A floating football field

Moored on the bank of the Sava river is a floating football field. Just why they needed a floating field is puzzling as there was a huge amount of open green space along the river including a number of football fields.

Serbian plum dumpling,s

The best place in Belgrade is the floating cafes along the point where the Sava meets the Danube. Most have already closed down for the winter, however, one cafe was still open. The day was superb: sunny, warm and windless and the river perfectly calm.

I settled in a comfortable chair and ordered coffee and plum dumplings. The dumpling were great - a mixture of plum and walnut and tasty without being too sweet.

What more do you need in life?

Belgrade

Belgrade is a large and sprawling city situated on the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers. The center of the city spreads over a high hill behind an ancient fortress that dates back to well before Roman times. Unfortunately the city has had a long and bitter history and having been destroyed over 100 times, not much of the old city remains - the oldest buildings (apart from the fortress) only date back to the early 19th century.

While the site of the city is superb and there are many attractive older buildings, most buildings are shabby and rundown and in desperate need of repair. When they are renovated they are superb. Added to this are grey nondescript constructions from the communists era and even today right in the heart of the city, there are bombed buildings from the NATO airstrikes of 199. All together this does not make a handsome cityscape.  

Museum of Broken Relationships

The Museum of Broken Relationships is an extraordinary concept and originally was a simple exhibition in Zagreb which then became an international traveling exhibition before finally establishing a permanent home in the city of origin.

It is simple really - people send in a short piece about a broken relationship and with it a single object which for them symbolises that relationship. Most of the objects are everyday things - a fluffy toy, car keys, an old photo. The vast majority of stories are of course about romantic love, but there are others about parents and children. The examples are from all around the world.

Some are funny, many are sad, but they are all charged with an incredible emotion that leaves you frequently wet eyed and often in laughter. Fortunately the exhibition is not that big - you just can't handle all the heart rendering honesty and you serious need a good stiff drink afterwards. 

What is particularly surprising is that so much emotion is felt years after the event. There is a  video of an elderly woman recounting an event from 1945 and you can just see that it is as real now as it was then (she rejected the guy and spent the rest of her life regretting it).

These are just a few favourites but there are so many....

This battered gnome was hurled through the windscreen of the cheating boyfriend's brand new car

When this couple began a long distance relationship they brought this toy and agreed that they would pull off a leg for everytime they met and when the caterpillar was legless they would move in together.

As you can see it didn't work out and the caterpillar is not a complete invalid.

A suicide note from a mother to her child.












When they broke up  she took the toaster and commented 'How is the bastard going to toast anything now?'












 This photo is from an elderly Armenian woman who years ago dated the boy next door who was madly in love with her.

After three years, in the Armenian tradition, the boy's parents visited the girl's parents to ask if the boy could marry her.

The girl's parent flatly rejected the idea saying he wasn't good enough for her and she deserved much better. The boy's parents left angry and disappointed

That night the boy drove his car off a cliff.

The day after Halloween

All Saints Day (November 1st) is a big deal in Central and Eastern Europe. It is a major holiday with every thing closed and the entire population heads out to cemeteries to tidy graves, place flowers and light candles. In Zagreb the main cemetery is not accessible by car on that day because of the enormous traffic jams so a constant stream of free buses ran to and from the city centre. Flower, candle and lantern sellers did a roaring trade as did the cafes.

Shrines are really popular as well and the people so serious about it all..... not like pagan New Zealanders.

Before I Die

This large blackboard headed BEFORE I DIE in the centre of Zagreb is really popular. Unfortunately and not surprisingly, most of the entries are in Croatian. The only one in English was very mundane and read 'Travel the world'.

Zagred - City of Museums

Most cities have a good handful of museums, but Zagreb leaves them all for dead. There are so many museums on every imaginable subject. There is even a Typhlological Museum and if you know what that is without looking up Google, then you are a genius. Not only didn't I know the meaning but I even had trouble with the spelling. Here is a link in case you are curious http://www.euromuse.net/en/museums/museum/view-m/tifloloski-muzej/

The museums are mostly small and surprisingly well curated. The day after I arrived it was a public holiday so all the museums were closed, the following day was Sunday and they were only open four hours and the next day Monday, they were all closed again. I did manage to see the Archaeological Museum, The Museum of Naive Art, The Zagreb City Museum and the outstanding Museum of Broken Relationships.

