L'itineraire
dimanche 31 août 2008
Steaks Dejan Style!
Around midnight, the meat has unfrozen and Dejan prepares a whole bunch of schnitzel and an omelet with delicious bacon. This bacon is nothing like what you find around our supermarkets, it is almost completely white, excellent, tasty fat! We literally explode our stomaches and roll to bed after a little Rakija and more Vine.
samedi 30 août 2008
Wet beautiful Tara
vendredi 29 août 2008
Ludilo Cacak
Finally, as Judith is getting desperate and loosing hope, an Autoslep stops. After seeing their phone number all over the rocks on the side of steep roads in the whole Balkan, i finally get a ride in one of those car pulling trucks. Actually it is a sorta improvised one, a big jeep pulling a tow with a white Peugeot 306 police car on it. The dude is sorta boring, not much to say but he takes us to Cacak and drops us in a surprising, exciting spot were we will quickly meet the most interesting people!
Across the road a bunch of men are having a couple beers, you can see in their eys it is not the first one and this is their daily hang out :) It is about 5 in the afternoon, we sweated on the side of the road in todays heat and a refreshment is very welcome so we don't hesitate when they invite us over, smiling, yelling something and franticly waving their hands. The cold BG beer is delightful. So is the second one and the smiles on everybody face. This encounter is one more proof of the Balkan hospitality and their curiosity when it comes to strangers.
After a couple beers everybody is friends and brothers. Brate or tebra as they say here, i thus learn that Serbians also us Verlan, this form of speaking so common amongst young French people consisting in inverting syllables. This is the beginning of a long evening of drinking Rakija as we are soon invited to come to Belco‘s home, meet his wife and taste her delicious coffee and more of his home made Rakija. We are welcomed like kings in Belco‘s garden, under a fruit tree sitting around a low table on low chairs, surrounded by tomato, cucumber, onion and paprika plants. The coffee is delicious like everything we get. A berry jam, sopska salad out of fresh garden vegetables, lots of Rakija and coffee. Communication is not easy but the mood is excellent and we challenge each other for who is to eat the hotter pepper. Hot Hot Hot!
Soon, as i play more stupid games and talk nonsense with my new mates, Judith gets a little upset by something i did not notice or rather did not feel so strongly, the men are sitting outside, laughing and drinking while the wife is inside, preparing us food, coffee and washiing up. I guess this is still more anchored in Serbian society and Judith's west European feminist side jumps up to this.
After enjoying more Food and Rakija, and i have to say there that is most probably the best Rakija i drank and will drink in Serbia. Easy, delicious, strong, and shared with my brate! Well after that we head of, carrying the 4-5 kilos of vegetables we get offered. Tomatoes, Cucumbers, onions, plums and of course some real hot peppers of all kinds. Purple, green, red, small and big they are all different tons of HOT :) O and also a huge jar of wild cherry jam.
We head for the cheapest hotel in town and i slowly come down from my little clouds, this time around my brothers was honest, warm, fully lived, a little crazy and very welcome after today ride, mearly half of our way to Tara.
jeudi 28 août 2008
Swimming, sunshine and ice cream.
We then head to the overcrowded swimming pool. The only shade being under the cafes umbrellas we spend the afternoon there drinking coffee, eating ice cream, playing card and occasionally getting up for a quick swim or a game of fuzz ball.
At night, Nenad heads back to Krusevac, it is Sunday and tomorrow is an other working day. We are left with the keys and a whole floor for us. Kitchen and big living room included. After watching the local water polo game, between two sides of fired up supporters, we cook up some nice fresh tomato sauce for a big pasta plate. Tonights rest is welcome as tomorrow we head back on the road for Tara national park, Kusturica‘s village and then Sarajevo.
mercredi 27 août 2008
Spa sessions??
We head back to the chalet were we drink a beer with the neighbors and I let everyone taste some of Milan‘s grand fathers Rakija. Its strong and good but would be even better a little fresher. Tonight there is a concert in the old towns amphitheater. We don't know it yet but we will get an incredible setting, a very well adapted laser light show and the blasting sounds of Roberto Rodriguez. But first we go to a somewhat fancy cafe bar were most men of our group and around us will spend most of their time hypnotized by on girls ass... Yes it was quite unique, even the girls around were staring at it and god knows what they were thinking about...
I wasn't to keen on more electronic music tonight despite of the delicious cocktails from the bar. But i still go along and hit the main party, after negotiating a group price, the surprise entering this arena was great. I m not sure if they could find a better place for such an event. As you get in, from the bottom of the half circle, you immediately feel the music through your body and the general atmosphere takes over any worries, you get into it right away.
Let the party begin! And it went on until late in the night... and so long for the healthy spring water, leave that to the old people :)
mardi 26 août 2008
Back on the road, with great company
We then decide to try it by the national road. No more luck here after a good hour or two. Too much heat and exhaust fumes, we chill a bit and have a nap in the nearby park. This makes me think how different opinions are about Belgrade, some say it is just smog noise and stress, i see green everywhere, churches, nice buildings, history and some main crowded chaotic roads passing through.
