Belgrade, Serbia: First Impressions

Books, movie trailers, wine, people – we form opinions on all sorts of things all the time, usually without knowing much about whatever we just passed judgement on. This especially happens in travel. We see a photo of a beach, hear a friend gush about their recent trip or stumble across an article touting a little-known destination as the next must-see city and almost instantly we have an idea whether we want to go there. It’s how I ended up in Newfoundland, San Francisco, Prague and Bruges.

But it isn’t why I’m in Serbia.

Truthfully, a lot of things brought me here: I was intrigued after learning a bit about the city from my Serbian boss in Vancouver, I hadn’t seen anything of Eastern Europe apart from a few days in Prague, and since I’m travelling until mid-November, I needed somewhere cheap. And that’s how after crawling out of bed at 4.20am and reaching the Tube station in London before it was open, having the bus break down on the way to the airport and sitting on the tarmac for an extra hour due to fog, I ended up in Belgrade yesterday.

I’m not sure I’d ever seen a photo of Belgrade before I arrived. I couldn’t have named one landmark or attraction. I flew into the city blind. As land came into view from the plane, I went into tourist/blogger observation mode. “Awww look the houses. All the roofs are orange. There aren’t many multi-story buildings. Oh yes there are. Oh Christ they’re ugly. Oh swimming pools! Hmm pools? Well, Megan why wouldn’t they have pools? It gets hot here.” And so on. One second I’d be surprised by what I saw, the next I was wondering why I was surprised. Without meaning to have expectations, I had expectations.

While walking around the city, I started to form some very uneducated opinions about Belgrade and Serbia. I say uneducated because I really have no idea what I’m talking about. My time here is still measured in hours. I plan to be in Serbia for about two weeks, and while I’m only in Belgrade for three nights now, I will be back before I leave for Montenegro. By the next time I’m here I expect I’ll have a much more informed idea about Serbia and its capital. But I want to capture my first impressions so in a few weeks I can look back and see how my opinions have changed.

I could easily be scammed

I’d only taken a couple of steps through the arrivals hall when a man walks up and mutters “taxi?” with the same degree of shadiness I’d expect to be offered drugs. I smile and say “no thanks”, but before I’ve taken a seat by the window I’ve been approached by two more men, equally as shady. It continues outside. They don’t hassle me and leave me alone when I decline, but it’s not the point. My research on how to get to the city came with many warnings about using taxis because most will charge tourists exorbitant rates just because they can. This kind of thing is an issue in so many countries all around the world and it’s not new to me. But after travelling most recently in more “controlled”  places, I will have to remember to keep my guard up.

The city is ugly

On the drive in I notice a bus shelter, although that probably isn’t an accurate description. The frame is there, but there’s no roof or sides. It’s like something blew through and stripped it. As we reach the centre and cross the river Sava, a city of dilapidated buildings rises up the hill. I start to get an idea of what I’m in for. This is a city that has had other priorities than aesthetics. Belgrade has seen more than its fair share of trouble. It’s been levelled 44 times, and most recently was heavily bombed during the Kosovo War in 1999. So you can understand the hesitation to put a lot of effort into making the city look pretty. There are some nicer areas, including Kalemegdan Park, which is where the remains of Belgrade Fortress are. There’s also a lovely view of the river from there.

But overall, Belgrade is ugly. But I don’t say that as a criticism. Its worn and haggard appearance is fascinating and frankly, I’m a little tired of “pretty”  cities.

Belgrade is CHEAP

I’d heard Eastern Europe was cheap, but it was hard to know how cheap until I arrived. Everybody has different ideas of what constitutes “cheap”. But this city is cheap! My bus to the airport was 300 dinar (£2/$4AUD). My lovely, clean, secure hostel in the city centre is 4000 dinar for three nights (£30/$50). My huge serving of goulash for dinner was 200 dinar (£1.50/$2.60) The old woman who served me was not impressed to be changing a 1000 dinar note, the equivalent of $13 or £7.50.

The people are really friendly

After settling into my room at the hostel, the staff member spent about 20 minutes with me scribbling all over a map marking where I should go, what I should see, where I should eat, what I should do and how to do it. Is he just doing his job? Perhaps. But I’ve stayed in lots of hostels and this was a lot different to the routine speech most staff give when you check in. Some people leaving the hostel (I suspect they were his friends) introduced themselves, wished me a good trip and then said goodbye.

When I walked past a supermarket, an old man commented on my shorts and the weather. Or at least I think he did. What followed was a 15-minute conversation about Australia and also Serbian history. He didn’t speak English, but sign language goes a long way. He said Australia was a big country with not many people and Serbia was a small country with lots of people (obviously not in so many words). He made his point by doing a pushing action like he was trying to shove something into a bag when he spoke about Serbia and then opening his arms wide and mentioning Australia and then holding his thumb and finger slightly apart to talk about our small population. Or perhaps he thinks it’s a country of midgets. Lots of room for interpretation I suppose.

One snippet I did understand was his reference to how often Belgrade had been destroyed. He pointed to the buildings and lifted his arms up, then swiped down.

He wrote down an address and may have made an arrangement to show me around the city, which was very lovely of him. I know what a lot of you are thinking, but my creep-metre is pretty good and this was just a nice old man wanting to show me his city. But regardless, I won’t be accepting his offer.

The city is transitioning – slowly

It would be very easy for two visitors to leave this city with very different opinions, depending on what they saw here. One street is full of crumbling discount stores, while the store down the street from my hostel is selling silver salt and pepper shakers for almost $400. Some of the cars are recent makes, but there are a lot of rust buckets parked among them. A couple of trams look like they were discarded from some trendy city like San Francisco a couple of decades ago and instead of going to the scrap heap, came to Belgrade. The rest are modern and covered with advertising.

I walked through the Bohemian Quarter, a cute cobbled street lined with restaurants and bars. Each one is fronted by someone trying to entice me in for dinner. It’s a pretty street with lots of trees and flower boxes. Quite a few tourists were posing for photos. But a couple of turns off that street and I’m walking along hideous apartment blocks.

Along the riverfront, half a large building is abandoned and a vandals playground. The other half is fancy Italian restaurants with live jazz bands. I jumped the train tracks to get back to the main city and about 20-minutes later was on Kneza Mihaila, the main shopping drag. It’s full of brands I know such as Guess, Hugo Boss, Adidas, H&M. There’s the same coffee shop I visited in the UK and outdoor seating down the street is full of people drinking wine and eating dessert. It’s a far cry from the small bakery with paper doilies where I ate dinner.

Visitors who only have a day or two in Belgrade could easily see only one world here. Perhaps they’ll only experience the run down areas and ancient public transport. Others will stay in new hotels, eat at fancy restaurants and buy the same brands they do at home. Neither would provide an accurate view of Belgrade.

That’s a short introduction to Belgrade and my rash judgements after one night here. I’ll report back in a few weeks.