Category: Travel

Balkans, Culture, Travel

Serbian New Year: the perfect time to start appreciating Turbofolk

The extended holiday season in Serbia finally ends with a bang and a hangover on Serbian New Year’s day, on January 14. Like our belated Christmas, it is a consequence of the Serbian Orthodox Church’s continued adherence to the old Julian calendar, which lags 13 days behind the predominantly used Gregorian calendar. Unlike Christmas, Serbian New Year’s eve is a very raucous affair and a … Continue reading Serbian New Year: the perfect time to start appreciating Turbofolk

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Balkans, Politics, Serbia, Travel

Westsplaining the Balkans

Twenty years ago, while the embers of war in Bosnia and Croatia were still smouldering, Bulgarian historian Maria Todorova published “Imagining the Balkans”. In this seminal work, she detailed the ways in which the Balkans have been perceived and documented for centuries both home and aboard – most often as a somewhat brutal and uncivilised forecourt of Europe. Todorova called this discourse “Balkanism” as homage … Continue reading Westsplaining the Balkans

Srdjan Garcevic2 Comments
Balkans, Travel

Serbia’s Magic Mountain

Rising majestically above the rolling hills of Eastern Serbia, Rtanj mountain has long captured the imagination because of the strange, pyramidal shape of its highest peak, Siljak (1560m). The mountain’s reputation for the otherworldly goes way back, as a local legend says the mountain was the site of a castle of a powerful (and bling-loving) wizard who decked it out with gold and diamonds, before … Continue reading Serbia’s Magic Mountain

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Pokretači, The Nutshell Media, Travel

Pokretači 1.12 Biciklom od Beograda do Manhajma – Ana Novaković i Aleksandra Cvetković

Zamišljate da ostavite sve i samo odete na dugu avanturu? Posle pobede na konkursu Ciklomotive, Ana (koju znate iz prve epizode) i Aleksandra su 21 dan vozile bicikl od Beograda do Manhajma u Nemačkoj. Pričali smo o pripremama, peripetijama, i, naravno, promenama koje su se desile tokom ove avanture. Ana i Aleksandra su takođe podelile i svoju top listu sa puta (veoma kosrisno ako idete … Continue reading Pokretači 1.12 Biciklom od Beograda do Manhajma – Ana Novaković i Aleksandra Cvetković

Srdjan Garcevic5 Comments
Balkans, Travel

Tirana Transformed

My first impressions of Tirana in 2008, were that the city did not look like anything I’ve ever seen before. Outside of the planned central core, buildings, new and old, were shooting up randomly, making the drive around the outskirts a vertiginous experience. The whole city was marked by almost five decades of Enver Hoxha’s Stalinist isolationism and its chaotic aftermath. There were bunkers, grand … Continue reading Tirana Transformed

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Balkanska posla, Life, Travel

Slava: Hygge, Serbian-Style

In the past few years, many have started looking for advice up north in Scandinavia, especially Denmark, in order to help us cope with gloomy winters. Denmark has a well-deserved reputation for great design and high quality of life, but it is hygge, a famously untranslatable lifestyle concept, roughly meaning something like cosiness, that makes many trendy Europeans scour lifestyle websites and coffee table books … Continue reading Slava: Hygge, Serbian-Style

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Balkans, Balkanska posla, Travel

Zašto planinarim?

Autor: Jelena Gatalica Možda za nekoga planina predstavlja samo gomilu kamenja, preveliki napor, ludost i rizik da bi se stiglo do vrha, ali za mene je mnogo više. Ne mogu da kažem, nažalost, da imam dugačak staž kada je planinarenje u pitanju, ali ponosna sam što je moj prvi uspon bio na Prokletije. Krenula sam na taj put, ne znajući ni zašto, ni kako. To … Continue reading Zašto planinarim?

Srdjan Garcevic3 Comments
Life, Photography, Travel, Uncategorized

Tombstone tourism, from Arlington to Zagreb

Cemeteries, along with large parks and markets, always top my list of sights to see in any city I visit. Unlike shops and cafes, which are increasingly the same all over the world, cemeteries remain shielded from changes and give us a glimpse into the private workings of the city. Even in the busiest places, they are quiet and dignified, rarely overrun by tourists. They … Continue reading Tombstone tourism, from Arlington to Zagreb

Srdjan Garcevic3 Comments
Balkans, Photography

Bosnia’s dramatic north: Jajce, the Vrbas River Canyon and Banja Luka

For most people, tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina is synonymous with visiting Sarajevo and Mostar, and perhaps Trebinje, Medjugorje and the Sutjeska national park. This, however is unfair to the rest of this stunning country, which does not only offer a lot of wonderful unspoilt nature throughout, but also ancient fortresses, churches and mosques, which have persevered through its turbulent past. Last week I went on a … Continue reading Bosnia’s dramatic north: Jajce, the Vrbas River Canyon and Banja Luka

