Belgrade and its contrasts

Belgrade to me is a city of many contrasts. Historical buildings are standing next to the new ones, there is a lot of glitz and glamour on one side but a lot of poverty on the other side as well and it's not an exception to see a beggar on a shopping street full of various expensive shops and people with full bags not paying attention to those sitting on the cold street.

When I came to Belgrade for the first time my colleagues took me for a drive around the city. We crossed one particular street (I don't remember the name of it) and they told me that they call it the 'Silicone valley'. Not because of the extensive research and high tech but because of girls with popular plastic surgery who like to gather here for a drink in famous bars. I don't know if this is true but it made me laugh. Belgrade with its own Silicone valley street!

They told me other things about Belgrade too but I like to see the reality through my own eyes to form my own opinion and this is what I would like to show you today. Let's see Belgrade through my eyes!

We will start with one of the many municipalities called Zemun. You might wonder why we didn't stay in the city center as this is what tourists would do, right? One of my colleagues was born here and wanted to show us this place. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It was part of the normal development of other big cities in Europe too when the small towns and villages around the cities were added together and created one big city.

Zemun is at the river Danube and you can enjoy the views of this second-longest European river.

Danube passes through 9 countries before draining into the Black sea. I have already seen it in Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Serbia and Romania, so 4 to go for me.

We saw many abandoned houses in Zemun. The architecture reminds me of old houses in other Central and Eastern European countries.

We decided to walk back to the city. It was a long but nice walk. I prefer to explore the surroundings instead of taking a bus or a taxi.

We stopped by Saint Dimitrije church, also known as the Hariseva Chapel.

It was built between 1874 and 1878 and was dedicated to martyr St. Dimitrije (Demetrius) who is the patron of the Petrovic families.

The church stands on top of the Gardoš Hill and it's surrounded by a cemetery.

Close to the church is the Gardoš tower, also known as the Millennium Tower. It was built in 1896 by Hungarians to celebrate 1000 years of their presence in this region. Today it serves as kind of a museum which hosts regular exhibitions.

Let's go to the city center. We didn't spend much time here but we still went for a short walk.

The House of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia made me think of palaces in Berlin. The architecture is very similar. Its construction began in 1907 and it took 29 years to complete.

Nowadays, it's also a popular touristic landmark which you can clearly see on this photo.

And here is one of the shopping streets in the city center. I liked that there were trees and lots of green in general.

No, no, we didn't get any cotton candy. I just liked the various colors. But if I would eat so much sugar I would definitely feel sick afterwards.

My friend took us to a typical Serbian restaurant in the old town. I was surprised to see that the town was empty. But the reason is that all people were inside already!

And here we are! We had such a blast. There was a band that spent all evening at our table. I loved it! My friend not that much as they were playing next to her so she couldn't hear us talking 😊

It was definitely an experience that I will never forget.

I hope that you have enjoyed our tour of Belgrade. If you have a chance, go to Belgrade and have lots of fun!

Thank you for visiting!

Cheers!

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