We finally hit the bus station to get our ticket to Krusevac where two couchsurfers are proposing to host us, Stevan i all ready know from Belgrade and Nenad. It is Nenad who kindly picks us up at the train station. he takes us to his house, his parents are out in their week end house. this is my first contact with a wealthy Serbian family. The place is full of nice furniture on which are sitting statues of all kinds, photos, ceramics etc... like Nenad says, everything has its place and it is not the place to organize a party :)
This place contradicts fully with Stevan‘s which we will visit later to share his evening meal. His mother prepared us some delicious chicken with paprika, plates of kajmak and salads. Everything come at the center of the table and we help ourselves, glowing eyes from appetite. We then go for a visit around town, pass this strange inhabited huge house with a exaggerated big garden. The Grizzly bar, only alternative place in town is our next and lass stop tonight. Here young people meet to listen to their favorite music, drink cheep beer (specially cheap compared to Belgrade). The music is nice, grudge, punk, rock and roll and more! Stevan explains us that this place where young gather until the early morning to drink beers and where they stay even after closing ours is a nightmare of the town. And they do everything to close it down. For example they rehabilitated the road passing in front (i forgot to say everybody gathers outside, in front of the bar not inside.). This road witch was once a walking only road now has occasional cars trying to drive their way through the crowd... Pretty tired we go to sleep soon to the disappointment of Stevan.
lundi 25 août 2008
Routine in Belgrade??
This is th other option :)
Atnight, we meet at Jeremies for a French apero. The cheese Judith brought from Switzerland and France makes everybody around smile, long time since we last tasted this flavors... With some Serbian salami and a Montenegrin bottle of red vine it is just perfect. Mina and Natasa join use lat after one more of their over book busy days... Those two, like any decided Serbian citizen who want to be able to do what he dreams, never stop, work, work, coffee, work, friends, mobile... A friend of Stephanie joined use and Mina happily distributes advice about a short trip to Montenegro to them. One more roof of Serbian hospitality and helpfulness. I write this after coming back from Rainbow where i was reminded once again how one sided and extremely brutal the Serbs were described by the media in Europe and the world. Maybe i shoul include a little history lesson?? Actually i will one day.
dimanche 24 août 2008
The real storry about my birthday...
So after showing Judith around town, we joined Mina and Natasa for a beautiful fish dinner at Reka, a well known konaba to celebrate events. Judith, Jeremie, Mina, Natasha, Stephanie, Milan and Ana are in the place. So is the band preforming tonight. As usual in Serbia, we will start eating around 9-10 after a little Rakija aperitif. What to say more than it is real nice to have a proper dinner surrounded by friend thousands of kms from home :) I even got presents, a bottle of homemade Rakija from Milan's grandfather and a nice Belgrade t-shirt.
I could also mention quickly why i am late again... Happy hitchhiking surprise again! On my way to civilized south of Macedonia where i would have written some more updates, i was picked up by a bus full of hippies and alternative people :) They were heading to meet their big worldwide family, the rainbow family! and it was such a nice, fun living, loving ride with the family that i spent 3 days with them in the middle of nowhere. But more on this in a while!
Also, i am writing this on the newly acquired ultra portable laptop, eee pc :) waiting for the bus to meet Mina and Natasa, i realize how contradicting this is with the place i come from, were i lived with practically nothing. D‘amour et d‘eau fraiche comme on dis en France. I guess buying this was a professional deformation, i cannot live without a computer :)
lundi 18 août 2008
25 years old, o my god.
dimanche 17 août 2008
Back to calm...
Next day, Judith arives from switzerland, after renting a nice apartment quite well located, the owner drives me to the Airport since the formalities made me miss my bus to be there on time. Again the very kindness and helpfullness of the Serbian (and more generaly ex-Yougoslavian) pleases me. But not as much as to meet Judith again :) We spend a day wondering around belgrade, drinking coffee, and have an exclent Serbian meal at night.
Ok nothing very interesting for you readers here... sorry. Here are some more pictures.
samedi 16 août 2008
Last day at Exit
I am suposed to meet the crew again before begining of the Sex Pistols concert but instead, i find a very wasted girl who keeps speaking to me in Norvegian and look pretty damn wasted. She is serbian, lost her friend and obviously took some acid or other psychadelic drug. During the Sex pistols concert we watched toghether, she looked at me with eyes full of tears at the end of numerous songs, loosing complete control of her emotions. "I m sorry, it is too strong" she kept saying, followed by incomprehensible mumble in Serbian or Norvegian, could not tell... Surprising encounter :) The concert itself was quite pleasant to me at least, Jonny Rotten looked very much like a distroyed clown, wierd black and white long shirt, his disformed face with missing teeth, the shoes, the pant wich made him look like a disarticulated pantin and of course his numerous strange moves and faces.
