I spent two very comfortable weeks living summer, urban life in Belgrade and I must say I was sad to leave when the time came. I visited Belgrade four years ago for the first time during a very short reconnaissance trip; the type I do to sniff out a location to decide whether or not I want to return for a longer period.
My return was delayed due to destination obligation. Though travelers will claim to travel lightly we carry loads of obligation in terms of the places we both need to explore for the first time or return to again — a queue that perpetually lengthens. Best intentions are waylaid as new destinations appear. A slow, wonderfully inefficient heuristic for travel.
Four years later, I returned. This time around I did Belgrade better by living in two separate neighborhoods for a week each. The first was one of the coolest neighborhoods I have ever lived in, Dorćol; it is a perfect place for an explorer to station themselves — accessible by walking to countless restaurants, bars, gyms. Dorćol made figuring out how to effectively live convenient and simple. Each night I took myself out to a delicious, dinner and enjoyed unbelievable, local, bargain wines and beef. In terms of value for cost, Belgrade is great.
The second week I moved to less charming destination, more south and near the rapidly-developing riverfront. The area is seeing tremendous foreign investment in the form of investment properties and everyone who gave me their opinions on it hated the entire thing. It seems as though my discovery of everything Belgrade has to offer has also been noticed by these enterprising foreigners. I can’t seem to blame them, nor can I blame the locals who really dislike foreigners buying up property and raising the living costs beyond what local salaries can afford.
A highlight during my time in this other, central neighborhood was the gym that I joined called Muscle Planet Gym. One of my favorite things to do when exploring a new city is joining a local gym for the duration of my stay. This place was great — classic posters of bodybuilders from the 1980s all over the walls, old-school equipment that has been around longer than me. The best part was a guy working there — he is training to be a professional wrestler in the USA and definitely looks the part with a huge, handlebar mustache.
I’ve already added Belgrade to my list of places to return to, again. Next time I will definitely be staying longer than two weeks, and in Dorćol.
