Belgrade, Serbia

Thanks to AIESEC and AIESEC Alumni I reached my target of visiting a new country early this year and Serbia it was. I arrived just before midnight as the flight was delayed. We were already boarded on the aircraft in Munich but the doors would not close. So we de-boarded and waited two hours for a new aircraft to come from Vienna before heading off to Belgrade. 

There my friefnd Tanja from Macedonia welcomed me and we went straight to the city centre for a drink at Cantina di Frida. The Serbians I met there were very welcoming, enjoy singing and dancing  to live music and smoke heavily (as it's not EU, you can still smoke in all restaurants, clubs and bars).

The next day, I spent sightseeing with Tanja's overnight guest - Paul from the Netherlands. We took a bus to the city centre and then walked from sight to sight in the pouring snow.

We started off at a church. The nearby Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church was closed.

Princess Lubica's residence was either closed or was hosting a media conference when we tried to get in, so we moved on to the Kalemagdan fortress. 

The widespread fortress had some slippery bridges and passageways so you need to be careful. In the centre, there is the Military Museum and I was quite happy to enter and warm up. The museum showcased the historic development of Belgrade and Serbia from ancient times to nowadays. It was very interesting to learn more about the history and Serbia's relations.

We filled out empty stomach at the Kalemagdan Terasa restaurant which is one of the best in Belgrade. We decided for a Serbian dish: grilled meat of every kindwith boiled vegetables.

From there we continued to the Gallery of Frescos, a small museum that housed several church frescos. 

Unfortunately, two mueums were closed for restauration: the museum for Serbian history and the Museum of the Serbian Church. So we just passed  by and moved on to the next. In the ethnographic Museum, we saw several national costumes from the region and the attire for different occassions.

The National Gallery that had been closed for the lack of funds for 10 years had re-opened so we enjoyed the paintings of Paja Jovanovic.

Nikola Tesla Museum

The most interesting museum was the tiny museum in honor of Nikola Tesla, engineer, inventor and Serbian. He experimented a lot with electricity and developed the system of two-phase alternating current.

Nikola Tesla

Last stop on our sightseeing tour was the splendid Sveti Sava - the biggest Orthodox church in the world. Unfortunately, the interior is still under construction and featured a lot of concrete.

In the evening, we took a bus from the bus terminal to Novi Sad.