Treibgut

Waking up in a new place, it feels like Belgrade by day is like a different city. It’s hot. Too hot. That doesn’t hold us back from going of all on our own missions exploring and wandering through the Serbian metropolis. By the time the sun disappeared behind the seven hills of Belgrade busy buzzing nightlife kicks in. Together with Nemanja, a local couchsurfing host and his friends Nina & Sinisha we are celebrating pirate drinking traditions with vino and cheap cocktails away from the posh touristic part of the shopping malls.

Although life goes on quite normal here, zou notice that this place was a warzone some ten years ago. Not only that on some houses a bomb had blown away 15 floors. But no. This feels like we are traveling east. A good vibe is what we get from all sides.

Launching at sunrise. A steaming hot day once more. The Danube has widened up some more. Sharp calculations by the crew predict by the time we reach Belgrade we are going to run out of cookies, petrol, bread, garlic and all other important goods.

After a quick check by suspicious forces of the the river police we get saved with a pack of welcome-to-Belgrade super cookies by some happy old fisherman. Thumbs up.

we the last bit of energy we do the Danube city circle tour being rather indecisive where to land till out of the blue we find the secret pirate headquarter. Dorcol. A small shabby marina on the mouth of the river Sava on the foot hills of the impressive fortress Kalemegdan.

Basic, free but piratey. here the local rivermen enjoy themselves playing chess, cooking together and most important drinking from sunrise to sunset. Most of them could be our grandfathers.

With lots of helpful advice we go for a walk to Belgrade downtown ready to fill our bellies with all culinaric specialties the capital has to offer.

Novi Sad 1259

Once again we enjoy the rich offers at the local market in Novi Sad. Basic needs and veggies are fresh and cheap and you can be sure not to leave that place hungrily.. Old women let you taste everything *proba!proba!* and even if it is before midday you have to taste their delicious home-made rakija (schnaps)..

For we really liked the fortress Petro Varadin, we put all of the yummy food together and went up there again. What an impressive area! You can really imagine the huge amount of people living there once, former horse stables are now used as ateliers where you don’t pay any rent and if you’d play hide and seek it would take you years to find someone.. Tunnels and grassy walls, steep cobble stone paths and hidden doors which give you a thrill when you open them – because of the squeaking sounds they produce.. Sitting on the edge of the castle walls and enjoying the outrageous view and the colourful skies, we let our feet dangle in the air and have a great picnic in the evening sun.

Novi Sad 1259

We all have a sleep in after that long night. Strolling around in the city we find a sweet little fish restaurant where we treat ourselves with a really nice dinner.

Novi Sad 1259

While the guys take all dirty clothes to the laundry having a few problems finding one on a Saturday afternoon, the girls are hanging out on the boat enjozing a cold drink and writing down philosophical somethings. After all the washing is put over the railing, on chairs and on every possible and impossible place, evening plans are discussed and the weather changes rapidly. It starts raining, first a little bit but suddenly big drops begin to fall from the dark sky.

That’s when we decide to leave the water and get on the run to Petro Varadin – the big fortress on the hill facing Novi Sad and the Danube, where an electro party supposed to take place. The taxi driver drops us somewhere in the middle of historic walls – in the pouring rain. It is not easy at all to find that club. So we were soaked through and through when we finally entered the arches of the “Bastion”.

Due to the thunderstorm the whole area was without electricity so everyone was sitting in the dark with no music and water still dripping from the hair. It was a really strange atmosphere, some people let their cell phones play a few trashy house music and you could hear every word around.. After an hour or so the current was restablished and the party started. It was a long night in the fancy Serbian underground club with relatively expensive drinks, lots of hous and minimal music and a beautiful sunrise on the way home.

Backa Palanka 1299 – Novi Sad 1259

Beatiful morning, waking up in the middle of the moss green lake of Backa Palanka you cant miss the refreshing morning swim. After the usual necessities and preparations we’re floating down the now broader and more polluted stream.

With estimated 45 degrees our brain and body cells start melting or rather boiling…

At sunset we reach Novi Sad, first big Serbian city, welcomed by a cool elderly man who gave us a nice bottle of wine because he liked our “Huckleberry Finn concept” so much.

Friday night Novi Sad downtown checking out boys, girls and bars in the crowded streets of the city center. We find out: Serbia rocks! For there is music everywhere our lost sailor – now legally here- has a problem working out where the crew is hanging out.

DoM JE TAM0 GDE JE DUNAV!

My home is where the Danube is!

Vucovar 1333 to Backa Palanka 1299

A morning walk to the police station – what we*d do without them? – enables us to leave Croatia behind. Due to different issues (getting a passport and going back to work again) two pirates leave the Keks. It was so fucking hot that we are pretty happy to be on the windy water again!

At km 1313 it gets philosophical: Can you catch a moment? And: What is it? How is time related to space? Is time a fix measurand or more or less a complex landscape with individual skies, personal mountains, technical frames and the human wish of control? Can you stretch it and if so – is that where the wholes in time come from?

No matter how the discussion goes, time is passing by and we reach the beautiful lake of Backa Palanka, with beaches full of families and a general holiday weekend summer frisbee ice-cream feeling in the air. We drop anchor right in the middle of the lake, jump into the shimmery soft water and have a loud and funny visitor – making conversation with hands, feet and dobre (fits into every phrase to express agreement and general positive attitude.

Serbian backwater 1380 – Vukovar 1333

Two of us are still awake when the sun  shows up. Three grumpy pirates start the engine to flee from the worst mosquito attac ever!Floating through the foggy landscape – accompanied by egrets and wafts of mist fading in the early morning’s twilight – the first pilot falls asleep and wakes up watching upstream. Navigation does not really get better before breakfast.

on our compulsory walk to the police station we explore weird signs of the past: bombed buildings tell stories about the war we can hardly remember and still dont know much about. Houses facing the street with wild green growing out of windows and doors and the naked skeletons of formerly elegant buildings, next to renovated insurance agencies, supermarkets and brand new hotels. Bizarre aspects of a new beginning like a fancy lingerie store in a last century style mansion full of bullet holes make us wonder about the scars of war, the time of recovering and the way people deal with it.

In contrast to all that we bumped into a bunch of funny people organizing a film festival with open air screenings on deck of an old cargo ship.  Funny enough, they show the German movie “Berlin calling” at the official festival opening tonight. For us, it’s like home entertainment as we towed the * Keks* to the freighter’s side and enjoy the film from our sun deck.

Our two illegal Serbia hoppers have an early start. Well-equipped with necessary and important stuff (identity card, cell phone, daypack, water) they wander downstream in the morning light. While the rest of the crew has an audience at the police station once again (hirarchy rules!) amd get back their passports, our semi-legal friends spend an exciting day and cross borders without valid papers. Swimming from the Serbian to the Croatian riverside, suffering heat and mosquito attacks, fighting their way through djungly swamp lands, theu are quite down when we give them a hand to get on bord again. We had no idea what would expect us when we found a perfect looking sandy beach where we wanted to stay for the night. It started during s