Hello, everyone! It was a beautiful weekend day yesterday and my friends and I were at the Belgrade lake enjoying it in a peaceful natural ambience. The lake is one of the spots close to the city where you can escape and immerse yourself into an environment that reminds of nature, a sort of escape from the hustle and bustle of urban life. Plenty of people do head towards the lake but there is enough room for everyone.
You can see the newest, modern Belgrade bridge, named the bridge over Ada, reflecting in the backwater that serves as the port for the small boats.
The lake is a favorite place for everyone looking for recreational activities. Running, cycling, skating, there are running tracks around the lake and through the forest. Along the path, there are courts for soccer, basketball, tennis, golf and many other sports. On Sunday, these are filled with people of all ages.
As I was walking along the path, several groups of runners from the local club passed me by, the majority would stick to the group, individuals and small fractions would trial behind, not able to keep up with the pace but also enjoying their own rhythm and company. :)
My friends and I are preparing for a Tai Chi training session, couple of other friends joined as well. We come early to occupy one of the courts and get to it. We have a beautiful building in which we regularly train but nothing beats the outdoor workout in nature on a sunny day.
I heard this older fellow singing as he was going to the meeting with his friends - there was some sort of football tournament for seniors, they were right by us, playing hard, having fun, with the cheering audience in the stands. You can see the ball tucked under his arm and a flag fluttering by his head. :)
Next to the lake is a walking path and outside of it parks and forest filled with interesting looking trees branched in all directions and angles. We are still waiting for spring for the barren branches to produce their leaves, but it's still has the charm even naked like this. Behind in the lake, rowing squad also has it's practice session.
Of course, it's still early for the lake to welcome any swimmers (except some occasional rebels that defy the conditions and the norms of society :D ), now it has this beautiful blue color that almost makes me forget we don't have a sea. During summer, people are stacked on top of each other around the lake, on the pebble beach, it's very crowded, especially on weekends.
The entire walking path around the lakes is around 8km long from my recollection and it takes a bit over one hour to circle around it, and if you grow tired, all along the path are restaurants and food carts.
I found this beautiful secluded spot and decided to take a rest after few hours of walking and read my book (The Tartar Steppe - for my fellow book clubbers expect a review of it soon) and soon later my friends joined and we had some fun playing board games. The fanatics they are, they are trying to get me sucked in as well - this one, Carcassonne is a tile-placement game that turned out to be quite fun.
All in all an enjoyable day with fresh, healthy food, good workout, amazing nature and, most importantly, a lovely company. Until next time.
