Visiting Belgrade – from Kalemegdan to the House of Flowers/Posjeta Beogradu – od Kalemegdana do Kuće cvijeća

Hram Svetog Save / Saint Sava Church

I recently visited Belgrade for the first time with my Sara. I had been planning this trip for a long time, primarily because I wanted to take Sara to Serbia, and also because I had been there so long ago that it must have been decades ago. Since I am Croatian by nationality from a Serbian mother, I am also teaching my Sara that she is partly a Serbian person.

Due to the recent riots in Serbia, during which a Croatian citizen was arrested and deported, I was a little nervous and somehow didn't know what to expect in Serbia. Namely, when I speak Croatian, which is almost the same as Serbian, but still clearly different in nuances, it is immediately clear where we are from. It soon turned out that there was no reason to worry, we were warmly welcomed everywhere, from the bus at the airport to the cosy Hotel Opera in the centre of Belgrade. On the bus, a nice Serbian girl explained to us how and where to get off to get to our hotel. By the way, public transport in Belgrade is free, which makes it much easier to move around the city without having to worry about buying tickets.

Belgrade on the Water/ Beograd na vodi

On the first day in Belgrade, we met my close friend Anisa, an Uzbek married to a Serb who had lived in Cambridge for a long time. Anisa also brought her daughter Ksenija, a beautiful girl whom I had last seen as a little girl playing with my Sara in Cambridge. The girls renewed their friendship, and Anisa and I got along well, as we always had in the past.

On the first day, Anisa and Ksenija showed us Kalemegdan, a beautiful fortress with a magical view of the confluence of the Sava River and the Danube River. After that beautiful walk, they took us to an excellent restaurant that Ksenija had chosen.

Museum of Yugoslavia/ Muzej Jugoslavije

The second day, we went to the Museum of Yugoslavia and the House of Flowers, where President Tito is buried. I really wanted to visit that place because of my eternal fascination with the great politician who left a deep, indelible mark on all of us in the Balkans, whether or not we want to admit it. The Museum of Yugoslavia exhibits gifts that the late President Tito received from representatives of various countries. I was particularly impressed by a piece of lunar soil and the Yugoslav flag that travelled to the Moon with the Apollo 11 mission, which were given to Tito by American President Nixon. In the House of Flowers, we had a nice surprise, which was that Jovanka Broz was also buried there. Her grave is made of the same white marble as Tito's, only it is much lower. It was nice to lean on Tito's office chair next to his desk, also exhibited in the House of Flowers.

After that emotional excursion, we headed to the newer part of Belgrade, known as Belgrade on the Water. There are lots of cafes and restaurants there, and the promenade along the Sava River is also very beautiful. At the end of that eventful day, we went to the Moskva Café, which I know because the late Croatian poet Antun Gustav Matoš spent his time there during his time in Belgrade.

All in all, two wonderful days with old friendships brought us great joy and satisfaction. We will come again.

Kristina

Thursday, September 25^th, 2025

Posjeta Beogradu – od Kalemegdana do Kuće cvijeća

Nedavno sam sa svojom Sarom posjetila Beograd po prvi put. Davno sam planirala to putovanje ponajprije jer sam željela Saru odvesti u Srbiju, a i stoga što sam i sama tako davno tamo bila da se već broji u decenijama. Obzirom da sam po nacionalnosti Hrvatica od majke Srpkinje i moju Saru učim da dijelom pripada i srpskom narodu.

Zbog nedavnih nereda u Srbiji tokom kojih je jedan hrvatski državljan bio uhapšen i deportiran malo sam bila napeta i nekako nisam znala što mogu očekivati u Srbiji. Naime kad progovorim hrvatskim jezikom koji je gotovo isti kao srpski, ali se ipak u nijansama jasno razlikuje, odmah je jasno odakle smo. Pokazalo se vrlo skoro da nije bilo razloga za zabrintost, svugdje smo lijepo dočekane, od autobusa na aerodromu do ugodnog Hotela Opera u centru Beograda. U autobusu nam je jedna draga srpska djevojka sve objasnila kako i gdje sići da bi došle do svog hotela. Inače javni je prijevoz u Beogradu besplatan pa to bitno olakšava nesmetano kretanje kroz grad bez brige o kupovini karata.

U Beogradu smo se već prvi dan susrele sa mojom bliskom prijateljicom Anisom, Uzbekistankom udanom za Srbina koja je davno živjela u Cambridgeu. Anisa je povela i svoju kćer Kseniju koja je jedna prekrasna djevojka koju sam zadnji put još vidjela kao djevojčicu što se u Cambridgeu igrala sa mojom Sarom. Djevojke su obnovile prijateljstvo, a Anisa i ja smo se dobro razumjele kao uostalom i uvijek u prošlosti.

  Anisa I Ksenija su nam odmah prvi dan pokazale Kalemegdan, prekrasnu tvrđavu sa čarobnim pogledom na ušće rijeke Save u rijeku Dunav. Poslije te lijepe šetnje povele su nas u odličan restoran koji je Ksenija odabrala. Drugi smo dan otišle do Muzeja Jugoslavije i Kuće cvijeća u kojoj je sahranjen predsjednik Tito. To mjesto sam jako željela posjetiti zbog svoje vječite fascinacije velikim političarem koji je ostavio dubok, neizbrisiv trag u svima nama na Balkanu, pa sad htjeli mi to objektivno vidjeti ili ne. U Muzeju Jugoslavije izloženi su pokloni koje je pokojni predsjednik Tito dobivao od predstavnika iz raznih zemalja. Posebno me se dojmio komadić sa mjesečevog tla kao i jugoslovenska zastava koja je putovala na Mjesec sa Apollo11 misijom, a koje je Titu poklonio američki predsjednik Nixon. U kući cvijeća smo imali lijepo iznenađenje, a to je da je Jovanka Broz također tamo sahranjena. Njezin je grob načinjen od istog bijelog mramora kao i Titov samo je znatno niži. Lijepo je bilo nasloniti se na Titovu radnu fotelju uz njegov radni stol također izloženim u Kući cvijeća.

Poslije tog emotivnog izleta zaputile smo se u noviji dio Beograda poznatim pod nazivom Beograd na vodi. Tamo je sve puno kafića i restorana, a i šetalište uz rijeku Savu je jako lijepo. Na kraju tog ispunjenog dana otišle smo do Kavane Moskva meni poznatoj po tome što je u njoj pokojni hrvatski pjesnik Antun Gustav Matoš, za svog života u Beogradu, provodio tamo svoje vrijeme.

Sve u svemu dva divna dana uz staro prijateljestvo donijeli su nam veliku radost i zadovoljstvo. Doći ćemo ponovo.

Kristina

Četvrtak, 25. rujna 2025.