Storks are back!!! Wonderful Zasavica!

Storks are back! What a great pleasure to spot them immediately after our arrival in Zasavica Nature Reserve, a short taxi ride South of Sremski Mitrovica! We had been missing them all winter, now they are busy restoring their nests, while food noisily sits in the swamps just below: a chorus of a million frogs!

The Zasavica nature reserve is run by the Municipality of Sremski Mitrovica, and among else they specialize on old breeds of farm animals! Looking at this black big (Gulash made of it is superb) we had not yet any idea that females are very defensive, and Mama had to fence off two attacks of a mother during our later to follow hike, with ET bravely standing behind kicking her leg!

We soon spotted the well sign posted hike along the open wide plane, grazed by old breeds of donkeys, long horned cows, Balkan horses and above said pigs! Taking about 2h with ET, we ended up in Zasavica village 1, where we were picked up by our trusted taxi driver again! Very, very nice hike!

 However, before venturing out we had to have a very good lunch in the Etno Kuja!

 Farewell from Sremski Mitroviza on a Swing next to the beautiful new pedestrian bridge accross Sava, and once more successful in hunting...

 ...another great map in our bag!

 After having caught the last bust from Sremski Mitrovica to Beograd for the day at 19.15, I cosy dinner in front of the fire was more than deserved for little strong leg owners!

Wonderful Closure of the Skiing Season

Well, it is hard work to reach...five hours in the bus! But decided as the ladies were, we reached on Easter Friday Kopaonik, and did not regret it all: snow still laid meters high, it was soft but not wet, the weather misty and windy on many occasions (particularly unpleasant on the flying lifts as ET called them) but we were spared a single drop of rain! Staying in a little apartment in the Konaci complex was a great choice (thank you Ana!), too!

Saturday morning, after a almost two hour power break (!) sun appeared and we made the maximum out of it! Most pists run through very lovely Sapin forests...

...and the black run from the highest point is really great, but "bubiliecht" as ET said. Other grown ups however looked at me with great reproach, ET was the only kid on that black run!

A fantastic discovery was however the "wolf's hut", a big fire place in the middle, great, great food, a generous landlord, skins to keep us warm - in combination with the gentle slopes a real treat! There are more of these small places along the pistes, but this one remained our clear favorite!

Weather turned really bad on Sunday, so ET learned to use the Tellerlift, and run it from bottom to top and bottom again all on her own!

A well deserved maize cob with a view from our apartaman window - we will return, hopefully with Papa!

Surrounding and climbing Mount Kosmaj along the Zwärgli-Trail

In this country "of buses to everywhere at any time" we made it to Kosmaj, 60km South of Beograd, similarly looking to Avala, but - on a misty Saturday morning - obviously all to ourselves!

We picked up a trail freshly signposted at this little monument in the very North of Kosmaj - you reach it be following the graveled road along the antennas to the North of the road's highest crossing point, and then following down the hiking track slighly to the East for a couple of 100m. From there it is well signposted with a white dot and a red roof (also looking like a Gnome or Zwärgli head) - the indicated Etno Kuja, where Nadia and myself wanted to drink coffee, we however never reached! Otherwise the round trip links all the sights of Kosmaj into a approximately 1.5 to 2h easy hike. 

The monument is huge, indeed, and to honour partisans, as on every other mountain peak surrounding Beograd...you reach it towards the end of the trail.

After paying a visit to the Trebinje Monastery at the foot of Kosmaj about half way of the trail...

 ...we fried sausages to warm us up! They turned out almost Swiss style and were delicious!

 There are several maps posted along the trail, but their information value is rudimentary!