keepsakebelgrade2

If a friend were to visit, I would probably make a list first, so as not to forget anything! The first place I would take my friend to would be the Kalemegdan fortress, which is now a national park and where our ZOO is situated as well. Then, I would take them around the town, to see all the important and beautiful buildings. If it weren't summer, I'd certainly take them to the theater, to see one of our famous plays. Apart from Belgrade, I'd show them around Sremski Karlovci, a town with rich history, situated in the North and not far from Belgrade. Of course, I'd like to show them one of our famous mountains called Zlatibor (Golden Pine), which would certainly help them to understand the culture of Serbia better. Numerous monasteries and churches in my country are certainly not to be skipped in any way, because they represent our religion in best light. Montenegro, our second republic, has many places to offer as well, at its beautiful seaside. If we had enough time, maybe we should go there too.

Orthodox Christianity is the main religion here and more than 80% of people practises it. However, Catholicism and Islam are also practised much, especially in certain parts of the country. Judaism is pressent as well.
Just like all Christians, we have Christmas and Easter, which are some of most beloved holidays here. However, we celebrate it according to the old calendar, like all Orthodox Christians. We celebrate New Year two times, according to both calendars. The second one is called the Serbian New Year and is celebrated on January 13. We have a wonderful custom here, which is unique and cannot be found anywhere in the world. it is called slava and it celebrates a saint, protector of the house. Every family has its own protector and celebrates its slava on a particular day every year. On that day, a huge candle has to burn from morning to the late evening and a special cake is to be eaten, as well as scpecially prepared corn with wine. Pork is almost obligatory, being one of Serbian famous dishes. Of course, there's many food on the table, as well as drink. Family and friends gather together and have wonderful time.

When is come to having fun, we are just like everywhere in the world. Young people like to go out and there are many caffees and night clubs for the occassion. People also like concerts in open space, so taht it happens pretty often. Mass demonstrations against the regime were also one of our "traditions" until last year! Theater and cinema halls are usually packed with people and sometimes it's hard to find a ticket. There are also many recreation places, so taht people often go there as well.

We like sport very much, probably because we are so successful in it! Collective sports are especially popular: football, basketball, volleyball, handball and waterpolo. In the history of these sports, we were always placed very high, even European and World champions many a time. There are aslo some individual sports taht are popular here, but certainly less than collective ones. The Serbs like to support their teams and to be the best, and I guess that's one of the reasons why we like sport so much!

I had a nice childhood here and I gladly remember it. I lived then in a much bigger state. Afterwards some terrible wars came, but I don't like to remember that... As for the games, I think we were just like all the kids world wide. I remember a game called "between two fires" that we liked playing. Then, there were: valleyball, badminton, hide-and-seek...

When it comes to food, Serbian cuisine is very rich and is influenced by many other cuisines. I must say that the Serbs like to eat and have wonderful dishes. My favorite traditional dish is called Serbian cabbage and is made of sour cabbage with lots of meat, which gives it wonderful taste. A specially made bread is eaten with it.

Many people have a definite conceptions about my country. Unfortunately, it has been in media too much in the last decade. The stories concerning Yugoslavia haven't been very nice, at least not until a year ago. That's why people sometimes have a quite wrong opinion of its people in general. However, when they come here and meet people, they immediately change their opinion because they are accepted like nowhere in the world. The situation is much better now, so I hope everything will be changed.

I am so proud of my country for many reasons! People in the first place, because they are friendly, open, emotional. I'm also proud of our glorious history, our constant and spectacular success in sport, our education and all the geniuses we gave to the world, great literature, music, language...It's hard to choose only one... I think I'd pick our language! I'd like to present Serbian language to people world wide, because I find it a very rich and beautiful language that few people in the world know about. It's a pitty and that's why I'd like to change it!

A 7000-year-old gentleman, Belgrade has so much to boast of. It survived numerous wars in human history and was ruled by many tribes and peoples. All of them wanted to conquer probably the most important strategical point in this part of the world. Unfortunately, due to human folly, it was destroyed many a time, but it rose bigger and more beautiful each time. Owing to such a rich history, Belgrade can be proud of many monuments and extremely beautiful buildings. It has about 2.5 million people, which makes it the biggest town in Yugoslavia. In many ways, Belgrade is like all other European capitals. However, it has a unique soul, for which it is famous world wide.

Owing to Yugoslavia's turbulent history, it's not too hard to find many valuable historical sites in it. There are many towns in this rather small country taht can be considered to be museums themselves. They reperesent various epoches, regimes and styles. So, there are castles, buildings representing different styles, many monuments dedicated to some important events in our history, as well as many cultural institutions that attract attention of many tourists. Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia, can offer some excellent sites, rarely found anywhere in the world. It has its own fortress from the time of Turks, which is now one of our most famous national parks. That's exactly where the monument called The Victor is situated, being one of the most beautiful ones here. Then, there's the Assambly building,The Old Castle, the National Theater, the Albany Palace, some streets from the Roman period where thermal baths have been digged up, etc.

If you decide to visit this town in “mountainous Balkans”, do not hesitate to meet his very soul. Every street, square, boulevard and both its rivers will let you into the secret of its unique story. You will be certainly delighted by Belgrade’s offer. And people? Well, you’ll meet one of the strangest people in the world! They will welcome you in the warmest manner, they will even give you their heart – you just have to ask for it. However, do not be afraid if you discover that they can become angry or sad all of a sudden and with no particular reason. In such situations you must remember that you’re in the Balkans which is said to have a unique soul. That is where all those Slavic, Celtic, Roman, Turkish…features come together. Yugoslav people can sing, show spite and cry as no one else in the world!

Have I persuaded you to come here? Then you’ll know the better side of the story and not only the ugly one you can find in news. As we all know, for a smart man every war is a lost one, even before it has started. So, do not allow to be seduced by evil things, but let’s try to know and love each other, wherever we are. You’ll see, it will make your day!