The King and I

I wanted to tell him all about my grandfather, his Military life during WWII as a Royalist in Serbia, his arrest by the communists and journey to the UK as a prisoner of war but the distance between the waiting lounge and the plane was just too short. We managed to exchange pleasantries about Kate and William’s wedding which he attended as a guest of Queen Elizabeth.  Only when we entered the plane and he sat down in his business class seat I realised I had missed another chance again. The commotion on the flight was overwhelming when the whisper went around that The King was on board.

Alexander II Karadjordjevic was born 1945 in London after the Royal Family was expelled from Kingdom of Yugoslavia. He was born in suite 212 at Claridges Hotel which Churchill famously declared to be a temporary Yugoslavian territory in order for the future King to be born in his own country. The newly-born Crown Prince was baptized in Westminster Abbey with Godparents King George VII and HRH Princess Elizabeth. He wasn’t allowed to visit his Kingdom until 1990, only after the country started disintegrating into small independent states. The return of the King wasn’t smooth as he didn’t have any rights until his Serbian passport was returned to him ten years later in 2001. Since then he has managed to “rent” his own Royal Palace from the present government where he lives now.

My grandfather was born in the Kingdom of Serbia, Croat and Slovenes and he attended the Royal Military Academy for four years between 1937 -1941. Upon graduation he was posted to a small place south of Belgrade where he served as Commandant until 1943 when he was arrested by the partisans, held prisoner until 1945 and then through the efforts of the Royal Family and the Red Cross transferred to the UK.

In a similar fate to his King my grandfather wasn’t allowed to get back to Yugoslavia until well after his retirement and he waited a long time to get his documents too. After years of hardship he managed to buy an estate in the village in Serbia where he was posted after graduating from the Royal Military Academy just before WWII broke out.

My upbringing, noted for numerous declarations to the SFRY (The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) and Tito, brotherhood and unity, would be interrupted by long summer holidays spent with my grandfather and his recital of poems which never meant anything to me. They were too passionate about King and Country, something we didn’t learn about at school, didn’t talk about and as such it didn’t exist.  Not until 1993, when during our Christmas on the 7^th January I, the King and my grandfather gathered at St Sava Church in London.  King Alexandar II Karadjordjevic was present with his family sitting on the right side of the Church where we all could see him. I was a new arrival from the country which was decaying at the speed of light and my grandfather was there even though he died decades ago.  After the liturgy the anthem broke out strongly and the whole church seemed on fire. Through the thick smouldering candlelight I could see my grandfather standing proudly and shouting the anthem at the top of his voice. He would have called it singing.

After the service I aimlessly searched around the church for some comfort, looking for anything which could bring me a part of the country which I was missing badly. In one of the corners, almost hidden, was a glass bookshelf and it looked left, forgotten and in need of dusting.  Uncertain, making sure no one was watching I opened the glass window and took a small book printed on rough paper which smelled very rustic. The book opened itself somewhere in the middle and I began to read.  It was collection of the poems which I recognised not from my school days but from my grandfather and the summer holidays we spent together. The coincidence was great. Puzzled I went to the priest with so many questions.

“Darling, the book is a collection of poems the prisoners of war recited during their journey from Serbia to the UK after WWII. As you know after WWII finished a lot of Royalist were imprisoned by partisans and thanks to the Royal Family and their connections the prisoners were transferred by ships firstly to Italy and then to the UK and some onwards to the USA.  The crossing was very long, dark and there was not much food around so the prisoners recited poems to each other to forget about the state of affairs they were in. In order to remember them we published the book. ”

I bought three. And I learned every single poem from it. Next time, I am going to recite them to my King, Alexander II Kardjordjevic.

www.ReadyClickAndGo.com can organise a private day visit to the Royal Palace complex in Belgrade, Serbia with a fully licensed English speaking history guide. For more information please email Tara@ReadyClickAndGo.com

There is a good possibility that you may even meet the King!

Happy Birthday to the Queen of Europe's Skies - JAT

The perfectly-ironed, snow white and navy dress playfully flickered against the hot tarmac. The steps to the plane were for giants and the air hostess looked like a real princess. As the only child on the scheduled flight to Amsterdam the pilot shook my hand at the door and offered to show me his “office”.  As a shy 7-year-old I refused but later, encouraged by mum, I accepted. Kolja, the charming middle-aged pilot, shared his Pavlova cake with me and showed me the bewildering array of buttons around him. One of the princesses came into the cockpit with a glass of juice rather than a plastic cup. We ate the cake with a metal spoon not Mc Donald’s cutlery.

The year was 1979 and it was my first ever flight. My mum took me to Holland to meet relatives on a scheduled Yugoslav Airlines flight from Belgrade to Amsterdam.

