I've been in Belgrade for four days now and have decided that I love this city! The vibes are great, the women are absolutely beautiful, and everyone speaks English! Part of me wants to keep this hidden gem to myself to avoid it turning into a tourist madhouse, but another part of me cannot help revealing how amazing this city is. I could totally see myself living here for some time, and I'm sure summertime and the beautiful weather would even amplify that feeling.
So far daytime hours have been few and far between. Partying until 5-7am every night makes a person sleep a decent portion of the afternoon away. On Friday we met up with Chris, a friend from the US I had met a couple years ago in Hawaii (see this post), who had been traveling through Eastern Europe and heard I was going to be here for two weeks, decided to fly down and hang with us! We cruised to a concert in an old converted warehouse, which was delayed when the band asked if the crowd wanted to wait until the semi-final game for the World Cup of Basketball was over, which Serbia and France were duking out on the big screen behind the stage. Because basketball is HUGE here, the crowd overwhelmingly chose to watch the game, which ended in a victory for Serbia and the spot to play the US in the final tonight. More on that later.
One thing I definitely have to mention about Serbian culture is the sports betting. Gambling houses are EVERYWHERE, and they're all full of Serbian men that like to bet on any sporting event they can. Since moving here Jacob has become quite involved in it, making decent amounts of money that could be considered a second bonus income. And to show how deep it is really ingrained in the culture, imagine some mafia-esque betting tips that get shared between friends about an Italian B-league game "that will be one point ahead in the first half, then will become tied in the second half". Yeah, it ended like that.
Last night we had some drinks with Jacob's neighbours at a local bar owned by their brother, which was a really chilled out, trendy place. Then we cruised down to the Sava river where there are rows of boats moored along the shoreline that serve as popular nightclubs and are ram packed with drunk people. The beauty part of the this city is that everything is walkable, even when you're drunk, so pizza is never far away from where you drink. And because the clubs stay open until around 5am, we didn't get back to the apartment until 7:30am.
Obviously today was a relax day. I'm getting too old to be pulling a four night bender, especially when I'm partying until these hours. Which worked itself out because there weather went for shit and started pouring in the evening. It didn't, however, stop us from watching the Serbia vs. USA basketball match at a bar along the walking streets. I could actually call it a Serbian slaughter, the USA destroyed them. Perfect time to be hanging out with two Americans. They did take it like champs, though, still celebrating a good game with a flare-fueled party in the main square:
The next few days are work time. Jacob has lined up three photo shoots, so if the weather cooperates, I should have a portfolio by the end of the week. Again, weather cooperation will dictate what I do with my next weekend. Maybe Montenegro? Maybe somewhere else?
So far daytime hours have been few and far between. Partying until 5-7am every night makes a person sleep a decent portion of the afternoon away. On Friday we met up with Chris, a friend from the US I had met a couple years ago in Hawaii (see this post), who had been traveling through Eastern Europe and heard I was going to be here for two weeks, decided to fly down and hang with us! We cruised to a concert in an old converted warehouse, which was delayed when the band asked if the crowd wanted to wait until the semi-final game for the World Cup of Basketball was over, which Serbia and France were duking out on the big screen behind the stage. Because basketball is HUGE here, the crowd overwhelmingly chose to watch the game, which ended in a victory for Serbia and the spot to play the US in the final tonight. More on that later.
One thing I definitely have to mention about Serbian culture is the sports betting. Gambling houses are EVERYWHERE, and they're all full of Serbian men that like to bet on any sporting event they can. Since moving here Jacob has become quite involved in it, making decent amounts of money that could be considered a second bonus income. And to show how deep it is really ingrained in the culture, imagine some mafia-esque betting tips that get shared between friends about an Italian B-league game "that will be one point ahead in the first half, then will become tied in the second half". Yeah, it ended like that.
Last night we had some drinks with Jacob's neighbours at a local bar owned by their brother, which was a really chilled out, trendy place. Then we cruised down to the Sava river where there are rows of boats moored along the shoreline that serve as popular nightclubs and are ram packed with drunk people. The beauty part of the this city is that everything is walkable, even when you're drunk, so pizza is never far away from where you drink. And because the clubs stay open until around 5am, we didn't get back to the apartment until 7:30am.
Obviously today was a relax day. I'm getting too old to be pulling a four night bender, especially when I'm partying until these hours. Which worked itself out because there weather went for shit and started pouring in the evening. It didn't, however, stop us from watching the Serbia vs. USA basketball match at a bar along the walking streets. I could actually call it a Serbian slaughter, the USA destroyed them. Perfect time to be hanging out with two Americans. They did take it like champs, though, still celebrating a good game with a flare-fueled party in the main square:
The next few days are work time. Jacob has lined up three photo shoots, so if the weather cooperates, I should have a portfolio by the end of the week. Again, weather cooperation will dictate what I do with my next weekend. Maybe Montenegro? Maybe somewhere else?
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