MY TWO MONTHS IN SERBIA
Serbia really surprised me. I didn’t know what to expect but upon arriving in the city of Belgrade, the capital, I was immediately in love. Even arriving at night, I could tell the city was just beautiful.
My time in Serbia was very different than my time in Albania. I was still primarily living in hostels, but I was no longer volunteering in exchange for free stay and free food. I was just a regular paying guest, and I liked it that way. I got a great discount for staying for over 30 days, and I tried to live more like a local by discovering favorite and go-to spots as I adjusted to non-volunteering retired life.
SERBIAN CULTURE
I knew about Yugoslavia because of a Serbian boy on my swim team when I was younger, but that was kind of it. During my time in Serbia I became familiar with the countries that made up former Yugoslavia and its history, and learned more about the separation of Kosovo from Serbia. I learned how close the Russian language is to Serbian, and I struggled at times since I couldn’t read the cyrillic alphabet.
I really enjoyed Serbia’s café culture, and I definitely took part in it as you can easily find café’s to hang out at all day (check out my favorite café’s in Belgrade). What I didn’t enjoy was the smoking; smoking inside, outside, everywhere. I was pleasantly surprised to find that many establishments had contactless payment options and I often saw 24 hour stores, even a floral shop — who needs flowers at 3am?
Coming from Albania, this country seemed lightyears ahead. But what I found strange was their lack of takeaway culture. When I had leftovers, I was often met with confusion as to why I would ask to take my leftovers home, and/or they sometimes didn’t have containers to package your leftover food.
SERBIAN FOOD
As a Balkan country, the food was similar to Albania and Montenegro: lots of meat and bread, which wasn’t ideal for me. But my favorite Serbian dish ever was Šopska salad! It has cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, sometimes peppers, and a very creamy feta cheese grated on top that really makes the dish.
WHAT I DID IN SERBIA:
LIVED IN BELGRADE FOR 6 WEEKS
I really enjoyed living in Belgrade. The architecture was beautiful and the options were a plenty, especially compared to Albania; from vegan restaurants to drugstore finds and everything in between. I was pleasantly surprised to find international foods like daifuku, taiyaki ice cream, bubble tea, and even a Chinese-Korean restaurant. Whether they were all good or not, that’s another story… For recommendations on where to eat in Belgrade click here
I didn’t meet too many locals, but one time I sat next to this old Serbian lady at the bus stop. She tried talking to me but spoke no English, so I just smiled, laughed, and shrugged because I didn’t understand her. She eventually pointed to her magazine with Serbian writing on it, so I put it in Google Translate and it said, “I don’t give a damn.” We both laughed and then sat there in silence until the bus came. We couldn’t communicate but it felt like we somehow understood each other.
I had some special memories made in Belgrade, particularly at my hostel; the unexpected nights that make me love life so much. The amazing conversations, the great connections, good vibes, and fun nights. I’ll cherish them forever.
MADE A LOT OF AMAZING, LIFELONG-TYPE FRIENDSHIPS WITH MUITO BRASILEROS (A LOT OF BRAZILIANS)
There were a LOT of Brazilians in my hostel. We often joked that Brazilians took over the hostel as it was majority Brazilians. So that meant more Portuguese practice for me
Almost all of them came to Serbia to quarantine for 14 days in order to enter their final destination; most of them going somewhere in the EU — Spain and Italy being the most common destinations. A lot of them were going to get their Italian or Portuguese citizenship (because of the worsening situation in Brazil), and some were going to study or work. I hardly met any Brazilians that were there just as a tourist.
Because they stayed for 2 weeks at a time, I got to spend a lot of time with them and even lived with some in the same dorm, doing everything together everyday. It was a lot of fun and I miss those times. Had it not been for COVID, they wouldn’t have needed to come to Serbia to quarantine and we wouldn’t have met.
Then I went to a Brazilian café and met the owner, a Brazilian woman married to a Serbian man, and then I met even more Brazilians there. I ended up spending a lot of time at that café and got to develop friendships with even more Brazilians.
I’m so happy I got to develop these close friendships with my Brasileiros.
LAUNCHED MY BLOG… FINALLY!
I pulled many all-nighters to get this website launched. A blog, something that so many people have, that looks so simple is most definitely not that simple. It was a fun project that I’m proud of figuring out on my own, but I’m definitely glad to be done
WATCHED SUNSETS AT KALAMEGDAN FORTRESS
Kalamegdan is a huge park, a nice little oasis in the city, that reminded me a lot of Central Park in NYC. In the park there is a fortress, restaurants and bars, churches, museums, and a lovely view of the Danube and Sava rivers. I loved coming here and I watched lots of sunset here.
WITNESSED BOMBED BUILDINGS FROM NATO BOMBING OF YUGOSLAVIA IN 1999
I first learned about the Kosovo-Serbia situation when I was living in Albania. I heard it from the Albanian perspective, which made it sound like Serbia was the bad guy and Albania and the US were the good guys helping Kosovo gain independence from Serbia.
So when I came to Serbia, it was interesting to hear the other perspective which sounded very different of course. It was sad to hear from a local about the fear of living through the bombings. She said to me, “I don’t know how you would feel if someone destroyed your country, including one of the oldest churches from the 14th century.”
