Belgrade: Judge the Book by its Cover

They say don't judge a book by its cover. However, that's often easier said than done. Sometimes we're fortunate enough to travel to a new location with no preconceptions. We know nothing about it.  It’s truly foreign to us.  However, more often-than-not we have some idea of what to expect. You may have already done some pre-trip research. Your friends or family may have shared their own experiences or opinions with you, What you learned in history class, viewed on social media or television make it challenging for you to have an unbiased opinion. But, like most things, you need to experience it on your own instead of judging the book by its cover. The experiences from tasting the cuisine, interacting with the people, visiting the sites and learning the culture is what it takes for you to understand the city.

Admittedly, we didn’t arrive in Belgrade, or Serbia for that matter, with an open mind. We already knew of Serbia’s history. In the 1990s, we watched as President Clinton announced to the nation that the US had joined NATO forces in the bombing of Serbia. This was in response to Serbia’s killing of 9,000 Kosovo Albanians and displacement of 90% of them from their homes.  Even today, Serbia refuses to recognize Kosovo as an independent country instead viewing it as their territory. Our opinions of Serbia were already negatively tainted.

However, this is why we wanted to visit Serbia.  What’s it like today?  Although, Serbia’s past cannot and shouldn’t be forgotten, we wanted to try Serbia on for ourselves.  Our first two stops (Novi Sad and Subotica) in Serbia were positive.  They both were small, charming towns that were a part of the Austrian-Hungarian empire not too long ago and had retained their beautiful art-nouveau architecture.

Our last stop in Serbia was Belgrade.  Before we arrived, we expected a different experience from Novia Sad and Subotica. The decisions that were made that impacted so many Kosovars came from this city. Belgrade is to Serbia as Berlin was to Nazi Germany.

This is the part of the story you might expect to read that our experience was the opposite.   That even though it has a dark past, things had improved.  That it’s unimaginable that something so dark as genocide could have originated from here.  That Belgrade has transformed itself into a beautiful city.  However, none of this turned out to be true.

From the moment that we arrived, we struggled navigating the public transportation system (more our fault than theirs, but still). Buildings and streets were dirty, dark and mostly designed by communists. Air conditioners dripped condensation on us from above as we walked through the streets to our Airbnb.  This was not the typical European capital city we were accustomed to visiting.

After we got settled into our Airbnb, we headed out in search of the real Belgrade. We hoped for something more beautiful and charming. First stop was Republic Square, the main gathering square in Belgrade.   No such luck.  It had a similar feel to what we’d already experienced.  To add to it, there was graffiti prominently displayed that read “The only genocide in the Balkans was against the Serbs”.  There wasn’t any hiding that Serbs had not changed their sentiment towards Kosovo.

While our first impressions weren’t great, Belgrade did have some worthwhile tourist attractions and experiences to offer.

With the help of a walking tour, we learned more about the city and its history. For example, the city’s buildings are, shall we say, ugly because these buildings were destroyed in World War 2 and rebuilt by the communists after they took over. Locals understand that this design isn’t appealing but the cost to replace it is far too great. Buildings spared by the bombing are architecturally more pleasing.

Belgrade Fortress stands on top of the city and is worth the hike as it provides a good visual overview and layout of the city.

We really enjoyed our visit to the Temple of Saint Sava.  Located a decent walk from city center, this church was just recently completed (events in the Balkans significantly delayed its completion). Dedicated to the founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church, it is said to have been built on his gravesite.  It is the largest church in Serbia and one of the largest in the world.  Modeled after the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, its grand dome is adorned by mosaics in the likeness of Christ.  He looks down upon you with outstretched arms. It’s truly remarkable.

Another place worthy of a visit are the statues in front of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia named Igrali se Konji Vrani (Black Horses at Play). Now, Europe has plenty of monuments and statues but this one is unique.

The artist was commissioned when Serbia was a part of Yugoslavia. The artist kept the statues hidden until it was time to unveil them to the public. He explained that the monument was simply an artistic exploration of the sculptural forms of human and animal bodies at interplay. Locals had a different interpretation.  They viewed it as a man being ridden and crushed by authority. Take a look for yourself. What do you think?

To get a sense for architecture not impacted by the War and to get some shopping done, we’d recommend a visit to Knez Mihailova Street. It’s the main pedestrian and shopping zone in Belgrade.   It has the architecture and charm that we’d hoped to find in Belgrade. You can find everything here from Swarovski to Starbucks to kiosks selling Vladimir Putin souvenirs.

We spent just two full days in Belgrade.  There’s much more that we didn’t get to experience.  With more time, we may have come away with a different, more positive impression. However, the lack of beautiful architecture, dirty buildings and the rejection of independence for Kosovo didn't change the preconceptions we had prior to arrival. As we headed to the airport to leave Belgrade, graffiti on an overpass declared “Remember Kosovo is Serbia” reminding us that Serbs attitude towards Kosovo's independence remains a long way from becoming reality.