Sweaty Serbia

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There is really only one way to describe Belgrade, and that's HOT. This covers the crazy club party scene, the people who are all incredibly good looking, this year's Eurovision Song Contest extravaganza, and above all, the sweltering heat that makes you just want to lie on the floor and die. I sweat so much the other day I had salt stains on my clothes. So disgusting. But of course I was off to a night train shortly thereafter so showering had to wait. Gotta love how travelling can bring you to new levels of acceptable filth!

Aside from the heat, Belgrade was a pretty fun place. Not a lot of sights, but a decent city to go wandering in with it's big pedestrian shopping street, a bohemian quarter, and a really cool fortress at the end of town that is really more like a huge park surrounded by stone walls. It apparently was in something like 11 battles (I might be off on that number a bit) and has been destroyed and rebuilt in various forms over the years and now is like a series of levels that range from park, to military museum, to cafe, to look out points, and everything in between. A great place to spend an afternoon.

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Another afternoon to get out of the heat we decided to check out the Tesla Museum and play with electricity 30's sci-fi style. It was pretty hilarious as they talked up Tesla as the best gift to mankind there ever was and then let us play with some of his old inventions that had us wondering if we were part of some crazy electrical experiment. One of my personal favourite displays in the museum though was one of books that Tesla had read or that his friends 'thought he ought have liked to read'. Well now isn't that something!

Evenings in Belgrade though are really what one comes for. Like all the other cities I've been to so far, nothing gets going until at least 11:30 or 12, if not later, and there is really no shortage of options to choose from. My first night there I tagged along with a couple guys from the hostel to a fairly well-known place called Stefan Braun. Clearly run by the mob, but was supposed to be a great party. Once inside, the term 'dance club' took on a whole new meaning. There was fantastic dance music and bartenders blowing whistles and dancing on the bar (along with many other scantily clad patrons), but yet no one was really dancing. After awhile and several failed attempts at getting a drink, we understood why. It would seem that people at this club reserve spots at the extensive bar rails throughout the club, and are highly territorial if you move on in, even for a minute to get a drink. Why they do this, we weren't sure, but on it went until finally we snuck into a corner spot and were able to grab a beer before getting the boot. It was a fun night, but definitely ranks as the most pretentious bar I've ever been to, and hopefully ever will go to.

Thankfully we were advised of a much cozier and better place the next night that you could only find if you knew the house address and walked into the yard. Great music and several floors where you could lounge or dance, and lots of the famously friendly Serbians happy to chat with foreigners. Unfortunately I somehow managed to leave the city without going to one Belgrade's famous floating clubs, but I guess there's only so much one can do in a couple of nights. I had hoped to get a third night in there, but instead opted for a night train to save some money and time, and so it was a short but sweet (and sticky) stay, but a great time nonetheless.