T-Motoriders
T-Motoriders
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Saturday morning ... a dream begins to take shape and our motorcycles are ready for the big trip.
Vasilis, Panagiotis and Sotiria from Athens, were the people who met at 7 in the morning ... With the sun beginning stretching out it’s first rays, after a last check on tickets, passports, green cards and having a good mood we started for our first destination, Kilkis.
The first stop for refueling, a sip of coffee ,a cigarette and also catching our breath, was held in Lamia at Goody's located on the highway.
Weather was good and that helped us more to continue our journey with the same good mood ..
The second stop was at Tempi valley where a small riverside stroll and lighting a candle in the picturesque church of Ag. Paraskevi was a necessary break to continue until our third stop in Korinou Katerini Automobiles Service Station.
Several toll stations and disproportionally high toll charges for motorcycles compared to those paid for cars. We wondered what we would meet abroad ..
Black clouds started to appear and by contacting the fourth person of the gang Kostas from Xanthi, we learned that there the rain had already begun ...
The first messages about the weather were not good since all the forecasts for our trip showed cloudy weather and several rain falling..
Keeping our good mood, we continued our trip to Kilkis even when a storm had us reducing our speed and thus we arrived to the hotel just after 2pm. Just before 3 Kostas arrived from Xanthi. Jokingly we went to our rooms to rest making an appointment for early afternoon, to go with our bikes into town for dinner and to watch the match of the National Football Team.
We sat at the "Varelofrones" for food. Although we had heard very good things, it was not anything special. The bitterness for the defeat of our national team combined with heavy food, had us arriving at the hotel early because the next day was the most difficult part of the journey since we had to go for 630 km till our next station, Belgrade.
At 7.30 we were already in the dining room for breakfast. We ate lightly because of the difficult journey, we loaded our beloved ones and headed for the customs office of Evzones. The weather was good but in the distance the clouds had declared their presence. The road was wide,on our right and left green trees give their own touch to the beauty of nature. At 9am we arrived at the customs office. The control was typical and we finished very quickly. A stop at duty-free was necessary. Perfumes and chocolates in the first demand. A closer look at the fridge with soft drinks showed that prices were not so ‘’duty-free’’. For example, an energy drink, whose price is 1,40 € we saw it there at 2,10 € !!!
A few meters further was the customs office of Skopje. The waiting line was not great but we had to wait quite along time per vehicle turning on and off our engines and pushing our bikes. The female presence in our party finally proved useful !!!
Sotiria showed masculine power pushing us one by one, some less, some a little more so we reached the controller booth quite relaxed!! After the checking we left in order to refuel at the first gas station we found just passing the border.
The road resembled the classic Greek provincial roads. There was reconstruction of road pavements in many places and especially in most bridges from where we passed. What struck us was the very low level in the protective railings on bridges. A possible impact to them and you could fall over. Driving speed was about 140km with markings on signs from 90 to 120km. Police were not seen, perhaps because it was early Sunday morning.
In the first toll in FYROM the clerk asked for 5 € for passing through, amount that struck us since we already knew that the price was 1 €. They probably need a good controller there ... Fortunately Panos who was in the adjoining lane and paid for the three bikes had currency. It was nice to see the face of the official when she was announced by her colleague that Panos had paid for all of us, you see we altered her plans !!
The next fuel fill up was a bit out of Kumanovo.!
We arrived at Skopje - Serbia border. And there Sotiria helped pushing the three bikes ... .. she had begun to take the role seriously .... It might be due to her name meaning salvation at the right moment !!
We passed the checks without any delay.
The road in the southern part of Serbia was bad with lots of bumps and patches. The road construction reminded us the N.R. Corinth-Patras. In many places there were diversions. In fact the GPS did not help us and we resulted in passing through cities that we had neither counted on nor knew. Of course this was an opportunity to get a glimpse of the country's villages. Houses clearly village style, with many balcony doors and no railings on the balcony which was as large as the door, the smell of cut wood came to complement the image of the Serbian province.
