I am so glad I came to Belgrade. It was in my original plan, to visit main hubs in each of Croatia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, and Serbia and Montenegro (now Serbia. and Montenegro. since Montenegro's official secession yesterday).
Taking the bus into Belgrade's city center was amazing. It was a mess of streets, and I wasn't sure where I was, even after I spotted a few major landmarks. I got off the bus to the usual taxi offer, which I actually accepted (after a bit of establishing I wasn't about to pay 10 euro for less than a kilometer's ride), simply because I didn't think I could find my way around by myself and it was late. The taxi driver pointed me to a few ATMs and after I found one that would take my card (some of these things are finicky), I ran into the gentleman sitting behind me on the bus, who kindly offered me a ride to my hotel. Bye bye taxi!
I decided for the last leg of my trip here in the former Yugoslavia that I'd treat myself to a hotel, and since Serbia is probably the cheapest of my destinations (off the coast, and not your usual tourist destination), I decided to treat myself to the very best: the Hotel Moscow (Moskva). It's about 80 euro a night, but completely worth it. I have my own clean shower, fresh towels, TV, bed, window, closet, hangers, telephone, desk, toilet, you name it. The antique furniture makes the place feel very atmospheric. And I love the lift -- the rug inside is changed every day and has the name on it to prove it, in both English and Serbian. And breakfast is included, a real breakfast with choice of real food, none of this two pieces of bread and jam business.
I got in late at night, so it wasn't until the next morning I went exploring. The city buildings are huge, and traffic is big city-like. The streets are mired; it feels a bit like New York but with less organization and the street signs are in Cyrillic. The travel guides say this city is ugly, but I rather like it. It feels like a real modern city to me, I guess. Maybe all this castle and fort stuff has become old hat to me.
Belgrade does have a fortress though; it overlooks the crossing of the Danube and Sava rivers, a bit offset from the town, whereas the other cities I've been in are often set within the old city walls. Kalemegdan Fortress, by contrast, has become a park with a few museums in little pockets here and there, and a dance club or two underneath in the catacombs.
Part of my activities the first day I found myself in the Vojne Muzej, the military museum. Its contents span the entire military history of Yugoslavia, with flags, uniforms, maps used throughout the years, representing the many, many, many wars that have taken place in this pocket of the world. I think I would have been more engrossed in the displays, had I been able to read them. Outside the museum is a line of stand-alone guns (yeah, my military weaponry vocabulary is very, VERY limited), as well as jeeps and tanks and old mortar shells from more recent wars.
Yesterday I happened upon the Noc Muzeja (Museum Night); you can buy one ticket and visit any of a number of museums in Belgrade from 6pm to 2am. I actually only made it to two: the National Museum, and the Ethnographic Museum.
The National Museum's showings were quite limited; they had blocked off the upper floors (I'm not sure if they are still under renovation?), so the bottom floor showed mainly early early column architecture, as well as an amber exhibit which ranged from the usual amber bits (think Jurassic Park) to more sophisticated carvings and jewelry. I apologize for my apparent awkwardness with this part; my vocabulary isn't so strong in the area of arts and archaeology either.
Upstairs at first seemed underwhelming with only two paintings, but each in itself was worth spending some time with. The first was the coronation of Emperor Dusan, and the second was of St. Sava blessing the Serbs.
Unfortunately I have run out of time and I want to do some more things today, but I'll publish all the same. More soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment