On the Way to Belgrade

We left Novi Sad after lunch and were on our way to Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Serbian is written in the cyrillic alphabet, but you see road signs in both Serbian and in Latin letters. Beograd = Belgrade.

There were also signs along the way directing one to the wine routes. Serbia is a wine–producing region, one with mainly small wineries.

On the Way to Belgrade

Passing very green farmland and cow pastures.

On the Way to Belgrade

Serbian farm house.

On the Way to Belgrade

Small Serbian village.

Arriving in Belgrade

There is both an old Belgrade that was heavily bombed in both World Wars and then again during the breakup of Yugoslavia. A New Belgrade started being built in 1947, which is now a major industrial and business area.

Lonely Planet describes Belgrade as “gritty” and that was my impression of it, a not very attractive city. We only stayed overnight here. Serbia is not listed as a tourist destination on either of the websites that I use to book day tours. However, Belgrade is known as one of the best party cities in the world. People from Croatia and other countries that were once part of Yugoslavia flock here to party on weekends.

However, that it is “gritty” doesn’t mean that it would not be worth several days’ time here. If you Google “Belgrade tours,” you will find some very interesting walking tours to take. Belgrade also has very good museums to visit. I wanted to visit the Nichola Tesla Museum but it was closing soon after we arrived in Belgrade. Belgrade also boasts having the Cathedral of Saint Sava, one of the largest or the largest (depending on what site you are looking at) Orthodox churches in the world.

Belgrade

Some of the many old Soviet–built apartment houses in Belgrade. You also see them in Bulgaria and Romania. They subtract from any beauty of a city.

New Belgrade

Some of the modern buildings in the New Belgrade.

Old Belgrade

An old church and smaller apartment buildings.

Old Belgrade

Cathedral of Saint Sava. It can hold 10,000 worshippers at one time. Construction began in 1935 and finished in 1985, construction stopping during the wars.

Belgrade

A Belgrade taxi. You are not going to see Mercedes taxis in Serbia, Bulgaria, or Romania as you see in some Western European countries or are you going to see many Mercedes or other expensive cars. It is believed that if you own an expensive car then you probably made the money to buy it from unsavory business practices when the Soviet Union collapsed.

The Lock on Our Hotel Rooms

If Sandra hadn’t explained how the locks on our hotel rooms worked, I don’t think any of us would have figured it out. First, you have to press your finger on the red dot.

The Lock on Our Hotel Rooms

Then you place this bulky room key in front of the red dot. Your door then should open or else you try the procedure again until it does. Something left over from Soviet times?

Tonight’s Dinner

Dinner was included on our tour in this restaurant on one of the rivers.

Tonight’s Dinner

Chicken, sausage, meat patty, and potatoes. Very tasty. I think we also had soup and wine or beer.

I put my photos of Belgrade on a slide show. Go to

Belgrade

(Slide Shows, Eastern Europe, Serbia, “Belgrade”).