Survival Guide
Transcription
Survival Guide
SURVIVAL GUIDE Summer Course ‘15 BEST Belgrade WWW: Wiggle Wiggle Wordpress! INDEX 1. The country: Serbia 2. The city: Belgrade 3. How to get to Belgrade? 4. Worth keeping in mind 5. Weather 6. What to do before you come to Serbia 7. What to bring 8. Language 9. Useful numbers, addresses & contacts 1. The country: Serbia Serbia has always straddled between the East and West, not only in a geographical sense, but also politically and culturally. At first, Serbia found itself between the Byzantine and Roman empires, than it became a frontier between the Ottoman Empire and the Christian West. This centuries-long position in the path of conquering armies from both sides has led to constant migrations and the mixing of populations. The result is a multiethnic, multicultural and multi confessional society in Serbia. And even during communism the inhabitants of this region were somewhere between the Warsaw Pact and NATO. In contrast to other post-communist countries in the region, the people of Serbia have a more comprehensive education, a more contemporary approach to life, better knowledge of foreign languages and more readily accept new technologies and behavior. The Serbian people’s greatest contributions to science, art and culture were made by the individuals included on the list of the 100 most famous Serbs. The list was compiled in 1993 by an expert committee comprising academics from the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, which then published a book titled The 100 Most Famous Serbs. For the purpose of this tourism in Serbia website, a short-listed selection of famous personalities, who have special significance outside the borders of Serbia, has been compiled. A number of important individuals from recent history have also been added to the list and there is a section on contemporary individuals who have achieved worldwide fame. Some of them are: Nikola Tesla, Milutin Milanković, Mihajlo Pupin, they had a great contribution in world science. Typical Serbian It does not take long for foreign visitors to Serbia to discover the hospitality, kindness, openness and warmth of the country’s residents. Shaking hands, done using the right hand, is customary when being introduced or meeting somebody of either gender. Kissing is not a necessity when meeting somebody for the first time, but every time you meet from then on, if you have developed affection for the person in question, kissing three times on the cheeks is the order of the day in Serbia. Of course, nobody will object if you only kiss once or twice while giving a long and sincere hug. In Serbia, toasts are usually made with traditional rakija(brandy), often home-distilled. Toasts are made by clinking glasses, making direct eye contact and loudly proclaiming “Živeli!” A speech is usually only made on formal occasions, normally by the host, but a guest may give one, too. Serbs enjoy rich and very tasty food and normally have three meals a day, with lunch being the largest. Paying the bill in restaurants is a big part of the Serbian mentality. The host will almost never allow a guest to pay for lunch, dinner or drinks because it is customary for the host to take care of all expenses while a guest is staying with him or her. In contrast to the rest of Europe, there is no single day of the week in Serbia when you cannot have a night out and that holds true for all generations, for all lifestyles and musical tastes and for all available budgets. After a wild night out, somewhere around three or four o’clock in the morning, people continue onward in search of grilled meat or burek. Monetary and prices Money, currency and price level Currency: DINAR (RSD) Foreign currency exchange: At the time of writing this document, the exchange rates were: 1 € = 121.76 1$ = 106.40 Money can be exchanged in banks, exchange offices and post offices at the current rate of exchange. The only legal tender in Serbia is Serbian dinar. For the better orientation, this is how the Serbian dinar look like. Prices (in dinars): Product Price Wine 200-350 Beer 150-250 Cigarettes 150-250 Pizza slice 100-150 Hamburger (Pljeskavica) 100-200 Water 40-80 Serbian Cuisine Typical Breakfast Breakfast in Serbia is an early but hearty meal, although before breakfast most people usually take a cup of coffee, in modern time maybe an espresso. With the breakfast itself either a