Belgrade

I’ve been here 10 years now, and I love it.

But I’ve never sat down to think clearly about why. We had friends (Wendy and Roy) here from Bristol, in England, for the weekend and I decided I’d take the opportunity of talking about the city (and country) to listen to myself, and them, and to make some notes about what I heard. I did that, and this musing is the result of my reflections on my reflections.

Belgrade isn’t Prague – you don’t come here for history and architecture (although you do). Beautiful baroque and gothic buildings, and the history they evoke, is not the focus of a visit to Belgrade.

Belgrade isn’t Dubrovnik. It isn’t this stupendously beautiful walled city jutting out into the Adriatic, wanting to be looked at – and deserving the look.

Belgrade isn’t Florence. There is no David here, and no Medici Palace of great stature hiding on a modern thoroughfare.

Belgrade is Belgrade, and what attracts is what it is now. Today. History ripples through Serbia and the Balkans – long history, hard history – and indeed one strong component of interest here is Belgrade’s (and the Balkan’s) place as the bridge between ‘East’ and ‘West’. But I would argue that this is not the real reason to visit. Or maybe better to say not the main reason.

I have written elsewhere about this ‘bridge’ – about the historical role of the Balkans as a link between East and West. Given the role in Belgrade life played by Ušće (the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers), in the very heart of the city, maybe confluence is an appropriate image for Belgrade. Certainly here East and West come together. Here you find Orthodox religion in a Europe-focused population. Here you find equal quantities of influence from ‘turbo-folk’ music and a society that loves the rock and pop stars of the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, flocking in huge numbers to indoor and outdoor venues. Here you find a homogenous society (as I’ve said, ‘Serbs look like, well, Serbs’) that greets the very few black faces found on its streets with a strikingly cosmopolitan indifference.

Here you find an older generation born, raised and matured in Tito socialism; an angry and disappointed generation who lost their best years to sanctions and war as the Milošević era reached its ugly end (a generation that lost many of its best and brightest to the diaspora, people now providing great service to Canada, the US, Sweden and many, many other nations); and a young generation born and being raised with no memory of war and the promise of a European future.

Each of these groups looks in different directions for hope, direction and inspiration – and all mix here, at the confluence of East and West. Here, ideas, styles, music, religion and thought mix, mingle, swirl and churn, and in the end all flow together. Like the Danube itself, this big, fast, dangerous, European flow is making its way along its destined route, adding to the richness of the region. And make no mistake, the Balkans is a culturally rich and enriching place.

I talked to Roy and Wendy about why I like it here, and said something about the energy of the place. Later Roy said: ‘I thought Jim was just rubbishing because he lives here, but there really is an energy.’ That energy is difficult to define though. That was my problem when describing it to Roy – I pretty much fell in love with Belgrade straight away (and long before I even met my wife), but are there concrete reasons for this? I’m struggling to come up with any. Roy again: ‘I have a feeling this is one of those cities that will just blossom into a place people will come to, and will want to come to, in the next few years. You visit some places and you just don’t feel like they are going anywhere. That isn’t what I feel here.’ I know what he means exactly. Cannot put my finger on it, yet know exactly what he means.

Maybe it is Beogradjani (the people of Belgrade) themselves. They are curious and outgoing, funny (hilarious actually) yet angry and hard, European in outlook with a well-read, well-studied and well-argued appreciation of themselves and the world around them. They can also be dismissive, and are never afraid of a difficult conversation. I’m not sure if this is a by-product of the past 18 years of sanctions, war and ostracism, or comes from the previous 1500 years of invasion and re-establishment – but without rancour Beogradjani will always question your thinking and your ideas.

They are a beautiful people – at least the women. I remember reading in the JAT (Serbia’s international airline) magazine that ‘the real religion in Belgrade is “looking good”’ and knowing just how true the statement is. There are few greater pleasures in life than strolling the walking street on a warm spring day, as the population comes out to enjoy the warmth of the sun on bare skin after months of winter hiding. I have an English colleague who got sore eye sockets and a stiff neck each spring as he tried to keep up with the passing crowd. My second son told me on his first visit here, ‘Dad, I thought at the nightclub last night I had seen the most beautiful woman in the world, until I saw that woman at the table next to us.’

Belgrade is a city of two million, in a relatively small area geographically, as the vast majority of the population lives in a flat, in a building of 6 to 8 stories. There are many places to go in Belgrade to watch Beogradjani doing what they do. One enjoyable place, where you can watch people who want to be watched, is Strahinjića Bana, known affectionately as Silicon Valley, not for integrated circuits but for augmented breasts. Spring and summer evenings provide a rollicking good time as you stroll the street looking at the double-parked Mercedes, Audis, Hummers etc all strategically placed to ensure you cannot miss them, while their owners enjoy a coffee or beer while showing off their new outfit or new lips. My aforementioned English colleague had some very difficult evenings there!

