THE EXCURSION TO KOVIN AND SMEDEREVO
The NUSANTARA Association of Serbian-Indonesian friendship already initiated the season of its travels scheduled for 2018 at the end of this March – it offered its members an excursion rich in diverse activities.
On Saturday, March 31st, NUSANTARA first found itself in Kovin, touring a fortress within „The Ancient Town“ cultural and historical complex, giving its name to this entire site. Another singularity of the mentioned complex is the „Mock-up of the Danube’s flow“ – such a mock-up of a river is unique both in Serbia and worldwide. Elaborated in the ratio of 1:100, all relevant places the Danube crosses along its transition through Serbia have been marked along its 146-meter lengthy course.
After a brief break at the „Plamen grad“ restaurant providing also an overnight stay, NUSANTARA went to visit the „Delta Danube“ Indonesian company, located within the Industrial zone of Kovin. On that occasion, Mr. Sunil Mamgai, general manager of the firm, was given a painting entitled „Belgrade“. The painting represents a donation of Mrs. Jevrosima Lukić, member of the NUSANTARA Association of Serbian-Indonesian friendship. The opportunity was well used for providing both publicity for the NUSANTARA Association of Serbian-Indonesian friendship itself and promotion for Mrs. Lukić, whose artistic work was unknown to a great number of the NUSANTARA Association members as well.
From his part, on behalf of the „Delta Danube“ company, Mr. Mamgai offered to each of his visitors that Saturday a kilo of mushrooms produced in the firm that he leads.
The following destination of the excursion that Saturday was „Zlatni breg“, summer house of the Obrenović dinasty, located on the Plavinac hill near Smederevo. The mansion belongs to the State of Serbia; along with three more edifices, it has been counted among residential buildings of the Government of the Republic of Serbia. This was already the second time that NUSANTARA was given a special permission that makes possible entering the Obrenović estate, open for the public since 2015 – the first visit was carried out in October 2016.
In the surroundings of Smederevo there is also the „Janko“ wine cellar, another object members of the NUSANTARA Association of Serbian-Indonesian friendship were given a chance to visit on the last Saturday of March. The wine cellar belongs to Mr. and Mrs. Vasić, and Mrs. Vasić took her visitors for a tour around the facilities and made them familiar with the capacity of the wine cellar and the range of produced wines in there. For those interested, there was organized tasting of wines signed by the „Janko“ wine cellar.
What followed was a tour of the Smederevo Fortress in a company of an accredited guide. NUSANTARA experienced a first-hand encounter not solely with the remnants of the walls of the capital city of what used to be the Serbian Despotate, but also private chambers of despot Đurađ Branković, in front of which the stage scenery after the „Nemanjići“ TV series shooting still remain.
The excursion that Saturday ended with a visit to the Rajinovac monastery, one of four Belgrade monasteries. The Rajinovac monastery in Grocka is insufficiently known to the public, so this tour was a revelation of its kind to members of the NUSANTARA Association of Serbian-Indonesian friendship.
Biljana Đorđević