tea, milk, milk coffee, or cocoa milk is served, pastries or bread are served with butter, jam, yogurt, sour cream and cheese, accompanied by bacon, sausages, salami, scrambled eggs and kajmak. Various sorts of pastries (often with cheese or meat or filled with jam) (pogačice, paštete, kifle that in Serbian usage may or may not be crescent shaped and may be sweet, but, may also be sprinkled with salt crystals, kiflice, perece, buhtle, pletenice, štapići, zemičke, djevreci) and especially often: burek, proja, kačamak, popara, eggs (scrambled, fried, boiled). Meat products: čvarci (very tasty, but never ask what they’re maid of! ), smoked ham (pršuta), bacon (slanina), sausage (kobasice, čajna, kulen) Milk product: cheese, kajmak (must try!), yogurt, cream cheese Main course The main course is always a meat dish. Main courses which are not grilled include: Pečenje, Roasted meat (whole roasted pork, lamb and goat), Karađorđeva šnicla (breaded rolled steak stuffed with kajmak and occasionally sliced ham and cheese), Moussaka (Musaka, made with aubergines/eggplant, potatoes or zucchini), Podvarak (stewed sauerkraut, usually with meat and bacon pieces), Prebranac, baked beans in sauce, Sarma (stuffed cabbage rolls), Wedding cabbage, (Svadbarski kupus) (cabbage cooked with smoked pork) Roštilj (Barbecue) Pljeskavica (hamburger) National Dish, Ćevapčići (ground meat sticks) National Dish, Vešalica (grilled strips of pork loin), Various sausages, Mixed grill (mešano meso), Skewered kabobs (ražnjići), Leskovački roštilj (Leskovac grills). Traditional Drinks Non-alcoholic High quality and quantity of fruit and abundance of water result in a number of highquality fruit juices and mineral waters produced in Serbia, and being among its most widely known exports. There are few domestic carbonated soft drinks however. An interesting traditional soft drink, made from corn, now less commonly consumed is boza. Kvas is also being made by some breweries. Serbian coffee, Turkish coffee prepared the Serbian way (домаћа кафа 'domestic coffee' or кафа 'coffee'. Especially strong coffee (without sugar and milk) is often referred to as 'Turkish' or 'black' coffee) is a traditional drink of Serbs. Tea is far less popular and mostly herbal teas are consumed, drunk on their own or as supplementary medicine. Of dairies, yogurt is common, as are kefir and similar varieties. The famous Serbian Knjaz Milos mineral water is considered a national brand and can be used in any meal, also with the traditional greeting sweets "Slatko" Alcoholic Sljivovica is a famous alcoholic drink in Serbia Rakija Of distilled beverages, the most popular are various fruit brandies called rakija. Comparatively many people brew their own rakija, which is highly prized by friends and relatives. Rakija is famous for being smooth but very alcoholic and it is said that one cannot get a hangover from it. Serbian rakija is a prized commodity and is very difficult to find elsewhere in the world. Various kinds of rakija are named after fruit they are made of; among the most known ones are: Šljivovica (slivovitz, plum brandy), National Drink Lozovača (grape brandy) Viljamovka / Kruškovac (pear brandy) Klekovača, Jabukovača, applejack Stomaklija, Pelinkovac, (a wormwood liqueur milder than Absinthe) Medovaca (honey brandy) Beer Beer is widely enjoyed in Serbia, which has 14 breweries. Serbia the land of sports Everybody heard of Novak Đoković, the tennis player! Winner of 6 Grand slams, including Wimbledon 2012, former number one ATP player, and winner of many other tournaments. Serbian tennis team won Davis Cup in 2010. But it’s less known that we are very good at group sports. Serbia is famous for their waterpolo players, who are winning medals on every major European and World championships. Volleyball teams are also very successful, both men and women. Men team have golden medal from 2000 Olympic games. Serbia, the land of basketball. Serbia maybe most famous and consistently good in this sport. Imagine defeating the Dream team in the middle of America, in Indianapolis 2002 in quarterfinals. The whole Serbia celebrated that day (let’s better say morning, because of the time difference). Which ended by winning the golden medal on that World Champion. Sacramento King had one of their best teams in history while two Serbian players played there. Also the latest success of Serbian basketball team is a silver medal in the