Belgrade

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The train to Belgrade went on and on and on through not such spectacular scenery unfortunately. Just lots of fields and stuff I was sharing a cabin with a couple of French lads who were also backpacking. I know it sounds really off but I prefer not to engage with people who can’t speak very good English. The language barrier gets a bit annoying. I also have preconceptions about the French (probably shouldn’t write that on a public blog) but they seemed nice enough. We shared a bit of banter but then the language barrier got too annoying.

I arrived in Belgrade at about 9pm and the thermometer at the top of one of the train station towers read 33 degrees C. It was hot, busy and polluted. It didn’t take me long to find my hostel thankfully and was pleasantly surprised by it. Clean, cheap, modern, and free washing, internet and breakfast!

The following day after breakfast me and Cindy who I met over breakfast and shared a dorm with me went to do the free walking tour, which I’m glad we did. Free walking tours are a fantastic way to get to know a city quickly. I’d recommend them even to people who hate tours. As they are tips and donation based, the tour guides are particularly enthusiastic and informative because they need to earn their crust. If you give a pitiful tip, you won’t be judged, well not to your face anyway, and you will never see them again so who cares! We started on Rebublic Square which has the National Museum, National Theatre and the famous statue of Prince Michael before walking down Skadarlija which is considered the Bohemian part of Belgrade – a famous street – but actually just plays its face for the tourists. You probably wouldn’t actually find any Serbs drinking or eating in one of its many cafes pubs or restaurants. We then saw the ‘wealthy street’ where people in flash cars compete to park in the most awkward and stupid places. The more awkward and stupid the parking, the more powerful the owner of the car. Our tour guide told us of one incident of ridculous parking which led to both men getting out of their cars and one shooting the other. Welcome to Serbia! We then saw the Čukur fountain. In 1862, the murder of a Serbian boy at the fountain provoked clashes between the Serbs and Turks, and the shelling of Belgrade by the Turkish artillery. In memory of that event, a monument was erected at the site of the incident. We then saw the Bajrakli Mosque which is the only mosque in the city out of the 273 that had existed during the time of the Ottoman Empire's rule of Serbia, the traditional Turkish House which has 2 floors – the top floor for the men and the bottom for the wives, mistresses and children and then up to the fortress. Belgrade Fortress is the core and the oldest section of the urban area of Belgrade and for centuries the city population was concentrated only within the walls of the fortress, thus the history of the fortress, until most recent history, equals the history of Belgrade itself. We ended the tour back near the main square from where me and Cindy got our portraits printed onto a bank note for free at the National Bank.

We spent the next few hours trying desperately to find the restaurant that our tour guide had recommended – to no avail. Tired and hungry I was ready to settle for anywhere half decent, so we took our seats at an unknown restaurant and ordered what we thought was pork and rice wrapped in cabbage as recommended by the guide. They seemed to understand what we were saying so we eagerly waited for our food to be served. Ok it was nothing like what we thought we had ordered, but the kebab skewers and chips were still pretty good and filled the hungry void.

After we ate, we decided to go and visit the Sava Temple before heading back to our hostel with every intention of going out and partying, as Belgrade is supposed to be one of the worlds’ party capitals. However we were feeling pretty shattered so just had a few beers at the hostel.

The next day we went to Zemun which is a municipality of Belgrade, all though its inhabitants would say it is separate from Belgrade, only joined to it by the development of New Belgrade. It was a bit of a palava getting to Zemun as the bus we were told to get didn’t exactly get us to where we needed to go, so we had to get a completely different bus to what we hoped was where we needed to go. I laughed when Cindy fell on her arse as the bus was pulling off! Luckily it was where we needed to go so we just followed the pretty church spires. I still don’t think we quite found the ‘Old Town’ but it was close enough! We walked back along the Danube to get the bus back to Old Belgrade. By the time we got back to Belgrade I had fallen flat on my face twice! That’ll teach me for laughing at Cindy’s mishap earlier!

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Photos

Kitten
some beauty in such an ugly city

Boy fountain
To commemorate the liberation of Serbia from Turkish rule. Boy killed in 1862 by a bully Turk

Boy Fountain
To commemorate the liberation of Serbia from Turkish rule. Boy killed in 1862 by a bully Turk

Traditional Turkish house
Men lived on the top floor while the wives, mistresses and children were relegated to the bottom

Bajrakli Mosque
The only remaining mosque in Belgrade out of a previous 273. Built in 1575 has been converted in the past into a Catholic church during Austrian occupation

Bajrakli Mosque
The only remaining mosque in Belgrade out of a previous 273. Built in 1575 has been converted in the past into a Catholic church during Austrian occupation

1000000 note
Yugoslav dinar

Messenger of Victory
Commemorating the liberation of Serbia after WW1

New Belgrade with the Communist Party HQ
Tallest building in the Balkans.