Heading West

I am feeling sad for Serbia today. With 50 % unemployment, and so many wars to survive recently, the economy is depressed and there is no money to take care of the people, let alone the buildings or the history of the place. This is in remarkable contrast to Hungary, which is already part of the EU and has not had to deal with any recent conflict. The towns are well kept, and the city of Pecs was stunning. We saw that last night, as we wandered throughout he lit up streets. Today, we again walked through the central pedestrian zone, and were again amazed at the difference with Sombor and Subotica and Belgrade. These were once important cities, with trade and manufacture and culture and presence. I imagine that is what they were like in the days of the Hapsburgs. Now, the Serbian towns are falling apart, and there is no money to renovate or restore. These places were important to my father, and impressive once, and could be today. 

Pecs was perhaps excessively renovated. Every building was well kept and impressive alone, but all together, it was almost too pristine. There was even a mosque, which felt right, because so little of the Turkish reign is evident in the places we have visited. When we told that to a Serb, we were corrected, and told that there are many Turkish words in the language, as well as Turkish food and products. The mosque in Pecs was being renovated, so we were unable to enter. The main cathedral had been almost excessively renovated. The original structure was a simple Romanesque style, but it had been restored and altered so many times, there is a mishmash of styles which altogether do not quite work. Nearby evidence of the original medieval walls and fortress were rebuilt, and the walkway along the walls was of beautiful travertine marble. Nearby, the remains of third and fourth century Christian graves are accessible to the public, and are covered with chapel like structures, and full of frescoes inside. 

There was much more to be seen in Pecs. Tara always tells us, when we choose not to see a site, that we have ‘travel insurance’, and have a reason to return. I feel that in every place we have been, we have so much more to see, and will have to return. Now that we are out of Serbia, I am eager to revisit, and head more southward, see more Roman ruins, find more Turkish remains, perhaps even visit Backi Brestovac again and enter one of the houses. We have had a very positive experience in Serbia; considering how fearful we were in Timisoara, when we considering canceling our trip altogether, and took hours to convince ourselves to follow our itinerary, none of our worries came to fruition. The police did not ticket us for speeding (we never sped!), we were not robbed, our car did not disappear, we did not crash; nothing untoward happened to us. We were warned in Romania that driving in Serbia was inadvisable, the internet was full of scary stories; but we learned that such stories are told of the Hungarians when in Serbia, of the Serbians when in Romania. Our freed Francoise, who has lived n Serbia since 2001 warned us of driving in Hungary!

Our experience with the Serbs has been very positive. Sometimes upon approach we encounter a scowl, but the minute we smile, or engage, or make an effort to communicate with gestures and facial grimaces, the response is always friendly and helpful. I think the Serbs expect a negative interaction and are always so relieved when they encounter some friendliness or kindness, and always respond in kind. 

We drove forever today. Our destination was Graz, where my father went to university after the war. He brought his parents to Graz from Unterolzing in Austria, and studied economics and music. He tells me he loved his time in Graz, and it changed the course of his life in many ways. We took seven hours to get to Graz however. We drove to Lake Baloton, the riviera for landlocked Hungarians. It was full of sunbathers, sailors, windsurfers, fisherman, all enjoying the heat and the sunshine and working on their summer tans. The countryside through Hungary was hilly, such a contrast to the pancake flat plains of the Batschka. There were storks in every town, and in one particular place, we looked for the black storks, but did not see any. We crossed the border into Burgenland, Austria, and noted immediately how much advertisement and strip malls there were compared to Serbia (almost none) and Hungary. It appears that Austrians shop a lot. Life appears busier and more consumer oriented in Austria. I felt as if we were entering civilization again’ Serbia was so much calmer and quieter and relaxed. I almost miss the place