Living the Serbian Dream

"Do you mean Siberia&rdquo

&ldquoCould you please spell it&rdquo

&ldquoIt is in Europe But where is your visa"

Be ready to field a string of queries and doubts when you present your visa-less passport for your Serbia trip to the Indian immigration team at Delhi International Airport.

The desk officials seem to be quite clueless about the one country in Europe which lets Indians in without a visa (albeit for a period of up to 30 days in one year).

This state of affairs on the Indian side is in sharp contrast to the brusque but efficient staff at the airport in Belgrade where we alight after a stopover at Istanbul. We are passed through immigration without much ado about absent visas - in a matter of minutes - by immigration officers. Sharply dressed in dark blue uniforms with cheekbones that could cut a diamond, the women are easier on the eyes than their grumpy Indian counterparts. &ldquoThey look just like Stana Katic,&rdquo whispers a fellow traveller, referring to the actress with Serbian roots who played Detective Kate Beckett in the popular television show Castle.

There are many Stana Katic references through my week-long trip around this picturesque country. Serbia is tiny (Bihar is bigger) but it packs a punch with a blend of ancient European and Ottoman influences.

By the time we arrive at our hotel, Metropol Palace, the sun has set, and several of old structures (like the Tesla museum and churches) in the city are lit up. Dinner is at the rooftop restaurant on the 10th floor, The Twenty Two, which has panoramic view of the city and the Danube and Sava rivers. Looking out over the cityscape on the windy night, you remember that this place has witnessed over 115 wars - from the raids of Attila the Hun and the Ottomans to the Balkan Wars. 

After dinner, some of us decide to go out for a walk after dinner.&nbspThe cityscape is a surreal mixed-up world of ancient baroque and neoclassical structures, grey concrete functionalism of communist-era buildings, and contemporary hipster cafes and boutiques. It is easy to see why it was the backdrop for a mini-series chronicling Phileas Fogg&rsquos adventures from Around the World in 80 Days - the show&nbspwas shot mostly in Serbia. Belgrade alone was the backdrop for seven cities in the series.

Over the next few days we discovered that Belgrade was a very walkable city with wide pavements and disciplined traffic. And it&rsquos also pretty safe - at least the area we were in. We walked everywhere even to the riverside, that too really late at night. And you can strike up conversations with strangers. While picking up tobacco pouches at a convenience store, we had an interesting conversation with a 20-something who (after hearing we were from India) said she wanted to visit Kerala one day. Outside the Tito Museum, we met a girl walking her dog who was keen to come to Haridwar for yoga. She asked us if our local airlines would let her take her dog along in the plane if she came to India.

Another big plus was the discovery that the city has many bookstores, though many of them do not stock English titles. The cosy Delfi Laguna on Kralja Milana has great clothbound editions of classics, and home and lifestyle products with a bookish slant in the basement. The Dereta store on Kneza Mihaila has a limited English books section, but the interiors, with its arched ceiling, is worth the visit. Knjizara Akademija in Akademski Plato has chandeliers, leather couches, balconies and a nice collection of fantasy fiction. For secondhand books, vinyl and old posters, hit up Book Cart Street off Kneza Mihaila. 

With so many art galleries, museums, the Sava riverside, eateries and nightclubs, the city can be a destination in itself. A must-do on your itinerary should be spending time tripping on bohemian vibes at Skadarlija, the cobblestoned district full of old taverns and musicians playing accordions and&fnof singing folk songs. The settlement of the Romas in the 1800s and referred to as the Gypsy Quarter, Skadarlija will make you feel like you are a character in Ernest Hemingway&rsquos A Moveable Feast. 

The Nikola Tesla Museum keeps more than 160,000 documents, manuscripts and letters belonging to the scientist, and also his ashes. Tesla was an ethnic Serb born in present-day Croatia and he lived mostly in Paris and the US.

Don&rsquot forget to look for photos of Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru at the Tito Museum which houses his tomb. High on the quirk meter are the thousands of elaborate relay batons presented to him by young &lsquopioneers&rsquo, and a collection of artwork, posters and magazines showcasing the socialist struggle.