vendredi 15 août 2008
Third day at Exit
The crowd was hudge and quite amazingly, after meeting Jeremies friends, we are joined, in the middle of this hudge crowd by Stephanie and later by Nicolas and his girlfriend Anna. The Gogol bordelo concert is scheduled a bit early but the crowd is allready warmed up and the concert is explosiv. Since me and Jeremie have absolutely no will to see Juliette and the licks, we leave the group, promise to meet around here, next to the projector for Manu Chao. We go wondering around and find some quit brutal metal concerts (i used to love this music but now except for bands like Nine inch nails, it only rarely makes an impression on me) and a couple stage changes. We stop at one of the and wait for the begining of Besh o Drom ... sounded a bit like Bezodrom and the amount of instruments on scene woke our couriosity :) It s a good surprise but after a few songs it all sounds the same.
We head for Manu Chao. Incredibly, we imidiatly find the 3 friends of Jeremie, Stephanie, Nicholas and Anna and making our way further to the front we come across Mina and Natasa!! We have tried to meet them all nighte yesterday and now we stop searching, we finaly find them!! in the middle of some 30.000 people! The concert is great, jumping around for 2 h, finaly get some real dancing action in this festival. Like always the crowd is too dense in the begining but looses up with time.
Tonight, for change, we get tired of the electronic music, Kruder and Dorfmeister are very disapointing to me but the little we saw from Kiril was fantastic! . We will get a little more sleep this night since it is "only" 5. This is the night were we are happy to sleep by the danube and not in the official camping where a tree branch will colaps due to that nights storm and kill a young macedonian.
jeudi 14 août 2008
Second day at Exit
We slowly head over the bridge and along the streets to the festival. Making our way through the maze of fetival-goers and all kinds of vendors, i get an other sharper idea of this daily pilgrinage into the froteress. What you could walk in mear 10 minits, is done in more then half an hour, stopping to buy cigaretts, beers, hats, t-shirts, home made sandwiches, industrial hot-dogs, ice creams, noisy toys or wistles. Everything is Exit branded and it seems like everybody in Novi Sad turned into a short time vendor to get a little money out of this. It is realy pleasant to see this self organisation, the lack of regulation (or maybe i am simply not aware of the rules or mafia governing this) resulting in you beeing able to get fresh beer from a simple citizen using a big plastic basin filled with ice to chill the beer and energy drinks under the burning sun. And this at any time of the day or night...
The begining of the night is quiet, we sit and listen to a bit of reggae befor heading for the first concerts : Smoke and soul, great discovery followed by great (and expected) disapointment of Gentelman.
mercredi 13 août 2008
First day in the Exit madness
I am supposed to meet Mina, Natasa, Jeremie and Nicolas here but none of them is there today, they will arrive on Friday. So after resting a bit in a park, recovering from the sleepless train journey, i meet some crazy people. Most crazy of all, probably Dr. Rock. We have quite a few drinks with his gang on the park lawn before getting into the festival.
mardi 12 août 2008
Back online after Guca
samedi 9 août 2008
EXIT. sorry nothing today, i m late :(
-today i am in Guca, Serbia listening to crazy folk music, that i can already say now! with Judith, Niko, Lorin, Marcel and PJ!!-
vendredi 8 août 2008
Getting to EXIT!!!
So after a shity journey on the train, fighting with ticket contolers wanting to sell me a couchet. They would wake me up, yell stuff about a 25 lei couchet and other words i did not understand... I said i only have 14 left and showed my wallet. But that didnt help the dude kept waking me up and in the end, at about 1 am, he draged me in an empty compariment as a 14 lei couchete... of course it was a ripe off... The controler for this cariage was not the same and wanted to send me back to my original place. I played stoopid and went back to sleep. Then it was just unceesing doors opening, train shaking, neighboors loud talking and no sleep. Until at 4 i was sleeping and this time the police woke me up for id check... Told me to watch my stuff... yea thanks...
At about 4.30 the controler came again, this time with other guys checking the guys who check tickets... And they forced me back into my original compartiment... their i got a couple hours aof bad sleep before getting to Timisora...
I then left Timisoara about 12 to get to EXIT. Yea EXIT Festival, gona be good times! After paying a ride to the next town, my last 7 lei, suporting someones studies. Passing the greatest Pork farm in the east. Seeing all the corn Fields with GMO Corn from dear Pioneer.... I get to the border with an other young very kind ride.
At the border, the Customs officer helps me to get a ride to Novi Sad. Everybody at the border knows where i am going and we have a good laught, they wonder about my trip and are quite astonished. Any how i thank them for my second ride with a truck driver. Little Serbian conversation. It is his birthday and he offers me what is left of his bottle of Brandy!!
The Exit starts well. I have a couple beers in a park meet some Bosnians and get real drunk but that a storry for tomorrow.