FIBA World Cup. Peđa Stojaković and Vlade Divac Ivana Spanović won the Prague 2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships (EAIC) with a jump of 6.98m. Asmir Kolašinac won a silver medal in shot putting at European Championship in Prague. These were just the most important, there are also many great individual athletes who are less famous. This is Old Palace, this is what it looks like when we meet our sportsmen after winning medals on tournaments, sportsmen are on the terrace There are approximately one-thousand sports facilities in Belgrade, many of which are capable of serving all levels of sporting events. Belgrade has hosted several major sporting events recently, including Eurobasket 2005, the 2005 European Volleyball Championship, the 2006 European Water Polo Championship, the European Youth Olympic Festival 2007, and the 2009 Summer Universiade. According to the European Arenas Association, the Belgrade Arena is the largest European indoor arena with capacity of 25,000. It is used for major sporting events and large concerts. In May 2008 it was the venue for the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest. 2. The city: Belgrade Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. Its name translates to White city. The city has a population of 1.23 million, while over 1.65 million people live in its metro area (which encompass administrative limits of City of Belgrade). One of the most important prehistoric cultures of Europe, the Vinča culture, evolved within the Belgrade area in the 6th millennium BC. In antiquity, Thraco-Dacians inhabited the region, and after 279 BC Celts conquered the city, naming it Singidūn. It was conquered by the Romans during the reign of Augustus, and awarded city rights in the mid 2nd century. It was settled by the Slavs in the 520s, and changed hands several times between the Byzantine Empire, Frankish Empire, Bulgarian Empire and Kingdom of Hungary before it became the capital of Serbian King Stephen Dragutin (1282–1316). In 1521, Belgrade was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and became the seat of the Sanjak of Smederevo. It frequently passed from Ottoman to Habsburg rule, which saw the destruction of most of the city during the Austro-Ottoman wars. Belgrade was again named the capital of Serbia in 1841. Northern Belgrade remained the southernmost Habsburg post until 1918, when the city was reunited. As a strategic location, the city was battled over in 115 wars and razed to the ground 44 times. Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia (in various forms of governments) from its creation in 1918, to its final dissolution in 2006. Belgrade has a special administrative status within Serbia and it is one of five statistical regions of Serbia. Its metropolitan territory is divided into 17 municipalities, each with its own local council. It covers 3.6% of Serbia's territory, and 22.5% of the country's population lives in the city. The city has been awarded many titles, and the nomination for European Capital of Culture 2020. Belgrade lies 116.75 metres (383.0 ft) above sea level and is located at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers. The historical core of Belgrade, Kalemegdan, lies on the right banks of both rivers. Since the 19th century, the city has been expanding to the south and east; after World War II, Novi Beograd (New Belgrade) was built on the left bank of the Sava river, connecting Belgrade with Zemun. Smaller, chiefly residential communities across the Danube, like Krnjača, Kotež and Borča, also merged with the city, while Pančevo, a heavily industrialized satellite city, remains a separate town. The city has an urban area of 360 square kilometres (140 sq mi), while together with its metropolitan area it covers 3,223 km2 (1,244 sq mi). Throughout history, Belgrade has been a crossroads between the West and the Orient. Capital of independent Serbia During the First Serbian Uprising, the Serbian revolutionaries held the city from 8 January 1807 until 1813, when it was retaken by the Ottomans. After the Second Serbian Uprising in 1815, Serbia reached semi-independence, which was formally recognized by the Porte in 1830. In 1841, Prince Mihailo Obrenović moved the capital from Kragujevac to Belgrade. With the Principality's full independence in 1878, and its transformation into the Kingdom of Serbia in 1882, Belgrade once again