Here is a list of the museums I found but I am sure there are more.

Croatian Natural History Museum
Croatian History Museum
Museum of Naive Art
Museum of Arts and Crafts
Museum of Fine Art
Museum of Contemporary Art
Sports Museum
Zagreb City Museum
Croatian Postal Museum
Croatian Railway Museum
Cathedral Museum
Museum of Mushrooms
Croatia School Museum
Museum of Broken Relationships
Archaeological Museum 
Mirmar Museum
Croatian Military Museum

Budapest Market

Hungarian food is famous for it strong flavours and the use of paprika. In the heart of Budapest is an old market packed with food stalls, small cafes and craft shops. As expected peppers and every imaginable type of process sausage feature large.

Creepy Hungarians

With their sunglasses, jackboots, and long overcoats, the Hungarian Presidential guards look really creepy - like a WWII Death Squad

From Beethoven to Listz

I am not especially a fan of classical music but I was so impressed by this piano that was owned (and played) by both Beethoven and Listz and now forms the centre piece to the Listz display in the Hungarian National Museum.

The Lady With A Fish

High on Gellert Hill overlooking Budapest is a statue officially known as The Liberty Statue. The 14 metre high edifice is of a woman holding a palm leaf representing freedom. However, at a distance the palm leaf looks like a fish and now the statue is affectionately known as The Lady With A Fish.

Hungarians and hats

Hungarians like wearing hats and I must say they look very classy. Can't imagine New Zealanders looking this stylish.

Forgetting about the past

Central and Eastern European countries have an almost total distrust of Russia and a deep resentment to the 50 years of Soviet rule. Universally the communist period is viewed as half a century of cultural, social and economic stagnation. Young people resolutely refuse to learn Russian and very little from the period is valued. Every where, including in Bratislava, the monuments and symbols of communist rule have either been pulled down or left to crumble. Everyone seems to want to forget that Soviet rule even happened. The Germans appear to have been forgiven, but not the Russians.

Eating out in Slovakia

White and dark chocolate cake

Duck with red cabbage and potato pancakes

Central European meals are pretty tasty, but frequently completely lack fresh green vegetables or salads as the harsh winters have meant that these cuisines are more pickled base. While pickled vegetables are flavoursome, they don't really replace fresh.

Pancakes are very popular in Eastern and Central Europe and in Slovakia main courses are often accompanied by potato based pancakes. Another surprise was the duck and goose are popular and not expensive.

Pancakes with fruit and whipped cream

Not so blue Danube

 My visit to Bratislava coincided with the Danube in flood. The flow was surprisingly fast and the water full of logs and debris from upriver. River cruise boats struggled to move up stream and had even greater difficult turning in the current. At a low point along the river a digger hastily shored up the banks.

And so much for the Blue Danube - this was definitely dirty brown Danube.

Polish is easy....

Guess the what Polish literary genres these are? Who said Polish was hard?

Elanor Catton in Poland

How exciting it is to see 'The Luminaries' at number 11 on the Polish bestselling list and even more exciting was to see her novel in large stacks a the entrance to the bookshop. Equally surprising was that the Polish edition was in an elegant hardback.

Art Noveau Finnish style

Like all European countries Finland enthusiastically embraced Art Noveau but added its own very distinctive style. Under Russian rule at the time, Finnish nationalism was on the rise and with it a resistance to foreign rule. Architecture became one of the more subtle expressions of this rebellion and in particular the fashionable Art Noveau style that was sweeping Europe. However, the flamboyant style from Belgians was too much for the more restrained Finns and they created their own version know locally as National Romanticism.

Along with Art Noveau, Finns were also much taken with the Scottish Baronial style of the time and National Romanticism was a curious blend of flowery Art Noveau, Scottish dourness and Finnish Reserve.  The result was a solid monumental buildings with strong Finnish motifs of animals, plants and folkloric characters.