Dear world travelers, my dear #Worldmappin friends, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Somehow I have the impression that this is my first real #winterchallenge, because the temperature is exactly what I'm used to feeling in winter, below zero.
In our country, which is predominantly of the Orthodox Christian faith and where church holidays are celebrated according to the Julian calendar, Christmas is celebrated 14 days after Christmas celebrated by Catholics, that is, on the seventh day after New Year's Eve.
For this reason, at the end of December, we have no reason to celebrate and rest. Then we still work.
Only on December 31st, we turn off our laptops, close our shops and go on vacation for a few days.
And how can I or someone from my environment see the Christmas market afterwards? So that he goes to a neighboring country.
I did that two weeks ago and visited the Christmas market in Szeged, Hungary.
Since winter is here, the New Year is knocking on the door, and the people who want to experience such a festive mood in their country and their city, local authorities and businessmen (capitalists who extract abnormal profits from this wish of the people), organize our "Christmas and New Year's parties" markets.
One of the largest New Year's markets in Belgrade, is set up in the area of Belgrade Waterfront, a newly built part of the city.
A part of the city that is not popular with the natives, but I, as such, still walk along the promenade, unlike when there was nothing else there but abandoned warehouses and dumpsters with rats.
Today it is a modern and well-organized part of the city.
With BW "Winter Fairy Tale".
On a large area between high solitaires and newly built buildings, there is an area where, in the second half of December and the first week of January, a large number of visitors, children accompanied by their parents, flock.
A large stage has been set up on which various concerts are held, and when there are no concerts, Christmas and New Year's films are projected.
When we were walking, one such movie was being shown.
Do you recognize which movie it is? My favorite Christmas movie.
The scene when Kate (mom) screams "Kevin" on the full plane always makes me cry 🤣
In front of the stage there is a seating area, straw covered with warm soft blankets, and a little further, a seating area around lit fires.
I noticed that the organizer had prepared for this winter, I came across a large pile of firewood.
The smell of burning and warming wood attracts visitors who recline in lounge chairs and drink mulled wine, while the smoke that spreads around the fire repels everyone who did not sit near the fire 🤣
We didn't find a place on the deckchairs, so we didn't even take mulled wine.
We visited the houses selling food and sweets and got a portion of mini chocolate covered donuts and Plazma biscuits.
What kind of meals will follow in the following days, we'd better reduce the intake of sweets a bit 😁
A skating rink has been set up on the plateau, and there is a space for renting skates.
Children, young and old skate to the rhythm of Christmas carols.
A special part of the "Winter Fairy Tale" is the part with the Coca Cola setting.
There you can find various Santa Clauses (the most beautiful one, from Coca Cola commercials) and you can take a picture with him.
If you are not a child (unfortunately 🙂), you can find entertainment in a large number of stands that sell alcohol, from mulled wine and gin to beer and brandy.
And the little ones find interest by playing in the little white houses or in the game world "The game lives within us".
Some kids chase each other around the giant figures of sparrows, the former symbol of Belgrade (of which, unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer, they were destroyed and chased away by larger birds...).
Of everything I saw here, the New Year's lights and beautifully decorated paths and tree branches left the strongest impression on me.
I have seen this van with a bear driver before, and it looks really nice, like everything in this complex dedicated to winter and New Year's holidays.
Although the whole country is in chaos at the moment, there are protests every day (led by student organizations), the streets are blocked in commemoration of the victims of the collapse of the overpass in Novi Sad, and the protesting people (and there are a lot of them, as you can see on my last week's post or somewhere in the news), yet for a little entertainment, people gather in places like this.
Honestly, it is not clear to me why such places are not boycotted at this moment, but how can they be boycotted when they represent a little entertainment in a difficult period.
Let me exclude politics from this post and not burden you with heavy topics.
It will probably be read by someone who wants to visit Belgrade as a tourist and some of the squares where a large number of visitors from the region and the world gather, and someone will perhaps come to BW and walk around the "Winter Fairy Tale" of our Belgrade.
If you encounter crowds and street blockades, do not despair and be patient, the blockades last only 15 minutes a day (there were so many victims in Novi Sad), and know that those people who are protesting are doing it in the hope that we can change something, for the better and more beautiful the future and our lives.
