Footsteps: Journey Of An Artist “Back To Beautiful Belgrade (Beograd, Srbija)”
We take a 50 minute plane ride from Dubrovnik to Zagreb, that’s right 50 minutes. Hang out in Zagreb for a bit then the usual 8 hour train ride back to Belgrade.
I ran into some Slum Dog Millionaire gypsy children and laughed as they tried to steal something from the vendor, watch closely…
Haha, the women are still beautiful and the food is still the best. I wanted to explore Beograd a little more. Belgrade is the capital and the largest city of Serbia. The city lies at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. Belgrade has a population of 1,630,000 estimated in 2007) Its name in Serbian means White city. I could of told you that being that I’m the only black person for miles. Ha. The Cathedral of Saint Sava is the largest Orthodox cathedral on the Balkans, and one of the largest Orthodox cathedrals in the world. The church is dedicated to Saint Sava, founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church and an important figure in medieval Serbia.
More nice girls and more people looking at me, then we move from beauty to distruction. These building were destroyed by NATO and US forces in 1999 for Belgrades non compliance regarding the events in Kosova. Seeing this and remembering the many stories Goga told me about war, losing her home, worrying about her family started to play in my mind like and old black and white war documentary. People scared, people running i mean how can one country do this to another country with innocent civilians caught in the cross fire.
We continue to move through the city with Dane, Goga’s brother our proud excort. This city has some underated beautiful buildings and an extensive history. One dating back to the largest prehistoric culture of Europe, the Vinča culture, as early as the 6th millennium BC. We made our way to Belgrades make shift beach Ada Ciganlija which hosts thousands of visitors each summer. We sat down for coffee and was presently surprised by a famous Serbian celebrity Milan Kalinic who was about to perform a leap of faith.
Milan Kalinic and Katherine Šišmanović host one of the first reality television formats in Serbia called: “All For Love” It is a prime time show with a reach of 2,128.000 viewers. The new season produced by Pink deals with sincere emotions, true stories, romantic marriage proposal, a spectacular statement of love, the story of unbreakable friendship, family strength, first loves and divorce and many other unusual stories of ordinary people just wanting to see how far they will go “All for Love “.
We watched as this guy climb up to the top. Is he really gonna jump?
I guess so…
The next day we hopped on a cruise ship. Myself, Goga, Ljuban, Yagoda and Dane.
On board the ship I ran into a twitter/facebook friend of mine Karl Haudbourg who wrote a column about me last year called A Black Hip-Hopper In Belgrade which was featured in the online magazine Serbia’s Ambassador to the World. I mean really what are the chances??? Must be destiny…
The Sirona ship was built in the year 1980, and belonged to the government of West Germany. Many important persons, including Heads of States, Maradona, the soccer superstar, to tennis ace Novak Djokovic. Most government ministers as well as the Prime Minister and the President of Serbia have also cruised aboard Sirona, many of them more than once. Sirona is frequently chartered by embassies, prestigious foreign and local companies and banks as well as government ministries and agencies for their receptions and promotions. It’s an enjoyable 90-minute sightseeing cruise. Along the Kalemegdan Fortress. Downstream toward Dorcol and Pancevo bridge. Up River to Zemun and Gardos and back to port.
Permanently settled by Serbs from the 7th century onwards it was a strategic location so the city was battled over in 115 wars and razed to the ground 44 times since the ancient period by countless armies of the East and West. In medieval times, it was in the possession of Byzantine, Frankish, Bulgarian, Hungarian and Serbian rulers.
That was our beautiful host. Yagoda was quite upset because the boat wasn’t going to sail near Zenum which she really wanted me to see. The host came to us quite a few times during the the cruise to calm us down from all the hell Yagoda was raising.
In 1521 Belgrade was conquered by the Ottomans and became the seat of the Pashaluk of Belgrade, as the principal city of Ottoman Europe and among the largest European cities. Frequently passing from Ottoman to Austrian rule which saw destruction of most of the city, the status of Serbian capital would be regained only in 1841, after the Serbian revolution. Northern Belgrade, though, remained a Habsburg outpost until the breakup of Austria-Hungary in 1918. The united city then became the capital of several incarnations of Yugoslavia, up to 2006, when Serbia became an independent state again.
Nevermind the history more beautiful girls from Belgrade…now there dancing…haha Dobra
Ok so in Belgrade I learned that a man’s home really is his castle. What makes a country beautiful is not solely defined by all the pretty buildings but by the people who make up the city.
Zagreb taught me the importantance of the relationship between the young and the old generation. Back in Toronto the lack of respect on both sides is evident.
Orvieto and Ferrara showed me the importance of story telling, myths or truths passed down through generations define a community. It gives us something to believe in something to take pride in.
The Vatican. From talking to many people… For the amount of people who love the pope there are a simliar amount of people who can’t stand what the Vatican stands for? Believe what you will but there is a definate overwhelming energy and like myself you will definately feel it.
Roma. Go big or go homa. The Basillica’s, the monuments, the Colloseum, the history…it is what it is, I mean the city is truly remarkable. So much history, so much art. What ever you do, do it from the heart and do it well so it stands the test of time. Build your own legacy.
The city of Venice really does float. It’s about resilience. Maybe it’s a solution for global warming? Maybe it’s a place to dawn a mask a not be concerned about your social class. We are all equal.
The walls of Dubrovnik kept trouble out and kept the beauty in. I guess for some the walls are like prison walls. In a town so big and full of tourists, it’s still possible to feel alone. I was reminded of humanity both from Dubrovnik and Zaton Mali
One final supper, fresh lamb killed in the morning, put on a stick and slow cooked all day in time for dinner. I board the plane in Belgrade to head back to England. In between stops i took some time out for a quick photo shoot with some fans then it’s back to Toronto.
When I got back to Toronto I was stopped in customs as they tried to take my cigarettes away. After paying 90.00 dollars to keep them I guess there is no better way to say welcome back?
