When I moved back to Serbia I decided to make the best use of my free time and actually get to know the country. Thankfully, as I have a few friends with some spare time we teamed up in an for day-trips and managed to see some great scenery, learn some history, eat great food and just have fun. We focused on places that are … Continue reading Best day trips from Belgrade
Last year when I decided to go to DC to see the July 4 fireworks and the parade, mostly in absence of other workable plans. I also wanted to use the opportunity to see American patriotism/nationalism at it purest form, and the event did not disappoint. In post WWII Europe and especially Serbia, we were taught about the dangers of nationalism and many are extremely … Continue reading DC, 4 July 2016
If you are in doubt as to where to go this summer (or ever): go to Slovenia I love Slovenia. It is easily one of the prettiest countries in Europe and one of the most pleasant to explore. Although it has been on the interrail trail for a while, it still feels like a hidden gem. It even has an instagram-crazed president and it gave … Continue reading 9 must-sees in Slovenia, Europe’s fairytale country
Girona may be 40 minutes away from Barcelona, but its sleepy vibe is worlds apart from Barca’s frenetic buzz Continue reading Girona: Catalonia’s sleeping beauty
Why are we fetishising the same crap all around the world? While we were sitting in a stylishly decaying café in Santa Teresa in Rio, watching the local “creatives” go about their Saturday the way “creatives” anywhere else in the world do, my mother had a hissy fit. “Why do you always take us to these crap places? Why are you afraid of going somewhere nice … Continue reading All the shit places
The magic of Slovenia can transform even a crappy solo trip into a pleasant experience In 2013, work led me to Ljubljana. I spent four very intense months there, during which I had little opportunity to explore the rest of the country, as I was working 24/7. Due to the frantic pace of work, the city, even though it only had around 300,000 souls and … Continue reading Ljubljana + Postojna: Castles and dragons
While I was growing up in Milošević’s rump Yugoslavia, Trieste was to me a mythical city of my parents’ stories. In them, Trieste figured not only as a thriving market for Western wares for Yugoslavs – jeans, toys and appliances – but was also as a stage where some of the funniest family stories, petty arguments and mishaps, played out and conjured those lost care-free days. … Continue reading Trieste: Italy’s hidden gem
Last January I travelled to South America with my family. Although Argentina and Brazil were always high on the list of my countries to visit, there was never enough time (or money) to do them justice. I imagined them as simply more exotic versions of Southern Europe: Spain, Portugal and Italy with parrots and jungles. What I found blew my mind. A continent that developed … Continue reading South America: The Other World
In terms of activities, there is much more than meets the eye and plenty of it won’t kill your wallet. Jumeirah beach is a must, especially on Fridays as you will see Dubai’s cosmopolitain population bronzing their toned bodies. There is also an emerging urbane crowd who enjoy arts and performances, as well as a local magazine Brownbook to keep you in the loop on … Continue reading The Nutshell Guide: Dubai, off the glitzy track
When I first came to visit Dubai in 2005 with my mother, I hated it. Firstly, I was 16 and hated being seen in public within 200m radius of my parents. Secondly, I found the city strange, soulless and empty. There was the old city, which looked fake, there was the souk, which was chaotic and where we were hounded to buy all sorts of … Continue reading Dubai, Open City
“The south is so much cheaper, and the people are nicer”, the Driver said. “Mumbai is a better city, much nicer than Delhi. More expensive but nicer”, he continued as we were flying down the deserted Yamuna highway to Agra. It was early morning, and the sun was rising over the seemingly endless green plain, dotted with chimneys from brick factories. In Agra, I met … Continue reading India, days 17-18: Agra & Delhi
In my mind, the word “Delhi” is irrevocably tied to the term “Delhi belly”, aka food poisoning aka several days of praying at the porcelain altar. As I was flying there, I expected a messy, chaotic, dirty place, dotted with beautiful monuments of gone-by millennia. The arrival however surprised me: the airport was spacious, clean, modern and efficient, with serval recognisable Western brands on offer. … Continue reading India, days 14-16: Delhi
Day 1 After a long trip involving two buses and a packed train, we’ve arrived to the Ashram, which was uphill overlooking Neyyar lake, come 30km from Trivandrum. Although it was nice to be back in the woods, this time it was with slight trepidation. Although I’ve always been a closeted aficionado of spiritual practices, and have even fantasised about pursuing them, I’ve never done … Continue reading India, days 11-14: The Ashram
I was told that travelling on Indian trains was an experience in itself. M highly recommended it: she told us there they were full of chai-wallahs, who were selling tea and snacks, as well as all sorts of colourful people, from itinerant holy men to hijras. William Darlymple’ interviewees for “Nine lives” (a great book which revolves around non-standard spiritual folks in India) all escaped … Continue reading India, days 9/10: Varkala
Weary from nature and animals, during the bus ride I mentally prepared myself for the noise and smell of a city. Our few days in the Ghats, made India seem very peaceful and clean. I had low expectations from Alleppey, which in the guidebooks is simply listed as a place to take boats to see the famous Keralan backwaters. The road to the city was … Continue reading India, days 7/8: Alleppey
When planning out trip we never planned to go to Thekaddy (aka Kumily) and F didn’t believe me the place existed until we booked a room there. Thekaddy was a recommendation from Vijay, our Munnar guide, and despite the tepid reviews on TripAdvisor, the place holds many charms. Perched in the lower Ghatts on the border with Tamil Nadu, it provides the entrance to Periyar … Continue reading India, days 5/6: Thekaddy
In Munnar, Kerala finally started getting under my skin a little bit, both metaphorically and literally, thanks to three lovely people we came across, and a few jungle critters that decided to nibble on us. After tuk-tuk dropped us off at the Kochin bus station, there was some mild disapointment as the much praised A/C bus that we set our sights on was not to … Continue reading India, day 3/4: Munnar
The initial shock of India, despite being much described in Shantaram and similar lit and films (Best Marigold Hotel, beloved by pensioners world-over), was mild. After the descent from the clouds, there was a shock of the green, lush growth, then touchdown. That was followed by a relatively clean and orderly course though the airport building teeming with returning pilgrims, some of whom had green … Continue reading India, days 1/2: Kochin
My trip to India started with the usual sort of awkward sense of anticipation like all ventures into the unexpected. As normal for someone who spent the better part of the year reading and watching “Wild” and similar books about transformational journeys, everything got far more significance than warranted: a sweaty smelly taxi driver in Belgrade was a portent of sweaty smelly days to come, … Continue reading India, day 0
London is not an easy city, not even a traditionally beautiful one, but it is full of wonders. Now that I have left, and can wax lyrical in sweet nostalgia, it was the small experiences and places that made all the bad things (e.g. astronomic rent for a mouldy box-room, daily zombiefication on the tube, diarisation with friends of Versailles treaty-intenstity and lonely weekends when … Continue reading Wonders of London: a Nutshell guide
