The New York Post Travel Blog, Meanwhile, in Belgrade
27 May 2008
Belgrade has slowly built up
a reputation as an exciting destination, mostly in a world-of-mouth fashion and
in large part for its nightlife. It is still by and large an unknown, however,
even among travel-savvy Europeans. Demonstration: Black Tomato, an upscale
London-based travel company that puts together bespoke "experiences"
for novelty-seeking travelers with cash to burn, introduces Belgrade as a
"secret".)
Secret or not, it's clear
that Belgrade, unlike many other Eastern European capitals, hasn't become a
strippers-and-shots weekend bachelor party zone. The city has held onto its
cool in part by failing to become a mass tourist destination.
The onslaught of flag-waving
music fiends here for this past weekend's Eurovision
song contest has caught some locals off guard. "Very strange,"
replied a taxi driver when I asked him how it feels to have so many visitors in
town. As many as 15,000 arrived for Eurovision, and Belgrade simply isn't used
to having such a big temporary influx.
Central Belgrade itself is
characterized by parks, modern 1970s structures, and many standout classicist
and art nouveau buildings. The architectural hodgepodge is extremely compelling
in a cinematic key. If you're holding onto Cold War fantasies, in other words,
you can allow them to flow freely in Belgrade.
Travel writers love to speak
of cities that are Studies in Contrast, and Belgrade certainly provides ample
grist for the cliche. If you want Eastern European exotic, you won't have to
look too hard. You'll see Orthodox priests striding through town in their black
robes. You'll see nationalist graffiti, too, and plenty of it.
Yet all the hallmarks of the
European high street are here, too, with multinational chains in same-same
shopping areas, and, as of last November, a shiny 85,000 square meter luxury
shopping mall.
To pick up Belgrade's daytime
pace, you'll want to hit a cafe and then go looking for some grilled meat.
Cafes first. Belgrade is a coffeehouse city, with cafe after cafe filled with
people slowing turning the pages of their newspapers or chatting with friends.
After a longish survey, I picked a stylish subterranean spot named Rakia
Bar (at Dobracina 5) for my espresso sa slagom (espresso with two
enormous clumps of slowly dissolving whipped cream). Candied, sure, but the
espresso was strong and good. For a cleaner, more elegant aesthetic, there's
also the street-level Centrala cafe around the corner.
Then, meat. Serbian cuisine
revolves around grilled meat. The self-consciously folkloric and very cozy Sur
Sesir, on Skadarska, dishes up the goods. Here, my enormous lunch of pljeskavica and
a tomato and cucumber cost a little over 1000 dinars ($21). Though Skadarska's
cobblestones and its cluster of old-style Serbian restaurants are at the heart
of the tourist zone, Sur Sesir was full mostly of locals one afternoon this weekend -- least until an enormous party of
Maltese Eurovision fans arrived.