became a key city in the Balkans, and developed rapidly. Nevertheless, conditions in Serbia as a whole remained those of an overwhelmingly agrarian country, even with the opening of a railway to Niš, Serbia's second city, and in 1900 the capital had only 70,000 inhabitants (at the time Serbia numbered 1,5 million). Yet by 1905 the population had grown to more than 80,000, and by the outbreak of World War I in 1914, it had surpassed the 100,000 citizens, not counting Zemun which then belonged to Austria-Hungary The first-ever projection of motion pictures in the Balkans and Central Europe was held in Belgrade, in June 1896 by Andre Carr, a representative of the Lumière brothers. He shot the first motion pictures of Belgrade in the next year; however, they have not been preserved. After the world war I, Belgrade became the capital of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. The Kingdom was split into banovinas, and Belgrade, together with Zemun and Pančevo, formed a separate administrative unit. During the post world war II period, Belgrade grew rapidly as the capital of the renewed Yugoslavia, developing as a major industrial center. In 1948, construction of New Belgrade started. In 1958, Belgrade's first television station began broadcasting. In 1961, the conference of Non-Aligned Countries was held in Belgrade under Tito's chairmanship. In 1962, Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport was built. Culture Belgrade hosts many annual international cultural events, including the Film Festival, Theatre Festival, Summer Festival, Music Festival, Book Fair, and the Beer Fest. The Nobel Prize winning author Ivo Andrić wrote his most famous work, The Bridge on the Drina, in Belgrade. Other prominent Belgrade authors include Branislav Nušić, Miloš Crnjanski, Borislav Pekić, Milorad Pavić and Meša Selimović. Internationally Belgrade prominent artist: Marina Abramović and Milovan Destil Marković. Most of Serbia's film industry is based in Belgrade. FEST is an annual film festival that held since 1971, and, through 2013, had been attended by four million people and had presented almost 4,000 films. The city was one of the main centers of the Yugoslav New Wave in the 1980s: VIS Idoli, Ekatarina Velika, Šarlo Akrobata and Električni Orgazam were all from Belgrade. Other notable Belgrade rock acts include Riblja Čorba, Bajaga i Instruktori and Partibrejkers. Today, it is the center of the Serbian hip hop scene, with acts such as Beogradski Sindikat, Škabo, Marčelo, and most of the Bassivity Music stable hailing from or living in the city. There are numerous theatres, the most prominent of which are National Theatre, Theatre on Terazije, Yugoslav Drama Theatre, Zvezdara Theatre, and Atelier 212. The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts is also based in Belgrade, as well as the National Library of Serbia. Other major libraries include the Belgrade City Library and the Belgrade University Library. Belgrade's two opera houses are: National Theatre and Madlenianum Opera House. There are many foreign cultural institutions in Belgrade, including the Spanish Instituto Cervantes,[126] the German Goethe-Institut and the French Institut français, which are all located in the central pedestrian area of Knez Mihailova Street. Other cultural centers in Belgrade are American Corner, Austrian Cultural Forum, British Council, Chinese Confucius Institute, Canadian Cultural Center, Hellenic Foundation for Culture, Italian Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Iranian Culture Center, Azerbaijani Culture Center[137] and Russian Center for Science and Culture. European Union National Institutes for Culture operates a cluster of cultural centres from the EU. Following the victory of Serbia's representative Marija Šerifović at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, Belgrade hosted the Contest in 2008. Education Belgrade has two state universities and several private institutions of higher education. The University of Belgrade, founded in 1808 as the "Great School", is the oldest institution of higher learning in Serbia. Having developed with the city in the 19th century, quite a few University buildings are a constituent part of Belgrade's architecture and cultural heritage. With enrollment of nearly 90,000 students, the University is one of the Europe's largest. Nightlife Belgrade has a reputation for offering a