One of our good friends is visiting Belgrade for ten days. The same friend who visited us in San Francisco last October and the same friend we will probably visit in France this coming summer. Thanks to him I can now say that I know the city better. A week ago I was able to go from our flat to Republic Square, Kalemegdan Fortress, Saint Marco’s church and one of my favourite cafes in Belgrade: Biblioteka, for any other place I had to use the map.

We have been walking around so much that last weekend we made it all the way to Zemun, a different municipality, by foot. We believe we walked at least 12 km. The walk along the river is lovely and we stopped in a few places for a coffee or a quick drink so we actually spent the whole afternoon cafe hopping and arrived in the old Zemun for dinner. After having musckalica (a stew made with meat and vegetables) at Danubius Restaurant we went up to Gardos tower for a night view of Belgrade. The cobblestoned  Zemun is small but really beautiful.

We also took a bus tour around the city centre which was very interesting. We jumped on the bus at 11 am at Nikola Pasic Square and the bus drove us around showing us quite a bit of the architecture of the town. It was nice to see the top of the buildings from a double decker bus. This has been the first time I have taken a bus tour! I usually loathe planned visits and tours that do not let you see the real face of the place, but this time, since we already have so much of the local proximity we believed it could be a fun thing to do. The tour is about an hour and gives you a nice picture of the main streets and the Brankov Bridge.

Pekaras (Serbian Bakeries) have been a mandatory stop from time to time. Pastries are so tasty and filling that I think we are all going on a strict diet starting next week. Good places to eat traditional food like Srpska Kafana, La Cantina de Frida by the river to try tapas or Pomodoro for Italian food could be excellent examples of Belgrade’s culinary art.

Regarding nightlife activities, a friend made a reservation to go to Office Pub to see a gypsy band called Amaro Del. I can say that was the highlight of the week. I loved the music, the feeling, the people dancing and singing. It was wonderful. We have had fantastic bar recommendations from friends. I particularly liked Supermarket cafe for an afternoon Iced Coffee and Jazz Cafe for a Plazma coffee fix.