Chapter 1
We are only at the beginning of our journey through the Balkans, but Belgrade is already behind us. It’s one of those capitals that is not worth spending more than a day in. Visiting it might give you a completely false impression of the country. There are too many gray, gloomy, featureless buildings that remind you of the unbreakable connection with the USSR. Although, if you look in the right direction, you can see what is typical for the whole of Serbia. First and foremost, of course, the “Pekara” (bakery in Serbian). It’s not that they love baked goods here - it’s just a part of everyday life. It’s what the day starts, continues, and ends with. As for love, it’s basketball. Even inside the main attraction of Belgrade, the Kalemegdan Fortress, there are several basketball courts.
And if you take these two traits as fundamental for describing Serbs, then I am probably even more Serbian than Russian.
After renting the car, we set off on a journey to immerse ourselves in completely different cares and thoughts.
What to visit? What dish to try? What’s this? Can we do this? Or should we eat this? Is it expensive? So, where will we stay for the night?
The next city, Novi Sad, swept away the first impressions of Serbia like a hurricane. All this unpleasant severity and strictness was blown back to Belgrade. The city, which to this day is practically located inside the fortress (at least on one side), immediately immerses you in times much more distant and romantic. Times when there were terrible wars and many (many, many) grim events, but they were so long ago that they are already perceived as fairy tales or legends, in which you even want to live yourself. You stand on the fortress wall, looking down at the river and the city, at the tiled roofs of houses and the little churches peeking out here and there, and time unfolds its flow. A time machine, which is available to us right now.
New day and new direction - Subotica (Saturday in Serbian). And suddenly a sign announcing another turn says “Sombor.” Amid unfamiliar names, this word inexplicably sticks in my mind. It’s the hometown of NBA champion Nikola Jokic! Who, by the way, is known for his love for his homeland.
We checked that we would have to make quite a detour, and besides, we had already passed it, so we decided to continue on. But as we approached Subotica, another sign suggested changing direction and heading to Sombor. However, we weren’t easily swayed, so we confidently drove past.
Subotica is like a gingerbread town, especially its center. Very sweet and almost toy-like. A shining example of how important a good mayor is. Thanks to the right vision, a palace was built there from those times of knights and wizards, which still attracts many tourists to this day. Even McDonald’s, inside of it, doesn’t spoil the impression. Musicians welcoming approaching weddings (we arrived in the city on a Saturday) with lively music familiar to us from Kusturica’s films remarkably complement the scene. Beautiful benches with national food blend organically into this carnival of impressions. But since the town is small, we managed to "swallow" it in half a day. And that’s when Sombor didn’t let us slip through its fingers. Changing our plans a bit, we decided to visit Jokic and spend the night in his town. Expecting nothing interesting, we simply hoped to pay our respects and continue our journey in the morning.
We checked in as planned, in the evening. And Sombor immediately caught us by surprise. We hadn’t even made it to the main street when we stumbled upon some kind of Serbian carnival (but with modern club music). We had never seen anything like it and didn’t expect it from what seemed to be a calm and quiet (according to all descriptions) little town. A regular open truck used for transporting furniture or construction materials had been handed over to the youth this time. Several large speakers, great music, an enthusiastic DJ, and suddenly you find yourself in the midst of a substantial crowd dancing to the rhythm. And all of this is happening on the main street of the city, surrounded by old buildings, churches, and cafes. Unforgettable impressions.
The website does not allow me to use any images within the text, here is a link to the illustration (in a cover-style):
https://www.instagram.com/p/C0RG0dxt1G5/
Since it was already evening, all I managed to do upon returning to the hotel was roughly plan a route for what interesting places to visit the next day. Initially, we thought we would just spend the night, but after such a burst of energy, we began to believe in destiny. Life Is a Miracle (a reference to our favorite film by Serbian director Emir Kusturica, “Life Is a Miracle”).
From there came the idea that we could meet Jokic himself. Well, even if not him, then at least visit the places that are somehow connected to him.
First and foremost, of course, graffiti. I had seen it in photos before. There is also a court where he often played. Next were his father’s stables and the hall of his basketball team, KK JOKIC. A plan that would take an hour or two considering the size of the town.
In the morning, we went to see the graffiti first. (Google Maps: Mural of Nikola Jokić)
Then we headed to his father’s stables. (Google Maps: Dream Catcher Horse Breeding)
On the way, we saw a horse-drawn cart. The "driver" was a stocky man of Jokic’s build. The carriage was very similar to the one he was on, in a famous video, when his coach Michael Malone came to hand over the MVP award. We had to turn around quickly and follow it. Of course, it wasn’t him. But until we had a real encounter with him, we doubted several people - whether they were Jokic or not. We even started to estimate how many “Jokic look-alikes” it would take to consider them as one real Jokic...