vibrant nightlife; many clubs that are open until dawn can be found throughout the city. The most recognizable nightlife features of Belgrade are the barges (splav), spread along the banks of the Sava and Danube Rivers. Many weekend visitors prefer Belgrade nightlife to that of their own capitals, due to a perceived friendly atmosphere, great clubs and bars, cheap drinks, and the lack of restrictive night life regulation. A more traditional Serbian nightlife experience, accompanied by traditional music known as Starogradska (roughly translated as Old Town Music), typical of northern Serbia's urban environments, is most prominent in Skadarlija, the city's old bohemian neighborhood where the poets and artists of Belgrade gathered in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Skadar Street (the centre of Skadarlija) and the surrounding neighbourhood are lined with some of Belgrade's best and oldest traditional restaurants (called kafanas in Serbian), which date back to that period. Famous alternative clubs include Akademija and the famed KST (Klub Studenata Tehnike), located in the basement of the University of Belgrade Faculty of Electrical Engineering. Here is held annual pre New Year’s maskenball, the biggest party of the year. The Times reported that Europe's best nightlife can be found in buzzing Belgrade. In the Lonely Planet "1000 Ultimate Experiences" guide of 2009, Belgrade was placed at the 1st spot among the top 10 party cities in the world. Places to visit The historic areas and buildings of Belgrade are among the city's premier attractions. They include Skadarlija, the National Museum and adjacent National Theatre, Zemun, Nikola Pašić Square, Terazije, Students' Square, the Kalemegdan Fortress, Knez Mihailova Street, the Parliament, the Church of Saint Sava, and the Old Palace. On top of this, there are many parks, monuments, museums, cafés, restaurants and shops on both sides of the river. The hilltop Avala Monument and Avala Tower offer views over the city. Elite neighborhood of Dedinje is situated near the Topčider and Košutnjak parks. Beli Dvor ('White Palace'), house of royal family Karađorđević, is open for visitors. The palace has many valuable artworks. Nearby, Josip Broz Tito's mausoleum, called The House of Flowers documents the life of the former Yugoslav president. Ada Ciganlija is a former island on the Sava river, and Belgrade's biggest sports and recreational complex. Today it is connected with the right bank of the Sava via two causeways, creating an artificial lake. It is the most popular destination for Belgraders during the city's hot summers. There are 7 kilometres (4 miles) of long beaches and sports facilities for various sports including golf, football, basketball, volleyball, rugby union, baseball, and tennis. During summer there are between 200,000 and 300,000 bathers daily. 3. How to get to Belgrade By plane Airport Belgrade “Nikola Tesla” Official website of the airport: Address: Aerodrom Beograd BB, 11271 Surčin Information phone number: +381 11 209 4444 The airport is located 12 km west of Belgrade, near Surčin. There are three ways to come from Airport to Center of Belgrade. 1. By public transport City bus number 72, drives from 05:20 am till 00:00 am, departs every 32 minutes. Starting point of this bus is in front of the Departure gate. Ticket price is 150 RSD. It's a cheapest way to get to the city center, bus stop “Zeleni Venac” which is the last stop of this bus line. 2. Shuttle bus A1 You also have shuttle bus from airport to the Slavija square, and if you use this bus it will be a lot easier for us to pick you up. You can find the timetable for this bus on this link: The timetable from airport to the Slavija square is under “Polasci sa aerodroma Nikola Tesla – red vožnje This bus costs 300 RSD and it’s little bit less than 3 euros. 