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On the road with us to a farm near Mionica

Date: 10.2.2020.
Reading time: min.

Everyday hustle and bustle of the city and urban lifestyle where we do not have time to find our peace, even for a short while, force us to “seek salvation” in the nature at the weekend. Countryside, however, is not only return to the nature, but also to traditions and to the roots.

On a new chapter of our trip through Serbia, our hosts were Predrag, Dana i Ivana, owners of the rural household Petrović in the village of Paštrić, on the slopes of Divčibar. For over ten years now, they have been successfully developing rural tourism trying to maintain the traditional way of life of their ancestors.

Rural life

This rural farm spreads over the territory of 4 hectares and, in addition to the residential house and auxiliary buildings, includes “A Stone museum” and “A House of homemade tea”. Predrag, the host, biologist by trade, is also a researcher and farmer; he is a conscious man who took the decision to replace the life in the city with a life in the countryside, come back to his hometown and maintain and improve the household. Everything is natural with the Petrović family, they produce or collect from the surrounding natural resources almost everything they need to live and develop tourism. Here you will eat home-made bread baked in the oven, home-made cheese and kajmak (traditional creamy diary product), bacon, kavurma (fried or sautéed meat dish), drink homemade juice… Dependent on the season of the year when you stay in this nature’s oasis, you can participate in various workshops and learn how these products are made and come back home with ajvar that you have made yourself or a bottle of rakija you produced together with the host.

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On the road with us to a farm near Mionica

Home cooking

It is difficult to put in words what we saw at the table, and the principal “culprit” was Dana Petrović, the hostess, a genuine artist who uses her culinary prowess to serve the most delicious dishes made of home-grown fruits and vegetables according to our grandmothers’ recipes.

After a welcome coffee with plum sweets in the company of Peca and Dana, we were simply forced to sit at a table and try homemade potato and leek pie, still “smoking” just out of the oven. Talking about this combination of the pie and homemade sour milk is merely ungrateful, it is something you have to experience and taste. We then asked Dana what she usually cooks for tourists.

 

I mostly prepare homemade dishes traditional for the countryside, home soups and stews with meat or vegetables, beans, sarma, stews, and homemade bacon, cheese and kajmak as appetizers…

In exactly that order our lunch was served. Everyone with a sweet tooth will definitely remember for years to come salčići, a homemade cake that the hostess cooks for two whole days and whose recipe she happily shares.

Stone museum and house of homemade tea

Our host Predrag confirms:

This area is famous for its stone, and visitors always like to learn something new, kids especially, so we get a lot of school excursions, and the Stone museum is a real classroom for them

The surrounding area is extremely rich in medicinal and other herbs and fruits from which teas are made, if you combine that natural wealth with Ivana, Predrag and Dana’s daughter, with a degree in biology, it inevitably leads to birth of a new tourist attraction – A House of tea. In this amazing museum, Ivana will show and explain to you with utmost professionalism which plants are used for tea and ways to do it. Naturally, you can try each of them right there.

And still the main attraction is Lala

In addition to all the exciting aspects of staying in this household, the most widely-quoted name on all tourist sites and forums is Lala, a donkey who has become a true star of the area. Don’t miss an opportunity to play with her and take a picture together :). She is so tame, she will eat from your palm, follow you around the yard, sniff and snuggle to you.

Duty calls, and the very thought that we have to leave this place to come back to the city falls on us heavily, but we leave behind beautiful memories and confidence that we can come back here every time a complete body and soul reset is needed.

Birth house of Živojin Mišić

This part of Serbia is rich in tourist attractions worth visiting but the most unmissable of them is undoubtedly the birthplace of Živojin Mišić.

Only a kilometer and a half from the Petrović farm, you will find a museum of this great Serbian military leader with a handful of exhibits, weapons and hallmark objects from that period. Živojin Mišić “in person” will greet you by the table in the form of a wax figure.

This is our Serbia, beautiful, rich in historical heritage and magnificent nature, it seems to tell us that we have something to keep, something to truly enjoy and be proud of

So travel with us, travel after us, visit Serbia, explore its treasures. And in two weeks we will take you on a new adventure!

Useful tips for your trip

  • Talk to the host before the trip and ask about the best route to get there because you will not find many signposts.
  • We recommend to forget about the internet. It is available via the mobile phone but the signal is weak. Don’t expect high speed connection, and we sincerely hope that when you find yourself in that environment, you will want to break free from the internet.
  • Be sure to bring along shoes and clothes comfortable for walking the surrounding meadows and woods.
  • Of course, you will not want to come here without a camera. You will come back with a handful of beautiful pictures of the nature.
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