A Birthday Bonanza in Donji Milanovac.

A Birthday Bonanza in Donji Milanovac.

July 2021.

It was a 46-minute drive from Golubac to Donji Milanovac. On this particular taxi ride we were more grateful than ever to be doing the journey privately in a cool vehicle as the summer temperatures had gone up an extra couple of notches. In short, it was HOT.

Our third and final base of the trip, Donji Milanovac is a bit bigger than both Golubac and Veliko Gradište with a population of around 2400. Located on the south bank of the Danube and the right bank of Lake Đerdap, it lies surrounded by lush deciduous forest with its many trails into Đerdap National Park.

Wanting to absorb as much of this beauty as possible, we’d booked a room at a family run guesthouse up in the hills above the town centre. And it was at the guesthouse gates that our driver dropped us before disappearing back down the twisty road. 

Immediately we saw that Gajanović Rooms was a good choice. A sprawling property set around a gorgeous garden, we made our way past the sleeping dogs up to our small but cosy second floor room.

Ok, there was hardly room to swing a cat. But the joint did have its own bathroom and, crucially, an air-con unit to deal with the stifling heat.

A Birthday Bonanza in Donji Milanovac.

Best of all was the balcony outside our door and the views across the lake and various hilltop communities. And that’s where we settled for a bit as soon as we’d dropped off our bags.

We were just thinking it couldn’t get any better when our hostess appeared with a pair of ice-cold drinks. The family produces the syrup themselves from their own small cherry orchard.

In fact, we were so impressed we decided to buy a bottle and keep it in the room.

Truth be told we could’ve gladly stayed on the balcony for the rest of the day. But alas we were hungry and the guesthouse didn’t do food. Thus we reluctantly dragged ourselves out into the heat for the walk down to the town centre. It was ridiculously hot but luckily the path was mostly shaded. On arrival we found the main street, Kralja Petra Prvog, utterly deserted.

And no wonder. While we knew it was hot, the local pharmacy informed us just how roasting: 42.2 degrees!!!

A Ferocious Summer’s Afternoon.

With this in mind we figured it wise to go straight to our restaurant of choice. Along the way we paused momentarily to check out several street murals. Firstly a tribute to Saint Pantaleon, one of the so-called Fourteen Holy Helpers. The other celebrates the life of Starina Novak, a 16th century war hero famed for his bravery in various battles against The Ottomans.

Before long we were gratefully sat in the shade of the terrace at Restaurant Poreč.

Poreč was the name of the town back in the 17th century before it changed to Donji Milanovac. We had read several reviews claiming this was one of the town’s best eateries, so we crossed our fingers and took the plunge. It was not at all busy, just one other couple enjoying a mid-afternoon meal.

After some perusing we decided on the local speciality, a tangy fish soup  served with warm bread straight out of the oven. A glass of lemonade meanwhile provided a pleasing and cooling contrast.

We also went for a plate of fried chicken drizzled in mayonnaise and a bowl of mixed salad. Everything was solid and we left with happy, full stomachs.

A Birthday Bonanza in Donji Milanovac.

After the meal we agreed that neither of us had much interest in adventuring. We had been on the go for a week and figured it was high time for a rest. It was my 43rd birthday and I couldn’t think of a more fitting way to celebrate than to get back to our hilltop balcony. Sladja’s birthday was the next day, so I had cunningly arranged for the host to make us a cake.

Happily, the delightful chocolate beast was on hand to greet us upon our return.

And so the afternoon played out at our hilltop home. We showered, watched a movie and drank glass after glass of cherry juice. We sat gazing out at the hills with another wedge of chocolate cake.

The sunset was magical that evening. It lit up the entire lake, bathing the surrounding homes in a captivating orange glow.

It was all so mesmerising even the house spider had come out to enjoy the show.

On Sladja’s birthday we treated ourselves to a lie-in and a late breakfast of filter coffee and chocolate cake. Just because. As longtime readers may remember Sladja loves visiting ancient archaeological sights and in this respect she enjoyed a particularly special birthday treat.

Indeed our visit to Lepenski Vir, Europe’s oldest planned settlement, was a memorable one and gets its own article out next Sunday.

Birthday Vibes.

After our visit we returned home to freshen up and down a few glasses of juice on the balcony. It was midafternoon and at long last the temperatures had dropped a bit. Hence we decided to seize the day and get out onto a nearby trail for some hiking in Đerdap National Park.

We opted to take The Educational Trail, a forest and farmland path that winds around the hills and through a number of farms and hamlets. Here and there educational boards illuminated us as to what kinds of trees, plants, flowers and animals we might see along the way.

And it wasn’t long before we found ourselves in the midst of local forest life. First came the sound of a busy woodpecker. Then the briefest glimpse of a kestrel gliding above a cluster of dense branches. Next it was a bulky beetle scuttling across the path.

Then, much to our surprise and delight, we came upon a giant turtle plodding right towards us. Quite unconcerned, it seemed, by any sense of potential danger.

In just a kilometre the forest path had given way to a dirt track running through rolling country fields. A stunning variety of trees kept us company, including walnuts, evergreens, yews, European nettles, Balkan Beeches and Turkish hazels.

A Birthday Bonanza in Donji Milanovac.

While I’m not entirely sure what kind of tree this is, it stood at one of our favourite spots of the trail. Resting under its gnarled branches, we enjoyed a wonderful angle of the fields and a glimpse of the lake beyond framed by distant hills.

There were also all manner of colourful wildflowers. And trees bearing cherries, peaches, apricots, olives, apples and plums.

As people who always crave quiet and solitude we were fantasising about what it would be like to build or renovate a cottage here and start a new life. But the various abandoned homes peppered around the trail suggested the answer is: not so easy.

Nevertheless, we did come upon a charming farmhouse. Snugly located on a sloping hill on the edge of some woods, the idealists in us couldn’t help but coo at the romanticism of such a peaceful rural existence. Even if deep down we understood that such a life must come with countless challenges.

The Educational Trail.

But any such associated hardships soon got swept aside as we laid eyes on mama cow…

…. Billy goat gruff…

…. and this wild-eyed cat who looked absolutely bewildered that we’d discovered her favourite napping station in the grass behind the garden fence.

A short while later we even came across Mr. Farmer himself. He was out working one of the fields with his giant red tractor. So absorbed was he in his task that he didn’t even notice us walking by, let alone catch us snatching this photo.

With the farm fading out of view behind us we pressed on into the sticky late afternoon. We had been wondering whether we might come across other hikers but this wasn’t the case and Mr. Farmer proved to be the only human we saw.

Eventually the trail loops back around towards Donji Milanovac. For much of the return leg we were plagued by swarms of midges that made the walk hard going for a while and resulted in less pauses for photography.

A Birthday Bonanza in Donji Milanovac.

But as we closed in on the trail’s final few kilometres their unwelcome attention thinned out. Which was great timing, as the sun had begun its gentle descent over Đerdap National Park.

With the early evening light dimming by the minute the first houses on the edge of the park came into view. From here it would be another half an hour back to our little room up in the hills.

As birthdays go we hadn’t done badly at all. In fact, we’d both had a grand time in this seemingly secretive corner of rural Serbia.

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