Four countries in Five days whewww

Safe and sound in Zagreb. I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed trying to determine how to shorten this post – so much to tell about Zagreb and the Croatian culture and my job and Pedro and my hotel and my excitement and what I have learned so far…

So I am going to leave all of that for another day this week, and write about what is most fresh in my mind: my weekend getaway to SERBIA!

Pedro told me on my first day that he and his girlfriend, who works for The European Times also and is doing a project in Ljubljana, Slovenia, were planning on going to Belgrade, Serbia that weekend and wanted to know if I was interested.

Hmm..a chance to visit the country that caused the violent breakup of Yugoslavia, to marvel at the intriguing communist-influenced architecture, to spend Serbian dinars on Jelen Pivo drafts, to mingle with trendy Serbians in the “third biggest party city in Europe”, AND a chance to get my passport stamped in the car crossing the Serbian border…?

You could say I was interested.

Pedro drove us straight into Belgrade’s city center, after we had crossed over the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers. It was an overcast day, but the gray buildings, rundown apartments, murky air, and bullet hole-filled walls didn’t impress our initial take on the city. We parked, found a cheap hostel, watched the world cup game in an outdoor cafe, and headed to dinner on Knez Mihailova Street or “Bohemian Quarter”, a beautiful and quaint cobblestone street that completely reversed our impression of Belgrade being an unsightly city. After testifying to the waiter that I wanted “the most natively Serbian thing on the menu” he uttered a couple words like “meat” and “milk” and “fried” and then insisted we try the “Serbian salad” and “Serbian wine” and “Serbian bread”. We were into it at the time and ordered it all – everything was delicious until my platter came out – a long, fried, mysterious meat that oozed a milky substance every time you poked at it. I made a commendable effort to like it, but after dinner found a stray dog who didn’t mind the foul entre. I wish I knew what it was called, or better yet, what it was?

Dinner in the Bohemian Quarter

After dinner, we headed to the street nicknamed “Silicon Valley” because of the number of wealthy and flashy Serbians that inhibit the lengthy line of swanky cafes. (Many also joke its because of the plethora of boobs seen there every night haha) Sure enough, tall, fashionable girls and suave guys would drive through the street in their Lamborghinis and strut into one of the boisterous lounges like they were royalty. We were mesmerized and people-watched more than anything, but called it a night early so we could enjoy our next day.

The next morning started with a cappuccino and more people-watching in the main square of Belgrade, and then we headed to the city’s fortress overlooking the Sava and Danube rivers. The fortress is the reason why Belgrade is the capital of Serbia today, and has protected Roman, Turkish, and Austrian inhabitants for thousands of years. We walked through the extensive ruins snapping pictures, and then used our sales and persuasion skills to bargain for souvenirs. I purchased a 500,000,000,000 dinar bill, which was actually used in the 70’s during a period of Yugoslavian hyperinflation, and some other Serbian goodies. We then trekked to St. Sava Temple, their famous Greek Orthodox church, and did some more oohh-ing and ahh-ing before watching more football with the locals.

Teryn, Pedro, and me at St. Sava Temple

We decided we were going to check out this supposedly wild and crazy Belgrade nightlife, and got all dolled up and headed to Silicon Valley like the rest of the flashy 20-somethings. After bonding with a couple other Americans over dinner, drinks, and the US’s failed attempt to make it to the quarter finals, we parked at a crowded, posh, FUN bar. Midway through our stay I came out of the bathroom to find the music stopped and about 15 intimidating Serbian policemen questioning everyone. Soviet bloc + big crowd + police with guns + blonde tourist = a little freak out. But everything obviously ended up ok – we chit-chatted with our waiter who explained that the government requires check-ins on establishments all over the city. All ended well after a random Serb I had cheers to earlier in the night snuck out of the bar after secretly paying for all our drinks! Our lifted spirits brought us to the river, where disco after disco lined the water. IN the water. Each club required that you walk about 300 feet on treacherous and rickety boards until you reached the middle of the river where the club was located! We went to about 3 of them – all very Euro with techno, strobe lights, mohawks, creepsters, and girls in thongs dancing on stage. We danced the night away as well, and made a splash without actually falling off the poorly thought-up club entrances.

Clubbing on a river in Belgrade with a seriously tall Serbian friend

Going down as the sun was coming up meant a late start to our Sunday, and as it was pouring we decided to head back to Zagreb. Pedro and Teryn claimed this was their favorite trip while working in Europe (must be the company they had). Haha but really it was one of the most interesting, fun, stimulating trips I have ever taken, and it makes me extremely excited to explore more of Eastern Europe! It was also great to get to know Pedro better, and his American girlfriend and I had a great time. We all bonded as much as you probably can in two days, and I really love their passion for adventure and their incessant curiosity to explore new places. More to come this week (if I can find the time or energy to write after 11-hour work days).

As they say in Serbia, dovidenja.

…that means goodbye!!