In 1927 Aeroput (as JAT or Yugoslav Airlines used to be called) was founded and this year is celebrating its 85th birthday. This makes JAT one of the oldest airlines in Europe.

I haven’t used Yugoslav Airlines, JAT, for a long time, tempted away by so-called “cheap tickets” on Wizz Air where you pay little for your ticket and get little by way of service in return. In order to avoid the ruthless demand for everything to be paid in Euros even though neither Serbia nor England are a part of the EC, I decided to book with JAT. And guess what - I had a pleasant surprise, my ticket was cheaper than one with Wizz Air, as JAT flies daily to Belgrade they fitted into my plans perfectly, we flew from Heathrow not the airport at the far end of a long traffic jam, and my luggage allowance was 30kg! I knew I couldn't pack half the house into 30 kg but the fact that I was not going to be exposed to check-in desk staff hunting for extra nanograms so they could charge me an astronomical excess baggage fee, made a huge difference. I could start my journey relieved of any stress or any extra demands which may pop up before I arrived in Belgrade.

The JU211 flight from London to Belgrade was full and surprisingly there were lots of kids who simply took over the plane. They had priority even before we boarded – at the queue during check-in, a JAT employee guided them from the queue and straight towards a check-in desk. Once on the plane they were the centre of JAT's universe. Special milk, special baby food, but for us ordinary citizens not even a drop of alcohol was offered. We, the grownups, were offered a questionable ham and tomato sandwich and warm coke, while the little Kings and Queens got the warm milk. We couldn’t have a proper drink, but the little ones got a choice of organic juices reserved for the under-sevens.

I was sitting surrounded by lots of foreigners. Next to me was a Scottish father with his son whose mum is Serbian. On my left was a young family on the way to a new life in Serbia. They didn’t speak Serbian but the father proudly announced that he could speak Slovenian.  Behind me were 3 female generations – grandmother, mother and daughter - on the way to visit daddy in Belgrade. They didn’t know anything about Serbia or Belgrade but they were looking forward to exploring and learning. The youngest member of the family, the 3-year-old girl, struck up a friendship with a Serbian boy slightly older and desperate for a cuddle over the back seat. For the rest of the flight they played in the aisle and talked nonsense to each other to the amusement of the whole plane.

In front of me was a nicely dressed lady who was flying to Belgrade after a long visit to her daughter and her family in London. I asked her for the time as I don’t wear a watch. She promptly replied “12.30”.

Confused, I asked is that our time or their time. And she quickly replied:

“Our Time. Yugoslavian...”

You see, Yugoslavian time still exists, as does Yugoslav Airlines....

By Tara

Visit to the Spa in Serbia - Visit to the Vrnjacka Banja

 I had decided to spend ten days in Vrnjacka Banja which is a spa situated in central Serbia, 200 km south of Belgrade close to Mount Goc and in the valleys of the Vrnjacka and  Lipovacka rivers. 

The return bus fare to Vrnjacka Spa is 850 dinar which is about £8 including the seat reservation. With your tickets and seat reservations you will get a small coin which gives you access to the departure platform for the bus. The buses are comfortable, clean and with air conditioning which is very important during the hot months of summer. At the moment, the Serbian Government is investing a huge amount of money in the motorways. Driving though the countryside is very pleasant, picturesque and during May when everything is in full bloom, very lush. The journey lasts around 3 ½ hours with short stops in the cities of Kraljevo and Krusevac to pick up other passengers. There are no toilets on the bus and the only snag is that you have to rush out of the bus station in either city, buy one of the special coins from the ticket office where queues could be a mile long, then run to the toilet! If you haven’t told your driver about your toilet excursion there is a good possibility he will leave without you!

We booked one of the best hotels in Vrnjacka Banja called The Breza, which was one of the hotels built for senior army officers. As times changed the hotel lost its glory but it’s still functional.  Officially the hotel has 3 stars but I think it should be rated lower, or refurbished. The carpets are not very clean, the hallways are dark, almost dirty, and the electric wires in some rooms look very scary – connected by isolation tape. My bed was a mattress which was ripped in the middle (I only found that out on our last day). We stayed in one of the apartments which overlooked the promenade and the park. Outside our windows there was a small balcony covered in the grass and fems. We had a TV in the room which during the day had only two channels and both of those in Serbian but during the evening you could get CNN. Our phone line was working and the fridge made a really strange noise so we decided not to use it at all. The bathroom was huge but really 1970s style. After a week the receptionist moved us to a different room which was much better – spacious, with a better mattress, a sofa, and extra bed. The TV worked during the day but we didn’t have a fridge. I preferred this room. The hotel has an indoor swimming pool, internet room with fast connection, library, restaurant and a room for table tennis, and, most importantly, a hairdresser – a cheap and good hairdresser. A cut and blow dry is only £4!!! The hotel accepts major credit cards but they prefer cash.  Breakfast is very basic – eggs, cheap salami, bread, cheese, butter, marmalade, jam, tea and coffee. As we were on half board we decided to have dinner as well which was freshly made, with different dishes every day and two choices. Also the staff was so friendly they would give you anything you asked for and if you are spoiled like me then you are in heaven. During our stay the hotel hosted two big conferences with people from all around Europe. The hotel was very accommodating and staff marvellous: hard working and always ready to put guests first. For that reason I am planning to go back and stay with in the Hotel Breza again regardless as to whether there are newer, more westernised, or better equipped hotels in the area.