Walk up Vraar Hill to St Sava, said to be the second largest Orthodox church in the world. The plan to build it was made in 1893. It&rsquos meant to commemorate the life of Serbia&rsquos first archbishop, Rastko Nemanji, who became a monk and took the name Sava. Construction began in 1935 and is still on. The work had stalled during WWII (it was used by Germans as a parking lot and a storage unit). Then, with socialism, it became government property for 40 years. Then Yugoslavia dissolved. Construction finally resumed in 2000. The jaw-dropping underground crypt has stunning frescoes, Murano glass mosaics and archways.

Dating back to Celtic times, the imposing Belgrade Fortress has seen many battles and houses a Roman well, churches, an old Turkish bath, the Neboj&scarona Tower and Damad Ali-Pa&scarona&rsquos Turbeh. Most of what can be seen today are reconstructions made during the 18th century by the Austro-Hungarians and Turks.

In between all the walking, we discovered Miamiam on Kursulina St, a charming little place run by a Serbian woman married to an Indian. They do contemporary and innovative dishes with ingredients sourced from local markets. Try the Indian dishes here if your palate is hankering for home.

One of our absolute favourite things to do was spending evenings hanging out at any of the many caf&eacutes at Kneza Mihaila, the hub of modern Belgrade, with thousands of bars, eateries, museums, galleries and shops. The central part has numerous curio stalls and artwork. And then there are the buskers. One evening we were treated to a rendition of Mozart&rsquos &lsquoEine kleine Nachtmusik&rsquo by four young musicians, Michael Jackson&rsquos Billy Jean (played on an accordion), and Europe&rsquos &lsquoThe Final Countdown&rsquo (by a busker playing multiple instruments like the harmonica and an electric guitar).

At Kneza Mihaila, conversations were free-flowing with a Croatian artist who insisted he was Serbian as well (&ldquowe were all Yugoslavia once&rdquo), drinking rakija (fruit brandy) and then watching a Cuban salsa dancer give lessons at 3 in the morning.

From &lsquo70s-style disco nightclubs and floating lounges known as splavovi (or splav) anchored along the riverfront, to a Frank Zappa theme club, or dinner at Beton Hala, there&rsquos a lot to do here if you decide to stay up late.

Day Trips from Belgrade

• ZEMUN
  • The old town is peppered with red-tiled roofs. Climb up to the old tower of Gardos for the panoramic view over Zemun and Belgrade. The pedestrian friendly streets are lined with caf&eacutes and bars.
• NOVI SAD
  • This pretty little town reminds you of Greece. Located in Vojvodina, an autonomous province of Serbia, the town is overlooked by the majestic Petro Varadin Fortress. It has quaint farm stays with excellent traditional fare.
• SREMSKI KARLOVCI
  • Not many know that this part of the world has a long history of winemaking. This lovely baroque-style town in Vojvodina is well-known for its vineyards and small, family-owned cellars. The vineyards are mostly scattered over the Fru&scaronka Gora hill with the Danube river to its north.
• TOPOLA
  • Home to Karadorde, leader of the 1804 uprising against the Ottoman rulers of Serbia, the five-domed Church of Saint George (in pic) with mosaics is worth a visit.

THE INFORMATION

Getting There

Delhi has no direct flights to Belgrade but many carriers, including Turkish Airlines, Emirates, Lufthansa, and KLM, ply between the cities with halts.

Visa

Indian nationals can visit Serbia without a visa for a period not exceeding 30 days from the date of entry, within the span of a year.

Where to Stay

The atmospheric Metropol Palace, Belgrade, which has hosted the likes of Che Guevera, Anthony Quinn, Brigitte Bardot, Elizabeth Taylor, Bobby Fischer and Jawaharlal Nehru. A communist-era showpiece, it has now remodelled and relaunched as a luxury hotel in the heart of Belgrade.

The article is from our Story Bank. It was first published in February 2018