A day trip to the south of Brussels, to be more precise – Brabant region in Wallonie which is the site of the Battle of Waterloo, where the resurgent Napoleon was defeated for the final time in 1815. We started with the visit to the museum which takes you to the times of enlightenment and ideas of the 18th century philosophers like Rene Descartes or Diderot, Immanuel Kant (my ever … Continue reading Waterloo, Belgium
One day trip to this amazing park of attractions, located in Wavre, close to Brussels, since 1975. We started with the hardest ones: the roller coasters like the Vampire and Loup-Garou. It literally spins you around, up and down and in all possible directions. Although the rides are short… However, the Loup-Garou is a rollercoaster made of wood. And unsurprisingly loud! The map shows it is one … Continue reading Walibi park, Belgium
Since I got myself a car: her name is Tintine, we decided to drive around Brussels and explore. My Flemish friend recommended Castle van Gaasbeek – apparently the most romantic castle of Belgium. The castle was initially built in 13th century as part of the wider line of defence to protect Brussels but changed it’s style through centuries… The castle was occupied by a succession … Continue reading Castle van Gaasbeek, Belgium
Brighton is a seaside resort on the south coast of England which is part of the East Sussex, about 75 km south of London. I ended up there by flying on an interview. Woke up a bit earlier in the morning and decided to see what is offered. 🙂 Apparently the city could be traced up to Bronze Age, Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods. However, the town’s importance grew in the Middle Ages as the Old Town developed. … Continue reading Brighton, UK
Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a micro-state in Western Europe. Actually, this is the second smallest independent state in the world (after the Vatican) and is entirely urban. Monaco is surrounded by France on three sides and the remaining part of the country is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea. I arrived from the train station which I noticed was entirely in marble. Monaco is a principality governed under a … Continue reading Monte Carlo, Monaco 🏰
After Marseille, the next stop was St Tropez. Saint Tropez I was sitting in the train and watching the beautiful landscape of the French Riviera: the blue sea below me and red rocks above the other side. The first arrival was actually the city of Hyeres where we changed to bus connection towards Saint Tropez. I found Saint Tropez amazing cute medieval city on the … Continue reading Côte d’Azur: Cannes, Nice and St Tropez
Why? Because I was daydreaming about this city in the south. Plus I have never been to south of France, furthermore, it is the second largest French city and the capital of the Bouches-du-Rhône department and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. You know Provence, no? The lavanda fields etc. Only I haven’t to the countryside. Just saw few lavanda magnets in the market in Marseille at the Old Port. Vieux-Port de Marseille or … Continue reading Marseille, France
This time my travels to Belgrade brought me to attend the wedding of a dear friend and a colleague from the student times. I was super excited because it has been years now I haven’t visited this city. My trip started with a nice treat on the AirSerbia plane with the famous plazma cookies.
Landing and crossing the river Sava, we passed by an example of brutalist architecture: Western City Gate, also known as the Genex Tower. The building is designed to resemble a high-rise gate greeting people arriving in the city from the West (the road from Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport to the city centre leads this way).
Another example of the communist/ socialist architecture from the time of Tito’s Yugoslavia is the Palace of Serbia, located in the Novi Beograd. It was used by the Federal Executive Council of Yugoslavia. When I was a student, I had a chance to attend the conference inside this massive building. I was not a fan. 😛
Our hotel was located in Skadarlija. We were lucky enough to have a decent booking as the city was completely crowded by the Ramstein fans that came to attend the concert happening 2 days in a row. Down the street is a market with home grown fruit and vegetables.
It was the time of cherries! 🙂
As the day was already long, we decided to eat in Dva Jelena. A popular restaurant in super popular Skadarlija – bohemic Balkan chic. This means you eat and drink, smoke, drink some more, and enjoy the local music.
In Skadarlija you can find super popular rakija. A local drink made of fruit distillation. It is strong but cures body and soul.
Hotel Moskva is a four star hotel in Belgrade, one of the oldest currently operating in Serbia. The building has been opened in 1908 and as such represented a major investment of the Russian Empire in the Serbian economy. I mostly wanted to visit the lobby to enjoy the art nouveau. Little did I know, that the hotel is full of Russian emigrates due to the current Putin’s Brutal Aggression on Ukraine.
My afternoon walk continued towards The National Assembly of Serbia. Not the best memories from that building – politically speaking, so moving on.
And the rest of the government buildings – including the building of the former defence headquarters destroyed by USA/ NATO forces in 1999.
In the same quarter of Belgrade called Vračar (literally translates into doctor witch) 😀 there is The Temple of Saint Sava. It was the first time for me to see the new painted frescoes inside the temple.
This Serbian Orthodox church is dedicated to Saint Sava, the founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church and an important figure in medieval Serbia. It is built on the presumed location of St. Sava’s grave.
Nearby is the St. Mark Orthodox Church, located in the Tašmajdan park. It was built in the Serbo-Byzantine style in the Interwar period between 1931 and 1940.
The interior of the church contains Sarcophagus of the Emperor Dušan the Mighty – the king of Serbia in the 14th century. Dušan conquered a large part of southeast Europe, becoming one of the most powerful monarchs of the era. Under Dušan’s rule, Serbia was the most powerful state in Southeast Europe, one of the most powerful European states and an Eastern Orthodox multi-ethnic and multilingual empire that stretched from the Danube in the north to the Gulf of Corinth in the south, with its capital in Skopje. He enacted the constitution of the Serbian Empire, known as Dušan’s Code, perhaps the most important literary work of medieval Serbia.
The largest city of all three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. 🙂 We kinda fell in love with it as we were on our small Baltic tour from Vilnius. 🙂 The entire region is flat, just flat and the 4 hours bus ride was kinda dull but excited since we never visited these countries before. So let’s start with the entrance to the city over the … Continue reading Riga, Latvia
A perfect weekend getaway with a friend! Landing a bit late in the evening, having a late dinner and smashing into the city for Saturday night! The dinner was quite greasy: a soup, breaded fingers with melted cheese and even the fish! But the zeppelins (Lithuanias national dish – large-sized dumplings made from a mixture of cooked and raw potato dough filled with pork and … Continue reading Vilnius, Lithuania
RED RIDING HOOD 