Memories of Belgrade

14.07.2015

Some of my memories of Belgrade don't have photos to go with them but I feel a need to record them in words, so I don't forget how special a place this is. First of all I am staying not too far from the Danube (it's just at the end of the street) where there are lots of large barges anchored to the shore. These are the splavovi or floating river clubs. During the day they are cafes and restaurants, but as night settles they turn into raving hotspots playing blingy europop or house music loud all through the night until the sunrises ( I know it is loud because a couple of times I have woken up at about 2am and heard a few boom booms and the strains of house music coming from the direction of the river) . This happens seven nights a week not just on the river but all over the city, and for a while Belgrade earned the title of Europe's party central. I am really too bloody old to even think about experiencing these places, however a couple of nights ago my host Dmitri asked if I would like to check out a beer garden with live music which was happening about 15 minutes away on the bus. We had a Belgrade burger for dinner ( It was a warm 12 inch long bun with a huge meat pattie and salad and spicy sauces to make it interesting ) With a coke that cost NZ$3 and was really good and filling. We got to the venue which was at a part of one bank of the river that has been turned into a big long lake that is filtered and the water is clear and has sandy beaches all along it. the beer garden was free to enter and had a central area with tables and bench seats in the shade of trees, while around the outside cabins sold a range of different beers and food snacks There was a stage with a sound and lighting system and a grassed area in front for dancing. This place is open seven nights a week in summer and was half full when we got there ( even on a Monday night). They feature all kinds of music from folk to heavy metal and the music for the night was jazz with a Louise Armstrong theme, and the female singer and band (with a trumpet, double bass, guitar, drums, and clarinet) were really good. We only stayed a couple of hours and had two pints of beer (NZ$3 a pint), but were joined at our table by a friendly bunch of young people. I tried a really nice light craft beer, and I swear it left an aftertaste of Turkish Delight after every sip. It was the first craft beer that I have really enjoyed. The atmosphere was friendly and relaxed and families with kids were standing in front of the stage enjoying the music and the warm evening. Dmitri told me that all over Belgrade are clubs and cafe's with live music that play seven nights in summer and cost nothing or next to nothing to visit. He has booked me on a free 2 hour cruise on the river tonight with a bar and food onboard, which then turns into an all night music club ( that I probably need to pass on, since I am spending tomorrow on a train to Budapest. I will put in a few photos from two walking tours I went on yesterday..... The walking tours were really good. About 25 to 30 of us followed a young woman called Teya around the city for three hours while she entertained us with a non stop history lesson on Belgrade full of jokes and personal anecdotes. On the later ( communist ) tour she took a similar number of people to the House of Flowers ( Tito's final resting place ) and the adjacent Serbian History museum, which was showing artworks from the 50's and 60's relating to the brutal occupation by the Germans during the second world war. Her matter of fact talks on life in Socialist Yugoslavia under Tito's rule were really interesting and filled in a huge number of gaps in my knowledge about life as it was in Eastern Europe during my lifetime. The later tour ended outside what were the Ministry of Defense Buildings which Nato bombed in 1999. Her handling of the discussion on the various causes and points of view on the Serbian part in the Bosnian 'genocide', was as you can imagine full of the horror experienced by the majority of the Serbian people when the stories of what happened in Bosnia broke. She finished the walk with a visit to the National Assembly building and a talk about present day problems facing Serbia... The whole day was really thought provoking, to say the least. My evening cruise was a blast...I enjoyed it mainly because of the entertainment, the lovely views, the $3 beers, and not having to walk anywhere during the two hours.....

Every city needs art