Serbia
Belgrade
From May 29 to May 31 2023
Day 1
We drove in Sarajevo, Bosnia to reach Belgrade after a 260 kilometer and 4 hour drive. The Sepak border crossing near Loznika took less than 10 minutes, as it was set up right on the river and there were only 3-4 cars waiting in line.
Our first impressions of Serbian countryside is that it’s very urban and less modernized than the Bosnian countryside. A lot of houses, barns and other structures were made of fresh cut wood. We drove through the small town of Metkovic and saw what looked like an antique city that was well maintained and preserved, almost like we were in the English countryside.
Once we got into Belgrade the scenery changed completely. There were parts of the city that reminded us of Buenos Aires and other parts that were like Santa Monica. We checked into our hotel at Square Nine.
We stopped for a quick bite to eat at a Chipotle-like place and had burritos at Burrito Madre. We were craving Mexican, and we got Serbian-Mexican. Their queso fresco tasted a bit more like feta cheese.
We then walked quickly to get into the Nicolas Tesla Museum before it closed. We walked around and saw a number of artifacts belonging to him; certain patents he held, clothes he wore, projects he had engineered, and watched a short film on his life story. At the time when he was born, Serbia was technically a part of Austria-Hungary.
Feeling inspired about the possibiliites Tesla opened up for humanity, we made our way to one of the most visited attractions in Belgrade, the Serbian-Orthodox Church of Saint Sava. We were blown away at the size and learned that it’s the 3rd largest church in the Balkans, behind the largest in St. Petersberg (St. Isaac’s Cathedral), and the 2nd in Istanbul (Hagia Sophia). The music was playing beautifully and we went into the basement also to get a deeper look into more of the beautiful decoration and relics of the past.
We then walked for a cocktail at Riddle, recommended to us by our bartender friend in Macedonia. After 4 drinks and 2 shots at Riddle, it was time for some pizza.
We grabbed a slice of pizza from a window in a building called Pizza Bunko. The bartender at Riddle suggested we get a “beef salad” topping on the pizza, so of course Hailey tried it.
After a little more substance in our bellies, we went for the last stop of the night at a speakeasy-esque bar Belgrade Cocktail Club.
Day 2
After the eventful day we had the night before, we needed to start the next day off at the spa. We spent a few hours at the Square Nine spa, enjoying the sauna, steam room, mineral pool, hot tub and gym.
Lunch was at at Michelin recommended Iva New Balkan Cuisine, a 5 minute walk from the hotel. Hailey ate what the server recommended, oxtail (with a side of brain) and Max got a wild game ragu (ended up being venison). The meal was polished off with an insanely delicious cauliflower butter cake with carmel that reminded us of Mastros.
The streets of Belgrade are packed with independent shops and restaurants. It’s amazing what people can build with a small amount of space, making use of small ‘windows’ cut into concrete buildings, mini kitchens, and patio area on the street for customers to enjoy.
After a hearty lunch, we went to the Belgrade Fortress to walk off the rich dessert we ate. The fortress is also situated next to a War Museum and other outdoor activities (tennis, basketball, archery, an outdoor dinosaur museum) for the locals were all set up and in use. We took our shots at archery and explored the area for a bit.
Max went for a haircut and Hailey shopped around town to prepare for the upcoming Orient Express train ride from Paris to Istanbul. Koncept 45 and MiaMaya were the two favorite stores near the Rajiceva Shopping Center
We sat for a pizza dinner at Giovannis Pizzeria, ordered a calzone, margherita pizza, tomato soup, and had a tiramisu on the house.
The last stop of the night was grabbing cocktails at Hanky Panky while listening to Joe Bonamassa playing overhead.
Day 3
We woke up at 5am, dropped our Eurocar off at the airport in Belgrade for our 7:30am flight to Ljubljana, Slovenia on Air Serbia. The flight was delayed.