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Travel

Copenhagen: Cool Climate

Unlike, Berlin or Barcelona, Copenhagen takes its cool in the stride. Whether it is cutting edge architecture, or the wonderful belle epoque Tivoli, nothing is too showy and all of it simply blends with the rest of this stunningly pretty city. If you can, definitely try to be there for Christmas markets to see it all lit up and enjoy the copious glogg and pastries. … Continue reading Copenhagen: Cool Climate

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Balkans, Photography, Travel

Bač: fortress in the plains

Bač’s medieval heritage juts out awkwardly from the tree lined streets of this quiet town. The remaining fortress tower overlooks one story homes where elderly ladies snooping on visitors, probably with the same passion of medieval guards.  A wonderful gothic gate protects an unremarkable concrete bridge over Mostonga. Honey-coloured tower of the monastery, dating from the crusades, pierces the endless Pannonian sky. This quiet town … Continue reading Bač: fortress in the plains

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Travel

Hypezig

I went to Leipzig with only a vague idea of what the city would be like. Two of my good friends lived there and from their description, it seemed like a wonderfully relaxed, student-y place. It sounded like Berlin before everybody heard about it and made it impossible to find anything but Polynesian vegan restaurants in Prenzlauerberg.   What I did not know is how … Continue reading Hypezig

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Balkans, Travel

Day 4-7: The Bulgarian Riviera, from Varna to Rezovo

There might something in the mix of testosterone and sea air, or the fumes from sun-screen lotions, that makes men of all ages behave like they are teenagers whenever they approach the coast. This strange effect descended on us as soon as we entered Varna’s brutalist suburbs, and started discussing horrid facial hair experiments and buying fake Adidas tracksuits. It was the air, and definitely … Continue reading Day 4-7: The Bulgarian Riviera, from Varna to Rezovo

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Balkans, Travel

Day 3-4: The Balkans, Veliko Tarnovo and Zheravna

From Sofia we drove north-east towards the old Bulgarian capital of Veliko Tarnovo and its impressive UNESCO-protected citadel Tsarevets. We were going deeper into the Stara Planina (Old Mountain) and the scenery was lovely. It was this mountain range’s Turkish name, Balkan, meaning “a wooded mountain”, that gave our peculiar region its name. In the early 19th century a German geographer Zeune, wanted to find … Continue reading Day 3-4: The Balkans, Veliko Tarnovo and Zheravna

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Balkans, Culture, Travel

Guča: Serbia’s Dionysian spectacle of trumpets, cabbage and beer

Originally conceived as a festival to promote the fledgling institution of a brass band 1961, Guča Trumpet Festival (aka Dragačevo Fair) evolved in the past two decades into one of the most popular festivals in Serbia and a somewhat divisive cultural institution. For all but the musical purists, Guča is much much more than an ethno-music festival. Although the festival is devoted to preserving this … Continue reading Guča: Serbia’s Dionysian spectacle of trumpets, cabbage and beer

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Balkans, Travel

The Nutshell Guide to the Montenegrin coast (2): Budva, Lake Skadar, Podgorica and Cetinje

This is the second part of my guide to the Montenegrin coast aimed at visitors planning to spend a weekend or a week in Montenegro. The first part suggested places to visit in the Bay of Kotor.  Budva Both metaphorically and physically, Budva is at the heart of the Montenegrin riviera and concentrates all of its best and worst features in its wonderful bay. On … Continue reading The Nutshell Guide to the Montenegrin coast (2): Budva, Lake Skadar, Podgorica and Cetinje

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Balkans, Travel

The Nutshell Guide to the Montenegrin coast (1): The Bay of Kotor

Despite its great natural beauty and diversity, until relatively recently Montenegro was under the radar of tourists outside the Balkans, Italy and Russia. Tourism in Montenegro started in the times of Yugoslavia, from the opening of the luxury peninsular fishing village/ resort of Sveti Stefan in 1955, which has since hosted glitterati like Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren and Bobbi Fisher, to the nudist camp at … Continue reading The Nutshell Guide to the Montenegrin coast (1): The Bay of Kotor

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Photography, Travel

Lake Skadar: eerie land of macabre fairies, ruins and skeletal hills

Lake Skadar is as dramatic as landscapes get in Europe. Whichever side you apprach it from in Montenegro your first sight of it will be an explosion of a green watery expanse, dotted with white cones of karst covered in thick Mediterranean bush. As you train your eye on its beauty, you will notice birds soaring above its waters and maybe a ruin of a … Continue reading Lake Skadar: eerie land of macabre fairies, ruins and skeletal hills

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