Belgrade has been completely destroyed 44 times, so that’s 44 times they rebuilt their city. That makes the beauty of Belgrade even more admirable. Seeing the remnants of the bombings may be a tourist attraction for us, but for Serbians it is a sad reminder of what happened in ’99. This awareness made me feel a bit uncomfortable being from the US, and it made sense why I saw “FUCK NATO” graffitied on a wall once.
CHECKED OUT MUSEUMS
VISITED ST. SAVA
One of the largest Orthodox churches in the world, this place is just massive. So beautiful and grand.
GOT RECOGNIZED FROM INSTAGRAM
Dragana, a local Serbian girl, started following me on Instagram because the bakery I frequented reposted my story. She had been messaging me food recommendations, then one day we were both at the aforementioned bakery and she recognized me! We sat down and had a lovely little chat and met up again another day to hang out some more.
WON MY FIRST INTERNATIONAL GIVEAWAY
My giveaway prize
I entered a giveaway with my favorite bakery СкРоЗ ДоБрА ПеКаРа (Skroz Dobra Pekara in English) by submitting the most creative photo with 9 bottles of juices… and I won!!
VISITED THE JAPANESE GARDENS
SWAM AT LAKE ADA
CHECKED OUT SOME MARKETS
VISITED ZEMUN
Zemun is such a cute neighborhood of Belgrade that you must visit when you’re in the city!!
CONNECTED A BUSINESS WITH A CONTENT CREATOR
One Monday evening I met the new group of Brazilians that checked in to the hostel, and I met one lovely Brazilian named Leo. We hit it off right away, and when we exchanged Instagram accounts I discovered his amazing work as a content creator.
The next day, I went to check out Jungle Box — a Brazilian café, bar and concept store. I got there right when they opened and met the lovely owner, Livia. We got to talking about social media, and she told me she needed help with her Instagram page from someone that understands her concept and Brazilian culture.
Immediately I thought of Leo, of course, so I told her I know someone. I gave her Leo’s IG and she left to go pick up her kids, while I stayed at the café until they closed. Yes, I was there from open till close. By the time I got back to my hostel, she’d already called him and scheduled a meeting for the next day. So when Leo approached me with a big thank you, I was confused; I was going to tell him when I got back, but Livia moves quickly!!
So we went to the café together the following day, and the day after that we were shooting content! The day after that, the both of us were invited to spend the weekend at Livia’s house to get a break from hostel living.
LIVED AT LIVIA’S HOUSE FOR A WEEK
What was supposed to be a weekend ended up being a week (for me) at Livia’s house. I got to live with a local, albeit a Brazilian married to a Serbian, and I got to stay in her home, cook with her, go to work with her, pick up her kids from school, have wine nights together, go to Ashtanga yoga and brunch together, and have many wonderful chats together. I even met one of her nannies, Mildred, from Cuba, whom I had an amazing connection with. I’m so glad I walked into that Brazilian café and met Livia.
SPENT 10 DAYS IN NOVI SAD
SPENT A DAY IN THE COUNTRYSIDE
I got away for the day to have a delicious tasting menu, read in the sun, and go for a short hike. Read about my perfect day in the countryside here.
CHECKED OUT THE PRETTIEST H&M
VISITED SREMSKI KARLOVCI
Sremski Karlovci is such a pretty part of Serbia with beautiful architecture *heart eyes emoji.*
VISITED SUBOTICA
Raichle Palace
SOAKED IN PINK LAKE
I ventured over to Pačir Geothermal Spa to soak in the healing waters made of iodine, causing the pink color, and other minerals.
My taxi driver gave me a mini tour on the way back to Subotica and we stopped at this beautiful river.
SUBOTICA SYNAGOGUE
This was maybe the most beautiful church I’ve ever seen…
HUNG OUT AT BOSS CAFFE
This beautiful restaurant right behind Raichle Palace is huge with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating and an extensive menu. This was easily the best and my favorite restaurant in Subotica.
VENTURED OVER TO PALIĆ
ALMOST LOST MY (ONLY) SWEATER
After I got on the bus to Belgrade to catch my flight to Georgia, I realized I left my sweater hanging in the closet. My lovely Airbnb host hurried back to the apartment, then took my sweater to the bus station and sent it on the next bus to Belgrade for me. Good thing I had a few hours before I had to be at the airport. I’m so grateful to her!
MET PEOPLE FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD
On my way from Albania to Serbia, my friends and I stopped in Montenegro for two days to get a COVID test and to catch a train to Belgrade (since there wasn’t a direct train from Albania). While I was in line for the test, we met a Turkish girl and she mentioned she’s going to Belgrade too. When she had to leave I jokingly said to her, “See you in Belgrade!”
On my first night in Belgrade I changed hostels last minute, and moments after checking in (to the LAST bed in the hostel) a girl walked through the door of my room and said hey as if we’d met before. I turned around and it was Güneş, the girl I met in Montenegro! Here we met again, on my first night in Belgrade, in the same hostel, and in the same room. How.wild.
Interestingly, I met numerous people in Serbia that knew someone I had met in Albania. Talk about a small world, huh?
In Serbia I met people from Brazil, Argentina, Russia, Philippines, Turkey, Cuba, France, Serbia, the Netherlands, Montenegro, England, Tunisia, USA, Italy, and Korea/Japan. I didn’t get selfies with everyone I crossed paths with, but thank you all for the memories!