At the equestrian club, we hoped to at least go horseback riding. As it turned out, they didn’t deal with such trivial matters. They laughed at us and waved goodbye. But I found online that there should be a racecourse in the same area. It turned out to be a little further in. When we finally got there, they too drove us away, but I managed to find out that there would be races there at 3 p.m. today (the website was not working, and the schedule there was unclear). Obviously, this was the chance to meet Jokic. The question was whether this chance was worth staying in the town. We planned to leave around 11 a.m. While we were still unsure, we decided to visit the last place on the plan - the hall of his basketball team, KK JOKIC. (Google Maps: Hala Mostonga, Sombor)
We tried to squeeze through one door, but it was chained from the inside. We were about to leave, but we saw another door on the facade. There was no one in the hall, and we didn’t dare to go further. But at least we took a photo with the clown hat on the door - the symbol of the team. There, we also saw an open locker room. There were personal items in the lockers, but the lights were off, so we decided not to be intrusive and left the building.
Near this hall, there is also a public open-air swimming pool, and there our attention was drawn to a very interesting vehicle, the Polaris Slingshot. A 3-wheeled vehicle without a roof. Quite unusual for Serbia. But that didn’t necessarily mean anything. After all, there might be wealthy people in Serbia.
We were still leaning towards waiting for the horse races. And there wasn’t much else to do in Sombor, so we went to inquire if swim caps were needed for the pool. If not for the pool, we would have definitely left the city. The entrance fee turned out to be low, 250 dinars (~$3). They even suggested we go in and see if we are interested.
We entered, took a look... and saw Jokic sitting alone under a tree, so we thought, “Okay, the pool is nice, and the people seem decent.”
We went back to the car to get our swim trunks, and by the time we returned, Jokic’s younger brother was walking across the parking lot. And then a jeep pulled up, and a woman said to a child in English, “Look, daddy’s car” - pointing at the unusual vehicle.
They kept to the side of the pool and sunbeds, and we tried not to stare too much, so we just went about our business, swimming and sunbathing. The pool was great, the water was wonderful, and the music was lively. The atmosphere was superb. About an hour later, Jokic came to swim. There was also some tan guy with dreadlocks with him. Since we tried not to stare, only at a second glance we recognized Aaron Gordon. Nothing out of the ordinary, Aaron Gordon hanging out in a village in Serbia with Jokic.
An interesting fact, there were two categories of sunbeds by the pool: 150 dinars ($2) and VIP for 250 ($3). We opted for the 150 dinar ones. The Jokic "gang" was sitting by the pool where it was free. When they approached the pool, they just threw their things near the cheap sunbeds (about three meters from us) and jumped into the pool. So, with their children and wives, they collectively saved somewhere between 900 and 1500 dinars. And that was just from one trip to the pool! That’s how people become millionaires.
We do regret not asking for a photo now, but it didn’t feel appropriate in the pool, and the atmosphere there was very calm and pleasant. We didn’t want to disrupt it. The locals didn’t seem to make a big deal out of it either. The kids (who were brought there by two buses) were probably more impressed with Gordon’s hairstyle and tattoos than anything else. I’m not even sure if they knew who he was.
That’s when the idea came up to capture this moment in a vintage style. Artistically. And in my opinion, the artist did an excellent job capturing the stars and conveying the mood.
Jokic and Gordon soon left the pool, and we stayed to relax a bit longer. There were about 3 hours left until the horse races. Later, some guys from Jokic’s local basketball team, KK JOKIC, came to the pool. I googled it and checked. There’s a notable American player on their team, so now I’m sure. It seems that when we went to the hall, they were having a practice, which is why their stuff was scattered around.
Before the horse races, we also tried to visit what seemed to be Jokic’s favorite places to eat.
Old Brick Pub, Sombor - it turned out they didn’t have a kitchen (only drinks).
Restoran “Stari Slon” - it was too fancy and the prices were not typical for Sombor, more like Belgrade. Plus, time was running out, so we just took a look and moved on.
And finally, the horse races themselves. I feel obligated to say that it was kind of underwhelming and boring. (He has repeatedly stated that basketball is just a job for him, and his true love is horses.) You wait for about 20 minutes while they prepare, then they run a couple of laps, usually with an obvious favorite, and then you wait for another 20 minutes. The horses are beautiful, but they (the horses) clearly don’t seem to enjoy the races.
The only plus was that we finally saw two people wearing Jokic jerseys. At that moment, they were the first ones. Nowhere in Sombor, nor in Belgrade, could we spot anyone in "Jokic”,
We didn’t see Jokic himself at the races, but we weren’t really actively looking for him. We did see his father - he came out a couple of times for the awards ceremony. Later, in the news, we found photos of Jokic and Gordon from these races. Most likely, we left too early. After all, we had already achieved our maximum goal at that point. Plus, the scorching sun was not very kind in that arena.
So, that’s pretty much it. This day from our multi-day trip around the Balkans impressed us the most. A day spent in a town we hadn’t even planned to visit.
Alexander
