Lunch in Belgrade

The plan for the road trip after Budapest was a Balkan dream:
→ Belgrade, Serbia
→ Skopje, Macedonia
→ Tirana, Albania
→ Kotor, Montenegro
→ Dubrovnik, Croatia
→ Mostar, Bosnia
→ Split, Croatia

our original plan; thank you, google maps!

From Split, LC and I would fly back to Frankfurt, and JG would drive back to Budapest.  All of this would occur in just eight days. Sound ambitious? It was, and yet, we did it all, and still ended up adding a few scenic detours along the way.  It was more of an American-style, drive-by kind of trip than I normally like to do, but now I know which places I want to go back to and spend more time in.

Of all the places we were going, the one I was probably the most apprehensive about was, surprisingly, Serbia.  I had read enough about the Balkans to imagine that the Serbs wouldn't like Americans very much, and I had also read enough to feel the same about them.  My attitude toward the Serbs softened, though, after we crossed the border and I saw how a lot of them lived.  Serbia had seemingly been the most powerful of all of the republics in the former Yugoslavia, but it definitely didn't look the part. Serbia looked a lot more run-down than I expected.

I think if you want to see how people in any country really live, take a look at the countryside. If I had to choose which of the countries we went to was the poorest just by looking at the homes along the way, I would say Serbia. That is saying a lot, since we went through ALBANIA--whose reputation is of being the poorest country in Europe--and BOSNIA--where a lot of bombed-out buildings are still (sort-of) standing.

A lot of the homes looked weary, yet unfinished. There was also an astonishing amount of trash, especially around lakes or creeks.  

sign at the entrance of the city of Belgrade

We stopped in Serbia's capital city, Belgrade, for lunch and a quick look around. One of the great benefits of working at an international school is the connections you make with other teachers.  After a few years, many of your colleagues will leave to teach in other international schools, and you end up with friends all over the world.  JG had one such friend in Belgrade, and she gave us a tour of the sites downtown. The center of Belgrade had that charming, "old Europe" feel to it. If you like gazing at majestic-looking old buildings and churches like I do, you would love the downtown area.

center of the city; lots of shops and kiosks loaded with souvenirs

The old military headquarters has been left much as it was after NATO bombed it in 1999; it is supposedly a "culturally-protected monument"

the National Museum is getting a facelift

Near the downtown area is a grand fortress at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers.  Unfortunately, while we were there it started pouring buckets of rain, making it difficult to get good pictures.  By the time the downpour was over, we had moved on to the trendy area of Skadarlija,  with lots of restaurants and coffee shops.

These murals were painted on old buildings in the cute area of Skadarlija

In retrospect, I shouldn't have been so concerned about being an American in Serbia; everyone we came into contact with was very nice to us.  I would like to have had more time to talk to with people, but  we had to leave mid-afternoon...we were trying to make it to Skopje, Macedonia before dark!