Belgrade and Subotica
Because I only had one day before we have to be back in Budapest, we had very limited time to visit Serbia. We were going to have to move quickly and do a really quick tour of Belgrade. As we walked to Republic Square we saw several cool pieces of street art, a neat giant statue man with a sword, and some abandoned buildings.
Republic Square is the main square in the town. It has a giant statue of Prince Mihailo on a horse, and we all know how Willow loves horses. Behind the statue is the National Museum, which although it is supposed to be great we did not get to visit because it didn’t open until later in the day. The other buildings around the square are also pretty.
On our walk down the Knez Mihailova pedestrian street we saw a cool fountain and a few statues, more street art, a Detroit Pizza train, umbrellas over an outdoor restaurant area, and a really weird wooden piece of art.
Kalemegdan park and the Belgrade Fortress are on the northern tip jutting out into the river. In front of the fortress wall there was an outside dinosaur land, and while we looked at it from the walkway we didn’t go in because of time. We did, however, take some time to walk through the military vehicles and weapons, including a water mine. Ronin really liked this, and he took my phone so he could take lots and lots of pictures.
We walked up into the fortress through the main gate where there were ruins of the old buildings. There was a coffee shop at the top of the fortress area, and outside they had large beanbag chairs that the kids loved getting to sit in. There is a statue called Pobednik (The Victor), which is supposed to represent the victories against the Ottoman Empire. Although this is one of the most well-recognized monuments in Belgrade, I expected it to be much bigger. The pedestal it stands on is huge, and then the statue seems teeny tiny.
We walked by the river starting at the park and going south toward Saint Sava church. We found this sign that showed us where Belgrade is in comparison to the rest of the world, and we spent a few minutes with a simple geography lesson.
By the giant Saint Sava Temple is a statue of Saint Sava and a smaller chapel. I liked the blue and gold color scheme in this smaller church as it looked very Byzantine.
The Saint Sava Temple is huge. It is the largest Orthodox church in Serbia and one of the larges churches in the world. However, it is relatively new, beginning construction in the 1930s and not completed until 2004 (and is actually still a work in progress). With that said, it is very beautiful. And huge (I know I already said that but it’s true). There are two levels, both of which are extravagant and very golden.
Although it was only the early afternoon, we needed to continue on. We got in the car and drove the two hours to Subotica, a town on the border of Serbia and Hungary. We only had about an hour of daylight left and wanted to make the most of it. Subotica was recommended to us as a beautiful town with Art Nouveau architecture, and this was accurate. The colorful buildings, walkable pathways, and statues were all worth seeing. This was a little like when we went to Oradea in Romania, but on a much smaller scale.
We saw a casino sign for Slot Club Kentucky, so of course we needed a picture! Even though it was dinner time, we stopped for cake first. This cake store had swinging tables outside, and the kids got to eat cake while sitting on swings. It was the best ever!
We continued walking through the town after it got dark. Like a lot of the towns we have been to this week, the buildings and statues were nicely lit so we could still see them and get some good pictures. This was a good stopping point for us to stretch our legs before getting home, and although we enjoyed our week-long trip it will be good to get back home!