The sky was getting dark and the first drops of rain made their appearance and kept us company until just before arriving in Belgrade the capital and largest city of Serbia. Located in the Pannonian plane in the Balkans at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers is considered one of the oldest European cities as it was founded by the Celts in the 3rd century BC .. The first name was Singidon while the first mention of Belgrade dates back to 878. The latest and most recent wounds of the city are the conflicts that led to the division of a united Yugoslavia and the bombing by NATO, which are witnessed by some buildings which are still standing even though they were bombed.
We arrived at the hotel at 5pm. The hotel we chose to stay was the Residence located in Zemun suburb of Belgrade. Like all the hotels we had chosen, this had to fulfill 3 main criteria: a) good rating on booking.com b) safe parking for our bikes c) location next to metro or bus station to ease our transportation.
Once we arrived at our luxurious hotel rooms, we had a bath to freshen up, some of us even sinking in the hot tub, justified of course with so much of pushing they did!!
The noise of an old airplane flying very low, almost above our heads, forced us to get out on the balconies. Two old sprayers had seemingly divided the city horizontally and vertically and sprayed. Probably for mosquitoes. Because if it was for the female population, who were mostly very gifted, we recommend to start directly here in Greece ... the sprays.
We went on foot into town searching for a meal. The signs pointed at the center ..but center we did not see. So we decided to take the road to the river and hopefully find something worthwhile.
After wandering a lot our bellies began to show signs of hunger. We had a choice of a restaurant with an international menu, two shops with seafood and a pizzeria. We chose the pizzeria (DiNapoli) as the safest solution but it was already after 10 pm. The decor inside the pizzeria was a bit too much, but this by no means discouraged us. We sat comfortably and ordered one pizza each and tagliatelle for the lady of our company. The pizza with prosciutto was delicious!! I would say the best we've tasted so far.
We ate, we drank our beers and we paid 12 € each approx, very cheap if we consider the fact that it was a luxurious restaurant with waiters over our heads ... luckily they did not understand Greek !!! We separeted in pairs to stroll around different paths and finally arrived almost together at the hotel.
The next morning we set off early. The city exploration had already begun. Our first stop was at the neighborhood ‘s bakery, locally pekara. The tastes were exquisite, light and, of course, cheap !! 2 euros a pie something like our striftopita, with the only difference that the Serbian cheese pie was one meter long !!!! From this point on, we began to realize that prices are almost half to those in Greece. The quality and quantity of the products offered were quite high.
Near the hotel, in 10 minutes walking distance (the initiated know ‘’hahaha’’) there was a taxi stop and we headed downtown Belgrade. There are taxi companies and private ones. You should prefer companies. Better controlled and cheaper than private ones who do not use a price list for the routes. They are recognized by the signs on the vehicles. White color is for the privates. Other colors are used by companies such as lux & pink.
The taxi left us at the beginning of the pedestrian road Ulica knez Mihailova. The path of Prince Michael is the main pedestrian street and shopping center of the Serbian capital, and one of the loveliest pedestrian streets in Europe. Here are many impressive buildings and mansions that date from the end of 1870. The road follows the backbone of the Roman city Singidon. The richest families of the city built their houses on the street and in 1870 the authorities gave the street its current name. Of course it reminded us something like our Ermou str. or even more Istiklal str. of Constantinople (Istanbul). There we really admired ... the opposite sex. From all the countries we have passed, without doubt, Serbian women were the most beautiful. It was something we were all really impressed, even Sotiria (although there were delegations after at the hotel!) At the beginning of the pedestrian street, on the left there is a tourist bureau. We were given city maps there.
We descended the walkway and just before the end of it we turned left to find ourselves in a very nicely decorated shop that we had seen fleetingly in some commercials.
