuts hanging up out of the way of mice, jars of honey stacked up (for sale) and the plum trees looked like they would give a good crop later in the summer….
From our lovely impromptu hostess, Paula, in Optoyac we travelled along a busy road along to Iloc, passing fields of sunflower seedlings, well developed wheat, maize, potatos and the odd vineyard. We dropped into and climbed out of four attractive combe-like valleys on our route negotiating sandy bluffs on our tree-lined road. Non of the climbs out were more than 8%, we managed all them without stopping except the first. But we had only just set out and not really settled into our stride.
As we neared the city we came across wizened cowherds with their cows grazing across and around the path, then a stretch of gravel and sand workings, and, as we reached the built up area, passed by a Soviet era helicopter that had been half buried in a wall, and formed a distinctive landmark to what appeared to be a night club venue.
The villages were pleasant with many of the homes seemingly having a well in the garden.
We had a short climb to the top of a ridge to get up and over before the path went through a nature reserve.
sandstone outcrop we had just passed over. Here we could see the face all peppered with ‘front doors’ for sand martins.
In one of the villages we passed through we noticed a stork’s nest on the top of an electricity pole. There were two adults and what looked like 4 fledglings. They had sublet the nest to one or two sparrow families as well who had taken up residence amongst the twiggy construction.
We are travelling through a very rural area, and we have seen the odd horse and cart and stooks of corn arranged in the traditional fashion.
Much of the journey today was along quite bumpy roads and tracks alongside fields planted with maize.
Having done some 50 miles we came to a point where the sign for route EV6 went down a grassy path. We decided against this and went round on the main road, but this was quite busy with fast traffic and we were glad to get off it again!