Nonna's Farewell in Sremski Karlovci and Jerevic

With a huge fair on in all streets of the usually so peaceful Sremski Karlovci we immediately set off a big out of the town centre to the famous peace chapel, where the Austria Hungarians and Turks have settled peace - the chapel is in the form of a Turkish tent, has four entries, is newly renovated and under the protection of UNESCO.

 Encouraged by the care taker lady (who you call by phone to get entrance) we climbed up these steep stairs, each step made of massive oak, to watch her ring the bell, every day precisely at 12 noon! The lady was also fluent in German, as she has worked 12 years in Appenzell and St. Gallen! ET got a BIG apple from her garden on the way back to the centre!

Impressions of the centre...among else, a VERY big platane tree in the church yard, taller than the church tower by now!

Picked up by a friend of Maya's and Nenad's, we moved on to Jerevic, where ET and Nonna opened a superb bakery, and we had apero and the next morning second coffee on our favourite little Danube terrace with the most beautiful Vienna chairs, if not the model, then their location!

Ella Tili's Third Birthday Party at Siljakovac

After having celebrated on Ada on the 21st already, then with Nonna, who prepared a fish frog decorated chocolate cake, ET moved on to her third five year old birthday party some 30km South of Belgrade into the village!

What a happy arrival for Ella Tili! Everything was prepared just for her, but also Nonna and Mama got a great welcome! It was beautifully fresh and still warm in the garden, and Milina and Seka have prepared a soup, potato mash with filled cabbage, as well as chicken in veges! Just amazing, as always in the Milina-Seko restaurant - there is no better place to go to eat known to us!

 Look at this beautiful and so tasteful bread we ate with the soup (the Swiss way!) and the cabbage!

 And then another surprise: one desert was not enough! with apple strudle ET could also choose from four different kinds of ice cream!

Finally, Seka even took the time to driver us to Zornika's Kuja for a late afternoon coffee!

Thank you both sooooo much, Seka and Milina, it was a wonderful Saturday, thoroughly enjoyed by the birthday child, her grandmother and myself - it also gave me all the energy I needed in the following week in Sarajevo!

Gifted Days in Voivodina

 Arriving at lake Palic, the resort from Austrian Hungarian times not far from Subotica and the Hungarian border, started with a bit of a nerve testing exercise: ETs follow me had no saddle on, Mama had forgotten it on her other bike! And this on a most splendid early October autumn day, with the biking route around Lake Palic just spotted An artisan after a long search in his treasures at last found a saddle post and a very, very old saddle for replacement, it was all fixed and worth gold to us!

 Early morning getting ready in Hotel Park, from Austrian Hungarian times, too, in great location directly on the lake, within very old trees! Neither food comes recommended, nor did we find it perfectly clean, but a historic great place indeed! And given that Svetni Salas seems closed, maybe still the best place to stay overnight;

 Alike many elderly Suboticians, we too cycled into town, on our very modern bikes compared to the local brands! In Pekara Europe we had a second great breakfast!

 The town is a great mix of Austrian Hungarian crumbling architecture and large scale Art Nouveau buildings...

 ...and very much oriented not only towards Belgrade, but many other capitals and towns, too, as the signpost illustrates!

 Lunch in Salas Majkin at the outskirts of Palic (google maps on i-phone finds it all!) comes highly recommended, particularly the potatoe pure! Apple harvest ongoing in the surrounding extensive orchards! And we think Sandgrube is large!

 Then at last it was about time to say goodbye to beautiful Lake Palic, despite its algae pest a really, really beautiful spot, with lots of small coffee and apero places yet to explore.

Staying in the village house of an Irish-British couple in Stara Marovica www.stara-moravica.com was the next adventure. Still warm enough to have dinner outside, even though wrapped in blankets! ET loved the homemade pasta, less though the little bit greasy Gulash!

The next morning we had to try the owners kids roller blades, and as usual with these things, ET did great immediately!

We then set off on a bike ride to the village lake, before being picked up by Saba, his wife, a friend and their horses and cart! They live next door to "our" rental house, as does the bread baker lady, and the presevers producer lady!

What a pure luxury it was to circle the village, visit the vineyards, and get fresh grapes and a little Rakia served! Defenitely to be repeated! If you want to book Saba, be aware that he makes no fuss in preparing, but has his horses and cart ready in front of the house in no time!

Good sleep then in the most ugly, but brand new Barock Hotel President in Sremski Karlovski! Second breakfast down on the Danube, on old wooden tables and under big trees, after having escaped the hotels air conditioned second sous sol restaurant, and picked up Nadia from the station!

We raided a Vinoteka some five kilometers outside Sremski Karlovski (http://www.vino-fruskagora.com/vinoteka-fruska-gora.php - the place and owner come highly recommended), pocketed three monasteries, and did some fantastic hiking in autumn forests (the walk from New to Old Hopova Monastery comes highly recommended, it is well signposted, but to get accross the ditch in front of the Old Hopova Monastery is a little bit of a challenge! Do not let yourself put off by it!).

Absolutely amazing was however dinner at Perkov's Salas http://www.camping.rs/sr/perkovsalas/! It competes with every East African Lodge, with beautifully laid tables under an old walnut tree, great food and another carriage waiting. You need to book in advance, though!

And that is where we concluded five fantastic days: with another home for gnomes, on the ridge of Fruska Gora, still desperately waiting for rain, but a great place to play for ET for sure! Overnight stay in the Planinaski dom Voivodina in Iriski Venac http://www.npfruskagora.co.rs/cir/turizam/restorani.html, righ ton the ridge still comes recommended, despite slighly grumpy waitors and a rather old building in desperate need of renovation: it is cosy, clean, the terrace fantastic and they do have some great wine in their cellars, as with Nadia we could confirm!