Belgrade, Serbia
We have a ton of Serbian friends from New York, so we figured we should see what their country is all about! We quickly found out that the Serbian spoken language is pretty much exactly the same as Croatian. So even though we weren't able to read any of the cyrillic, we could at least strut into Belgrade knowing how to say "please" and "thank you" ...but we also quickly learned that all the conflicts and hatred that lie between the ex-Yugoslavia countries is still very prevalent.
Our New York Serbians hooked us up with a cool friend of theirs, Alex, and he showed us around the city. At night, he took us to a really cool neighbourhood that I’m sure tourists never get to see. It was right up our alley and kind of felt like being back in Bushwick: Savamala, Belgrade's self-proclaimed Creative District. You pretty much walk from industrial and abandoned warehouses on one block to super trendy bars & clubs on the next. And all this with a splash of colorful and imaginative street art in every corner! First, we went to a cool concept-store/bar/event-space called Mikser House. It was so beautifully designed I swear I wanted to buy everything inside. Then later, we had a few drinks in Tranzit, a bar/lounge/club with amazing music, a cool ambiance, and a nice terrace overlooking the Sava River. Other party alternatives include more boat bars and lots of dancing in crazy late-night clubs, but we decided to skip those and have a few days of rest. In conclusion: Belgrade is beautiful and so much fun!