I decided to take my mum on this trip to Vrnjacka Banja as she had a operation there years ago and the doctor recommended that she visits a spa regularly.

The Romans first came here for their health between the 2^nd and 4^th centuries, calling it AQUAE ORCINAE. The natural mineral waters here are an intrinsic part of the treatments – either by drinking them, inhaling steam, bathing, colonic irrigation and so on. You see a doctor when you arrive, and he prescribes the best utilization of the spa waters for you.    

      

The central part of Vrnjacka spa is a well kept park, and we found there a memorial to the British doctors and nurses who helped Serbian soldiers during WWI. 

Just outside the park is a castle called Belimirovic which is today a museum with three permanent exhibitions: photographs from 1914- 1918, a room with furniture before WWI and an exhibition of Easter eggs. Also concerts, ad hoc exhibitions, and plays take place here during the summer in an event called “100 days – 100 cultural happenings. On the opposite side of the castle on a small hill, there is the oldest building in Vrnjacka Banja- the Church of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God built in 1834 by Prince Milos Obrenovic, and well preserved.

The tourist office at Vrnjacka Banja is on the main street and easy to find. The girls are very well informed and happy to help with any enquires. As it was out of season I asked to hire a bike and she recommended a person near the Hotel Kralj whose main business is to repair old bicycles. He was happy to rent me one, in good condition, pink, girly as he said for 90 dinar which is £1 an hour on condition that I gave him some form of ID. I gave him my driving licence. He looked in his 70s but very fit for a man of his age. He also recommended a route to take. Of course I didn’t get a helmet - they are not obligatory in Serbia. Cycling up to the Hotel Borjak which is just outside Vranjcka Banja and in the hills wasn’t easy. Firstly I didn’t have a map and secondly I asked a small kid for directions who just said yes and brought me almost to the Goc Mountain which is opposite of where I wanted to be. An elderly lady sitting outside her house advised me in a motherly way that bikes are not for girls and that I was too far away anyway, which made me to turn back and cycle downslide which was a fantastic feeling. Nature is pristine here, and you can easily sit in the middle of the forest watching birds or admiring stones packed with different minerals. On the way down I stopped at a restaurant on the river and with a huge garden. It was very refreshing and I had 2 course meal for less then £8 including drinks and tips. 

The next day I arranged to visit the Zica Monastery which is around 25 km outside Banja.

The Zica Monastery is an endowment of King Stefan the First Crowned and built between 1208 and 1220. Zica was the first seat of the autonomous Serbian Archbishops and it was there that 7 medieval Serbian rulers were crowned. It is painted in red – the royal colour of Serbia. The most significant part of the church is formed by the latest frescoes painted between 1309 and 1316. Nearly nothing has been saved from the once rich monastery treasury except the holy relic – the right arm of St. John the Forerunner laid in silver, which was brought to the monastery by St. Sava. Today it is preserved in St. Mary's Cathedral in Sienna. The Monastery was heavily bombed during WWII by the Germans and set on fire during their occupation.  Today it is a women’s monastery and there is only one fifth of the frescos left. The nuns support themselves by working on the land, making teas and honey which they sell. Worship takes place every day at 5 pm and I would recommend it to anyone. The singing is beautiful and the acoustics in the church are very good. The whole atmosphere is made more mysterious by closing the entry doors and the ancient rituals at the end of prayers.

There are other Monasteries in close proximity to Vrnjacka Banja such us Ljubostnja , Studenica and newish one - Sv Petka. Also it is possible to organise a wine tour and horse riding.

Evening life in Vrnjacka Banja includes lots of walking up and down or sitting in the gardens of so many cafés and restaurants. Alternatively you can listen to live music, a concert or go to the cinema. Or even better just go to bed!

                                                     

                                                                                      

For more information regarding travelling in Serbia please email Tara@ReadyClickAndGo.com