Ilok Part Two
If you remember from last time we are traveling to Croatia to exit and renter Serbia to start over my tourist visa, something I do not have to do any more as I have temporary residency, but at the time it was required. Also, we decided if we were going to we were going to see the sights and Ilok just over the Croatian border with Serbia, one and half hours from Belgrade, proved to be an excellent option.
After visiting Iločki podrumi we went for a late lunch at Dunav Restaurant on the Danube. It is in a very quite and relaxing spot with on the river. In fact in the Summer the outdoor terrace is right on the river under the shade of several huge trees. I am sure that makes for a delightful afternoon enjoying the river as it rushes by on its way to the sea. The Restaurant is part of a hotel which we did not reserve but it is listed as a four star hotel. River fish are their specialty and who are we to argue with what they think is great.
We ordered the paprika fish soup and were told it would take 30 minutes to prepare as they add the fish to the stock fresh as it is prepared. So we added on the cat fish and perch with potatoes to start. Both were quite tasty and well worth the price. They were roasted to perfection and you could immediately tell they were quite fresh. When the soup finally arrived it was to die for. Very spicy with a tomato base and large piece of fresh fish through out. We could not eat enough of the soup and wanted more when we got to the bottom of the bowel.
Dunav
For a wine they recommended another local winery TRS and their Graševina Dekan. The Graševina grape is also called Welschriesling in Germany and is similar to an Italian Riesling. It was probably brought to the region originally by the Romans but its origins are a bit of mystery. In Croatia it is the most planted white grape variety. This was a perfect wine with the fish. Very light and very crisp with hints of lemon, apple and peach.
We checked into our hotel after and walked around the town a little. There was no one there. We thought it very odd that no one was out on the streets. We found out later that the vintner of Iločki podrumi was celebrating her 50th birthday that weekend and everyone in town seemed to be at the event.
We did manage to find a winery off one of the side streets and found the owner walking by who invited us into Vinarija Dragun This was a small winery which had a few wines to try. They vineyards are in what is known as the Srijem region of Croatia and Serbia under the hills of Fruška Gora. They produce about 100,000 Liters of wine a year most of them being Graševina. It is always fun to be sipping wine from the barrels and talking to the vintner at the same time. He offered several wines to taste and he let us try them all.
So next time we complete our trip to Ilok and I get my visitor stamp coming back into Serbia. I will give you the run down on the hotel Rooms at Villa Iva and the delightful breakfast, the fort and chuch on the top of the hill, the other Iločki podrumi tasting room and restaurant and the Monasteries in Serbia on the way back. So stay tuned.