We arrived on schedule on Sunday in the Vojvodina region (Délvidék). After crossing the border, our first stop was in Subotica (Szabadka), giving the quick-eyed onlookers a chance to get to know the city during the drive. Following this, we headed towards our first accommodation in Belgrade. This part of the country is mostly flat terrain; leaving Novi Sad (Újvidék) behind, occasional hills appear, leading into the densely built capital. This time, we are staying in the New Belgrade district, which is dotted with modern, towering residential and office buildings. Our hotel lies 2 km from the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers, so several of us immediately set out to explore the riverbanks. In the evening, we had dinner together, and as usual, bedtime was preceded by conversations and board game matches stretching into the night.
On Monday, following breakfast, we set off to approach the capital’s various points of interest by bus, starting with the Belgrade Fortress. Historians would surely agree that this fortress is one of the most important fortifications not only in Hungarian history but in European history as well. Built on cliffs towering over the junction of the two rivers, the facility provides a perfect view of the surroundings; one can see for kilometers with the naked eye, and the people stationed here could easily control the river traffic. This is precisely why it was of key importance during the fights against the Turks in the early modern period, and its most famous triumph was achieved against the Ottoman Empire in 1456 by Castle Captain János Hunyadi and János Kapisztrán, the leader of the crusader army. After thoroughly exploring the different levels of the fortress, we had some free time on the local equivalent of Váci Street, where everyone could shop for souvenirs from among the nostalgic wares.
Busking over to the city center, we visited a truly special place: one of the largest churches in the world, the Serbian Orthodox Church of Saint Sava. With a floor area of 3,650 square meters and a height exceeding 78 meters, the building can be considered the most monumental in the region; at first, one can hardly grasp what they are seeing. Stepping inside, an perhaps even more astonishing sight welcomed us as the magnificent frescoes, floors adorned with complex patterns, thick marble columns, and beautiful altars unfolded before us. We also walked through the gallery located in the basement, where our tour guide surprised us with a wonderful religious chant.
To close the day, we learned about the story of Nikola Tesla at the museum just a few streets up. We were shown a short film, followed by highly exciting experiments utilizing the fundamental phenomena of electromagnetism. Although the sequence of demonstrations accompanied by bright sparks and loud snaps might have been intimidating to those unfamiliar with the topic, they are actually harmless with proper care. Returning to the accommodation in the late afternoon, some chose to walk along the Danube again before dinner, while most of us preferred to get some rest after a long but eventful day.
On our third day, the Serbian countryside was on the agenda, with Golubac Fortress as our destination. During the nearly three-hour drive, we got to know the landscape close to the capital, and we also learned about the history of the fortress from our tour guide. It was built by the early 1300s, and thanks to its location, it soon became the most significant fortification for the defense of the southern borderlands. Its strategic importance comes from its proximity to the Iron Gates gorge, located just a few dozen kilometers away, while the fortress itself is protected by steep hills on several sides, and the high towers provide a clear view of the field in front of it. It is extremely difficult to capture, and if we can believe the stories, this was so well-known by the enemies of the ruling nation that it only changed hands through sale, making it one of the few fortresses that was never captured even once. After exploring every hidden corner, it was just around lunchtime, which we enjoyed in a charming little restaurant on the banks of the Danube. A boat trip was left for the afternoon; halfway between Golubac and Belgrade, we were rocking on a now-fenced-off backwater of the Danube with a view of the rolling landscape, while Frank Sinatra’s classics played on deck to the delight of many. After the exciting but tiring day, the group spent the evening packing their suitcases, preparing to move on to the next stop of our journey.
On Wednesday, after breakfast, we packed our things and headed towards Osijek, but halfway there, we did not miss the Petrovaradin Fortress located opposite Novi Sad. The fortress offers a great view of the city, and its interesting feature is the clock tower standing at the top, whose minute and hour hands were reversed so that sailors on the Danube could see exactly what time it was from a distance. From the heights, we descended to the city streets, viewed the beautiful main square of Novi Sad, with the region’s tallest Catholic church in its center, as well as the row of buildings surrounding the pedestrian street and the Orthodox church. This was followed by a light lunch, and by late afternoon, we could relax at our accommodation in Osijek. Finally, after dinner, a competition awaited the campers. They competed in teams of four in a two-part quiz game. In the first part, we asked questions based on what our tour guides had told us, and then we moved on to more general historical and geographical trivia. A close competition developed by the end, with the teams fighting enthusiastically against each other.
On the morning of our fifth day, we set off on foot to explore Osijek. Following the Drava River from the bank, we reached the fortress, which in terms of its size is more of a fortified district. Its streets were preceded by careful planning, every road intersects its neighbors perpendicularly, and the walls wedged with bastions protected the buildings in a star shape. Today, concerts, festivities, and a Christmas market are held on its main square, Holy Trinity Square. We walked through the cobblestone streets, some even climbed the wall, and then we had lunch not far from the banks of the Drava. In the afternoon, we visited the nearby Kopački Rit, which is a highly diverse nature reserve hosting plenty of animal and plant species at the confluence of the Danube and the Drava. Walking along the wooden boardwalk, we arrived at the location of our program, an elongated forest lake, which we explored by crossing it by boat. Those with sharp eyes could spot a plethora of animals along the shore, from cormorants and golden jackals to white-tailed eagles. On the way back, we traveled on a tiny bus disguised as a tourist train to our somewhat larger bus, from where we arrived back at our hotel in Osijek for dinner.
On our last full day, a chronologically closer event was in focus, namely the Yugoslav War. We chose Vukovar as the location, which has become almost synonymous with the conflict, and is a shining symbol of the Croats’ awakening national consciousness and heroic stand. In the military technology park, which was previously a barracks, we could see some of the land and air vehicles, conventional and less conventional firearms, and stories of the defenders from the 87-day siege. Due to the scarce supplies and available raw materials, the locals tried to fashion weapons from various objects that could also be found in a home household, resulting in the 0.33-liter Karlovačko grenade filled with nails or the strangely shaped explosive cobbled together from working parts of World War II mines. After the park, we visited the cemetery on the outskirts of the city, which is also an important memorial site of the war. Here, the deceased of various nationalities from the battle—the Croats, Serbs, Hungarians, Rusyns, and many others who fought together—are buried side by side, with a simple white cross above their heads, similar to those found at World War memorial sites in the Low Countries. We lit candles and commemorated the fallen, then traveled to the most significant point of the city, the water tower. This location is also symbolic because the forces defending the settlement were able to resist almost anything, fighting virtually without food and medicine in the final days, and ultimately the city fell when the JNA began shelling the water tower. Despite the failure, the water tower did not collapse, and today we can see its post-war shape from the outside, while inside we could view an exhibition about the details of the battle. Our companions who were less afraid of heights could also trudge up to the top, from where almost the entire city can be seen. After a difficult day, we wanted to ease the mood in the evening after dinner with a negotiation simulation game, which might have seemed foreign to the teams at first, but they got into it well by the end and fought very cheerfully for their own victory. Following the camp closing in a good atmosphere, we headed home to Hungary the next morning.
Dominik Antal
You can view the photos of the camp in the Gallery.