Colorful umbrellas decorated a walkway giving another touch to the shop. A few meters further on we found an imposing church of Archangel Michael. We entered, lit a candle and admired the splendid frescoes.
Leaving the church, we turned right and found ourselves at the entrance of the Kalemegdan or Fortress of Belgrade. The Kalemegdan is a fortress and park located in Stari Grad near downtown. Standing on the hilltop Šumadija, at a height of 125.5 meters, at the confluence of the rivers Danube and Sava.
The fortress is the heart and the oldest part of the city of Belgrade for centuries, the city's population lived within the walls of the fortress, which perfectly matches the history of the city. In the south lies the "big Kalemegdan" (Veliki Kalemegdan), with geometric corridors, the War Museum, the Museum of Forestry and hunting, and the monument of gratitude to France in honor of the French people who helped the Serbs during the First World War . Rigas Feraios was killed there. The famous statue Pompentkin (winner), symbol of Belgrade, dominated on one side of the castle, which let the opportunity to our female friends to admire the skills of the statue!!
We toured throughout but also on the walls of it. The view was stunning. In front of us the whole city and the confluence of river Sava with Danube.
We left the castle and sat at one of the cafe’s of the pedestrian street Knez Mihailova. Prices were too cheap and quantities in ice cream portions very big.
Ascending again the pedestrian street and before the end of it we found ourselves in the Square of the Republic, one of the squares in the center and on which lie some of the most famous buildings and attractions, including the National Museum, the National Theatre and the statue of Prince Michael. The present square was formed after the destruction of the Stambol gate in 1886, named so because of the road that ran through and led to Constantinople (Istanbul). Today the square is one of the busiest parts of the city and main shopping area and has the bronze statue of Prince Michael on the horse, created by Italian sculptor Enrico Pazzi in 1882. The statue reminds to the public the greatest achievement of the prince’s win against the Turks and the liberation of the last seven cities in 1867. The names of the towns are engraved on plaques on the monument and Michael’ s hand points at Istanbul, urging the Turks to leave the country.
A few meters further and at the end of the main road we could see the dome of St. Savas church. Walking up we admired the buildings and the statues .
Half an hour was enough to get to the church, which is still being built. Imposingly large where you could be lost. The Church of Saint Savas is extremely interesting for us Greeks, as it is the largest Orthodox church in the world. It is dedicated to Saint Savas, founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church and important person in the country during the medieval era. The construction of the church was made exclusively by offers while allegedly built on the spot that Saint Savas was buried. Inside there are multiple icons with Greek letters depicting Christian Orthodox saints.
Serbian in written hardly strained us to read the names of the saints and the inscriptions in general.
We took a taxi to go to the shopping center of the city where shopping and food was in schedule. We got back to our hotel where a bath and little relaxation were necessary. The weather however had begun to worsen with rain starting to fall ‘’straight through’’ as a known greek song mentions. So we parted again others in search of food and others strolling in the rain over to the lighthouse and the cemetery of Zemun.
The walk has compensated us enormously. The view from the lighthouse and walking on the old cobblestone streets was indescribable. The smell of rain along with it’s gentle sound, old houses, small villas harmoniously tied in this suburb of the city.
The Serbs are wonderful people. Warm people, proud, eager. We were impressed that they tried to serve us even though they only knew their native language. For example: Walking in order to find the lighthouse, we met one Serbian in her 30’s, who waited patiently for her husband, under a shelter in the rain. We asked her where the beacon is, pointing at the map. Using her little English, she let us understand where about it was. Once we moved away from where the polite Serbian was, she called us again offering to take us with her husband’s car, who would arrive in a moment. Us ... two strangers ...
We continued the search of the lighthouse impressed.
After admiring the magnificent view covered with the mist of moisture and rain, we returned to the hotel where we packed our things because the next day we would go to our third destination .. Budapest.
Click on the photos to enlarge
Belgrand
Written by Bill Economou & Sotiria Bantouvaki
Translated by George Bitsidis