Ada Ciganlija is another fabulous place in Belgrade to enjoy life and to enjoy Beogradjani enjoying themselves. Ada Ciganlija is an island, in the middle of the Sava River, which has been joined to the eastern river bank by large causeways creating Ada lake. The walking track around the lake is 8 kilometres long, with a recently completed bicycle track that runs outside the walking track. The whole of the lake shore has been developed into a place for sunbathing and swimming, while between the walking and bicycle paths, in the shade of the hundreds of trees, you will find cafes and restaurants of all descriptions. Ada is Belgrade’s playground, and on hot summer days tens of thousands of Beogradjani can be found there, socialising, keeping fit, keeping cool, keeping out of the house or showing off their new bikinis. You can golf, you can play beach volleyball, you can play tennis, you can water ski at the clever water ski area where no boat is required – you are towed around a long course. Any Sunday afternoon in July and August there will be lines of cars waiting to get into the parking lots, and if you are a ‘serious’ cyclist simply don’t go there – the bike path is for social cycling, and, because this is Belgrade after all, pedestrians can be expected there even though they are not allowed.

All along the banks of the Sava, and parts of the Danube, are walking paths (generally shared with bikes). Gentle walks along the river, chatting about sve i svašta (anything and everything) is a very relaxing Beogradjani way to spend a couple of hours. We like to finish our walk at one of the hundreds of splavs (river boats) tied up along the bank. We have a coffee or a beer, and sometimes a meal, either of fresh river fish or a traditional Serbian roštilj (grill). Serbs love meat – beef, pork or lamb – and prepare it in a wide range of traditional restaurant dishes. The salads that go with it can be unbelievable, particularly when they comprise fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and some lovely domestic cheese.

The splavs are a focus of Belgrade night life as well.

A fourth lovely place to enjoy Belgrade and Beogradjani, particularly on a sunny summer weekend afternoon is Košutnijak – the forest on the hill above the hippodrome. There is a 4 kilometre long loop road through the forest, along which there are plenty of places for a picnic or a barbecue. There are a couple of nice restaurants, including Aleksandar Klub, where we sit (day or night) and enjoy a wonderful view of the city from the hillside vantage point. My wife and I had our first date there, and it is always nice to go back.

The walking street (Knez Mihajlova) rocks, but not with anything special – just life. I guess that is what I like best about it – it is nothing special, but has such a good feeling. Day and night, summer and winter, Beogradjani young and old can be found strolling up and down the walking street. It is a special part of Belgrade. It extends from the entrance to Kalemegdan fortress to Terazije, although this ‘walking precinct’ really encompasses the fortress park and surrounds (looking down on the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers) all the way to the Hram (Belgrade’s Serbian Orthodox Temple) which is found some two kilometres from Kalemegdan along the walking street and Kralja Milana, on a hill at the east end of Belgrade’s centre. Mostly notable for the people strolling along it, the walking street is full also of upmarket retail shops (one shoe store where the cheapest pair of shoes is about $500 Australian), cafes, news stands, ice cream kiosks, buskers, artists and illegal vendors of ties, umbrellas and pirate DVDs. Ice cream is a well-loved treat, and generally of excellent quality. Coffee is a Belgrade speciality – if you struggle to get a decent cup in London or New York, come here and ask for a dupli espresso sa mlekom i djus. This traditional Belgrade taste treat will renew your faith in coffee, while creating an interest in the Belgrade tradition of coffee with orange juice, sparkling water or a cola – I use to think it was crazy, but I always have my espresso with a coke now.

Irena says Belgrade is male. Hard. Tough. But she also says it can be gentle, and uses a Serbian expression to describe how this male Belgrade will, if you are open to it and accept it, care for you much more strongly in return: Čuva te kao malo vode na dlanu, meaning ‘it will hold you in the palm of its hand like a drop of water’. I worked with an Australian woman here once who looked down on the country and its people. And they replied in kind – I remember she was nicknamed gazda, as in landlord, but in a demeaning way. She never got it, and it replied in kind.

And it is very foreigner friendly. I would describe the city as one of the safest I have ever visited or lived in. I have never, in any section of the town, felt in danger or threatened, and I have walked throughout popular and quiet neighbourhoods and gathering places. It is English language friendly as well, ranking with Sweden and the Netherlands in my own experience as places with high levels of English-as-a-second-language capacity. I still remember the day I was ordering a hamburger from an elderly woman in a small kiosk in Banovo Brdo. I was struggling with the finer details when she simply asked in English ‘would you like mustard and/ or mayonnaise?’ A typical experience.

There are a number of sites with interesting, useful information on the city and country. Try:

http://www.ambassador-serbia.com/

http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=220

http://www.belgradeeye.com/

ttp://www.belgradenet.com/

I love this place. It is dynamic, fun, crazy sometimes, open, future-oriented with a clear grounding in the past and, to my way of thinking, going places. Not everyone agrees with me, including most Serbs. It is my city now. Home.

Tags: Ada Ciganlija, Balkans, Belgrade, Danube, Europe, Sava River, Serbia, Travel, Usce