I was predisposed to like Belgrade by the ease of my arrival.  The Nikola Tesla airport was tidy and efficient. The luggage came quickly and the ATM worked. The taxi desk sent a young fellow who spoke perfect English to walk me to the taxi line and see that I was easily loaded.

We zipped into town on a fine new motorway and arrived to the attractive sight of Christmas lights in the streets and trees and many buildings lit up.

 

 

 

 

 

There are a number of things to like about the downtown.

They have plenty of parking garages, so not all of the sidewalks are  blocked with parked cars. 

There are good sidewalks throughout the downtown.  And there is a very large and busy “pedestrian only” area in the old town where the buildings are in good repair. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are plenty of nice open spaces and parks.

The old Belgrade Castle sits on high ground overlooking the strategic position where the Sava river joins the Danube. Doubly strategic since this is also where the Pannonian plain meets the Balkan mountains. The site has probably been occupied since around 6000 BC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Romans built the first stone fortifications at the Castle, and some of their working remains can still be seen, like in this gate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Romans held the Castle for four hundred years. The kind of number I like to remind people of .. who believe in the enduring history and legacy of our country. Like everywhere in the Balkans it was fought over and occupied by almost everyone over the succeeding years.

Today the Castle grounds serves as a City park, and joins the “pedestrian only” areas of the old town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some fine buildings around town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a very large city with a number of distinct districts.  Close to the old town there are some nice residential areas with the kind of small shops: bread, meat, wine, groceries, fruit, pastries etc. of the kind and size of those you would see in city streets in Italy.

There are countless cafes, coffee bars, pubs and fast food restaurants.  There are plenty of restaurants in the city center but they become less dense farther out. The ones I went to had interesting straightforward food and very good wines. And inexpensive “plenty to eat” sized servings. 

 

 

 

 

They were also pretty smoky. It seems like everyone smokes here.

 Unfortunately as soon as you leave the immediate downtown Belgrade becomes gritty and crumbly. With a huge graffiti problem.  ANd even further from the center dirty, poor and sad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I very much enjoyed the small but excellent Tesla Museum, where local  Electrical Engineering students explain and demonstrate replicas of his key inventions. I have always been fascinated by Tesla’s life and his amazing contributions to science and our wellbeing.  Here and throughout the Balkans he is a local hero.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Actually it has been a pretty quiet week. Tracking down restaurants. Walking a lot.  

Doing simple things that are mini-adventures when travelling like this. Finding the Bus Station and buying a bus ticket.  Getting a haircut. Finding a laundry. (Got a week’s laundry done for 6 bucks)

There was a cold snap early in the week, but then it warmed up into the 60s.  The doors of the cafe’s and coffee bars are open.

Ready to move on. Tomorrow I take the bus south down the peninsula, to one more stop in Serbia:  Nis.