Day 1 part 1 in Serbia: The port of Belgrado

Hi Steemers,

I have not been on Steemit for the last couple of weeks because I decided to go on holiday as "digitally-off" as possible. I needed to take some distance from work and life-planning to really relax and I think it worked out pretty well. At the same time of letting go, I was travelling in a country I had never visited before: Serbia. As you will come to understand reading further, I kind of needed all my attention to experience this country because on the surface this is not an easy one to get to know.

We travelled here because my boyfriend Denis initially supposed to have a concert over here. For some reason, the concert was postponed, but having booked the tickets already, we used the time to visit D’s aunt and uncle who are leaving in Belgrade and explore the city.

When we arrived at the airport in Belgrade, D’s family picked us up to have lunch at their house first. D’s aunty Anni is a small, sturdy lady in her 70's with dyed black hair that wears a black bodywarmer over a green pullover that matches her eye-colour. When we followed them to the car on the parking lot, I could immediately tell from her resolute walk she was probably the type of lady that does not leave a market stall after getting her products for the best possible price. But also the type that knows how to work hard. However, when she smiled her eyes would give away she has a big family to worry about. Her husband Cedo immediately charmed me as well. Although I could not really follow the conversation, as his wife babbled away with my boyfriend in Slovene, he stood silently next to her, smiling and following the conversation. Waiting until it was his cue to either say or help with something.

When we drove to Belgrade from the airport (which lies about 15 km outside Belgrade) I hoped – knowing we would spend two or three days in the city – to see some typical Serbian countryside views. Besides a lot of small buildings, car yards, and other buildings I did not know the function of, we passed a building with lots of fighter jets next to it.
Aha! I was aware of the war that has taken place here but was a little surprised by the quick confrontation with evidence of it. Apparently, it was not something to talk about yet. When I asked about it, I just got the answer that it was a museum.

(got this image from the museum website, and apparently, the fighter jets outside indeed were Serbia's former fighter collection)

Rather than talking about the museum, D's aunty quickly pointed out one of the buildings next to the highway, mocking it (for its ugliness?) as "The port of Belgrade". See for yourself:

"The port of Belgrade"

Pretty right...?

The drive did not take long before we arrived at Anni and Cedo's apartment in Neo Beograd, a neighbourhood in the West of Belgrade that was built after the Second World War. Many of the buildings, including the one on the picture above, are built in the style of Brutalist architecture, a style which I experience as incredibly depressing. Grey concrete, huge buildings that house hundreds of the same apartments so that as many people can live in normal housing as possible. Functional on the inside. Now, since the current Serbian economy is not doing great, there seems to be not a lot of money to maintain public spaces, buildings and roads. With the snowy cold weather, turning everything in different shades of grey, it was hard to see how people could be happy here. But when we entered the Anni and Cedo's apartment, I learned that – apart from having different standards and esthetical preferences – the inside of the apartment had a very different feeling, than the apartment block in which it was positioned. Everything inside the apartment was colourful and made to live comfortably.

Next, we dropped our bags in the guest room and we went to the living room for some catching up. Ani made us Turkish coffee (which I love!) and we handed over our stroopwafels as a (typical) gift from the Netherlands. What happened next surprised me a lot, to say the least. The large flatscreen that was hanging on the oposite side of the couch switched on as Cedo did not appear to follow everything his wife was talking about in the meantime. And I could not follow it either so I just went with what Cedo was watching. At first, Cedo just followed a soccer game, but after a few minutes, the screen turned to a new channel and the screen showed 4 CCTV screens; imagery of security cams. And I recognized the entrance of the building we were in. Instead of just consoling us that it was safe here (which I thought was happening at first) this screen stayed on for another 15 minutes. Anni's interest quickly turned towards the screen as well, and now the mailman and neighbour that appeared in the footage, just walking by the entrance, became the point of discussion. Quickly the latest gossips were exchanged and we learned the neighboor looked a lot like his father.

It took me some effort to suppress my laughter because I had never experienced this before. However, I learned these CCTV cams were installed during the war. When at unfortunate times strangers would run into buildings to steal stuff or hide in safety. So my theory is that it probably is an old habit that has helped them a lot in the past.

After the TV-intermezzo we got to lunch which Anni had prepared before: It started with pickled cabbage with paprika powder which was surprisingly tasty, and then we ate some Greek Mousaka and Burek. Served with homemade tea with an extra spoon of dried berry's in the teacup – because Balkan mums/ grannies know exactly what is healthy and what not.

After this filling and nice lunch, we took the bus to the city centre. What we saw and did there, I will describe in my next post. For now, enjoy your Sunday dear Steemers!!

Let me know if you enjoyed the post and if some things sounded recognizable. I am very curious if my first impressions of Serbia resonate with others over here!