Lost in ‘Beograd’: a day in pictures
Saturday, October 25th, 2008Belgrade: October 22, 2008
‘Beo’ means white; ‘grad’ means city. White city. And I was lost again.This time, worse than Budapest. About 3 hours worse. It was the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet on the street signs that really did me in. Hungarian was hard enough.
Part of the problem is that it’s a city with so much raw energy I kept losing focus. It’s true Beograd isn’t beautiful. Neither is it white. But it’s got incredible life force and, if you’re feeling resilient and energetic, it’s a fascinating place to wander. The outdoor cafes swarm with people-watchers at all hours drinking coffee / pivo, and the volume of people on streets rivals New York. I only spent two days in Belgrade but I’d love to return.
I went out with some fellow travellers on the second evening and we ordered a litre bottle of Montenegrin wine (which came with a serrated beer-lid top!). It cost about $4. As we returned to our hostel at about 11, the city was filling and filling. Every time I woke up in the night, I’d part my curtains and look down onto a street scene that, but for the darkness, could have been the middle of the day. If I do return to Belgrade, I’ll absorb the city by night.
Here’s my time in Belgrade in pictures…
Tito's grave