Belgrade Serbia: Border Country

A few weeks ago I went to Belgrade to meet up with Stine for a long weekend. We didn't really know what to expect from the capital of Serbia but it surprised us. The people were friendly and I understood Serbian for the most part because of its similarity to Bulgarian. They city was clean and well kept. There was plenty of stuff to do and see, and for the most part the food was good.

Stine's Chocolate Lava Cake at one of our tea breaks

We saw the old fortress of Belgrade, which lies at the very defensible junction of the Danube and Sava rivers on the top of the hill.

Walking around the fortress

hiding in a watch tower

the view over the rivers on a foggy day

together in a watch tower

We walked down the old bohemian quarter full of windy cobble stone streets and cafes as well as large wide pedestrian shopping zones full of stores I miss here in Bulgaria. There is also a student square and some new 'concept' stores/restaurants in the area of old town. Our favorite was 'Supermarket Concept Store' and we spent a lot of time there.

Zebra Crossing. So clever.

The churches in Belgrade are many and of the orthodox variety, but they're different then most of the ones I've seen. There was a tiny chapel near the fortress that had some of the best mosaics I've ever seen. The big cathedral, however, was barren on the inside. It had unfinished floors and no paintings on the walls or ceilings. Its beautiful on the outside, but very much so unfinished.

a small church with autumn leaves

Cathedral of Saint Sava

We went to the Nikola Tesla Museum, which was one of the best I've been to because it was so interactive, yet small and personal. There was guide that takes you through in English and some of Tesla's old machines from the World's Fair in Chicago are there and still operational as well as some models of the Niagara Falls Power Plant he helped design.

Stine at the Nikola Tesla Museum, in her Tesla Motors sweatshirt.
She Works for Tesla Motors.

It was a great trip, and not just to see Stine again even though that was the whole point. I did enjoy Belgrade and I recommend it to anyone.

Now I am back in Avren busy with Thanksgiving preparations and celebrations. I've been spending quite a bit of time at the school this week and last. I found Disney's Pocahontas in Bulgarian and I've had showings of it at the school, its a good way to introduce Native America Culture. We're also making a 'Thankful Turkey'. I cut out paper feathers and had the kids write down things that they're thankful for on them, and then I made them into a turkey. I still have more sessions tomorrow, and then we're going to hang up the turkeys in the corridors for everyone to see/read.