3. Taxi transportation (prices are not constant, but they are usually maximum 20e, from the airport, to town center) By train If you are traveling by train, you can find out more information about railways to Belgrade at this website: http://www.bahn.de/i/view/overseas/en/index.shtml Belgrade Central Railway Station is located in the center of Belgrade, next to Belgrade Bus station. Address: Savski trg 2, 11000 Belgrade Call center: +381 11 3602 899 (every day from 06:00AM to 10:00PM) By bus Belgrade Bus Station is the only bus station in Belgrade and it is located in the center, next to Belgrade Central Railway Station. Website: http://www.bas.rs/basweb_eng/redvoznje.asp Address: Železnicka 4, 11000 Belgrade Phone: +381 11 2636 299; +381 11 2627 146 (from 07:00AM to 08:00PM, weekends from 08:00AM to 03:00PM) Other useful information about bus lines to Belgrade, you can find on these websites: http://www.eurolines.com http://touring.de/index.php?id=2&L=1 By car Belgrade is often referred to as the crossroads of Europe. The network of international roads E-75 and E-70 connects Belgrade to all of the neighboring capital cities. Map of toll stations in Serbia - http://www.putevi-srbije.rs/pdf/naplatne_stanice.pdf Information about toll collection - http://www.putevi-srbije.rs/en-gb/sector-fortechnical-operations/sector-for-toll-collection Fuel prices in Serbia (prices are in RSD): 5. Weather Weather in Serbia In the north, continental climate (cold winters and hot, humid summers with well distributed rainfall); central portion, continental and Mediterranean climate; to the south, Adriatic climate along the coast, hot, dry summers and autumns and relatively cold winters with heavy snowfall inland. Belgrade Belgrade has a continental climate with cold winters (temperatures often go down to 5°C) and hot summers (goes up to above 35°C). Springs and autumns are very pleasant with temperatures ranging between 15°C and 25°C. The climate table for Belgrade represents conditions in lowland areas of Serbia. Although this table shows many days with rain during the summer months, the rain is often of a showery, thundery type so that the hours of sunshine in summer are not all that fewer than on the Adriatic coast. 6. What to do before you come to Serbia Inform organizers about your: Arrival and departure time and place Special food requirements T-shirt size o Take care of both medical and travel insurance o Check if your country has any agreement with Serbia o Don’t forget your ID card and take care of your documents! 7. What to bring Yourself Passport and visa (if you need one) ID card International Student Identity Card (ISIC) Medicine (if needed) Towel, toothbrush and condoms Formal clothes for opening and closing ceremony Alcohol, food and clothes for International Evening Camera and cable This Survival Guide Good mood and BEST spirit 8. Language Two alphabets are used to write the Serbian language: a variation of Cirillyc alphabet and also variation of the Latin alphabet. Serbian orthography is very consistent: approximation of the principle “one letter per sound”. Now some basic Serbian English Serbian Hello/Bye Zdravo/Ćao Good morning Dobro jutro Good afternoon Dobar dan Good evening Dobro veče How are you? Kako si? My name is... Zovem se.../Ja sam... Nice to meet you Drago mi je Thank you Hvala See you tomorrow Vidimo se sutra Yes/No/Perhaps Da/Ne/Možda Numbers 0 zero 1 jedan 2 dva 3 tri 4 četiri 5 pet 6 šest 7 sedam 8 osam 9 devet 10 deset 100 sto 1000 hiljadu 1000000 milion Now something a little advanced (might be useful onn the street, in the shop or bar) English Serbian What time is it? Koliko je sati? I don’t speak Serbian? Ne govorim Srpski I don’t understand Ne razumem Where is/are Gde je/su Street/Squre Ulica/Trg Where is the toilet? Gde je toalet? Please Molim te Exit Izlaz Train/Bus/Taxi Voz/Autobus/Taksi Exchange office Menjačnica Money Pare/Novac How much is it? Koliko košta? What is this? Šta je to? I want this! Hoću to! Cheers! Živeli! Wine/Beer/Water Vino/Pivo/Voda Coffee/Milk/Tea Kafa/Mleko/Čaj May I have the menu/ Mogu li da dobijem meni/ Bill, please? Račun, molim vas? It’s very hot in here Baš je vruće ovde Let’s go out and have some fresh air Hajdemo napolje da udahnemo malo svežeg vazduha I can give you a lift home if you want Mogu da te odvezem kući ako hoćeš He is boring! Koji smarač! Bro, she’s so hot! Kakva riba brate! 9. Useful numbers, addresses and contacts Police Number 192 Fire Department 193 Ambulance 194 Taxi service +381 11 19801 +381 11 19803 Address of BEST Belgrade office: Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy Karnegijeva 4, 11000 Belgrade Phone number: +38111 337 05 45 Board mail: [email protected] Some useful links BEST Belgrade www.best.rs Also, if you have any questions or suggestions do not hesitate to contact us, we are available 24/7! Main Organizer Katarina Smiljanic +381 64 38 30 460 [email protected] President Miloš Đurić +381 64 323 76 85 [email protected]