Rainy Night in Vrnačka Banja, and WW2 Monument

Since we didn’t want to spend another night in our dirty apartment we booked a place for one night up the road about 45 minutes closer to our following destination. After I booked I realized it was a studio, not a one bedroom place. Because I’m a restless poor sleeper and Jim can be a noisy sleeper I always book a 2 bedroom place or a one bedroom with a sofa bed in the living room. Alas, I goofed but at least it was just for one night.

We arrived in the spa town at about 5:30 and were surprised by how small the studio was. The owner’s vivacious sister met us and was enthusiastic when we used our basic Serbian. She stayed long enough to give us basic info and take our money. She never bothered to take photos of our passports (neither did the guy in the dirty house).

The woman who owns the place owns 5 apartments around town. She was clearly more interested in decorating than in maximizing the use of the small space, but it was very clean. All the available flat surfaces where a traveler might be able to put their stuff were covered with candles and doo-dads making them useless. There literally was no good spot for our two suitcases on the floor and we were frequently stepping over things and moving stuff around in order to accomplish various tasks.  Also, this was one of those places that only had a partial door around the shower so it was impossible to not get the floor wet even with careful conservative showering. But we were grateful to be out of the prior place even if this one was not ideal.

We walked a few blocks to a restaurant that turned out to be quite good but our older waiter never smiled and seemed annoyed to have to serve us. We walked home in light rain and soon after we went in side the wind picked up and it rained harder much of the night with some occasional thunder and lightening mixed in.

Given the tiny cooking space and that there was no fry pan we opted to go downstairs to the burek bakery on the first floor. We bought a beef filled savory pastry and two sweet pastries. 

We didn’t have time to explore the spa town at all but it looks nice-lots of trees and at the base of small forested mountains. I would consider stopping there again and staying longer. They have a ‘Love Fest’ every August. I have no idea what that is but it sounds intriguing.

The drive to Bajina Bašta took about 3.5 hours and the whole trip was on a relatively small road, a bit rough in places, but scenic. It rained or drizzled some of the way but never too hard. Our route took us through the Ovčar Banja canyon, a scenic gorge with over 30 monasteries (built since the 14th century) and spas along the river and hidden in the trees on the steep hillsides. It is referred to as the Mt. Athos of Serbia. We stopped here on one of our earlier trips and would like to spend more time here again some day.

When we later drove on surface streets through the city of Užice we wondered what the horrible stench in the air was from. It smelled like sewer and dead things. We hoped it wasn’t coming from the river. The city is in a lovely spot and the buildings and houses are built on the steep hills of the area. Mining is the biggest industry and some of the mountainsides nearby are scarred with large ugly mining operations. It brings up the age old issue of how we humans in our great numbers can live well and meet our needs in the ways we are accustomed without ruining the land, air and water that all Life depends upon. 

We stopped on the top of a pass well beyond the city at a monument to soldiers from the area who fought in WW 2. Serbia is full of monuments in towns, in woods, on hill tops and in seemingly random spots. Many are small and simple but some are grand. Most are made of concrete and often in the ‘brutalist’ style. This particular monument was the most aesthetically interesting and moving of any we have seen. When we arrived at the parking lot (only one other car, and one stray dog looking for food and love) the pass was misty and the surrounding hills hidden in fog which added to the melancholic feel of the site. We donned our rain coats (first time on the trip) and spent a half hour walking around the large site. The fog lifted briefly so we were able to get a glimpse of the steep green hills around us. Then we headed down the pass and into the small town of Bajina Bašta…

photos: tiny apartment, roaster next door behind a restaurant, sluggie, Ovčar canyon, approaching the monument in the mist, WW 2 monument, arriving in Bajina Bašta