Belgrade for history and culture lovers rather than club-goers

"The sky above Belgrade is broad and high, changing but always beautiful..." What brought me to the capital city of Serbia in autumn 2019 was especially the fond depiction of Belgrade skies by the Nobel-winning Yugoslav writer Ivo Andrić in his acclaimed novel "The Woman from Sarajevo." The line has been haunting me ever since my first read.

However, I was not really in the sky-hunting mood on my arrival in Belgrade. After the long flight from Shanghai, China, I arrived in the early afternoon and was told at the airport that taxis were not available till 3pm because the drivers were on a strike to protest against Internet-hailed taxi services. I took a bus from the airport and hopped off by the bridge known as Brankov Most. From there I had a strenuous uphill climb with my chunky suitcase, in part over pebble streets, to my hotel on Knez Mihailova, the main pedestrian shopping street in the city. I was exhausted.

But being an industrious tourist pays off most of the time. Instead of lying down, I immediately went for some food and then took the street behind the zoo for Kalemegdan, the most well-known historic monument in Belgrade which occupies a hillock. It was a cozy and clear day, with clouds idling high up there, and I sensed a magnificent sunset happening. The dusk was descending, and since the best moments of a sunset are transient enough, I ran all the way up and fortunately arrived in time for one of the most unforgettable sunsets in my whole life.

From this elevated spot in the city, the sky above really looked unusually broad. When the twilight was painting the canvas in the west, it looked like it was dawning in the east. The gold on the horizon gradually brimmed up and darkened into ardent Bloody Mary orange that diluted the blue. The changing colors of the sky were mirrored on the earth down below where the river Sava flows into the Danube. My body and soul were refreshed by the splendid view in front of me.

I was, of course, not the only one who witnessed the spectacular sunset that day. There was already a gathering of locals and tourists on the hilltop when I got there. When the night fell, Kalemegdan, a time tunnel sorrowfully lit up, was still alive with friends, lovebirds, families and tourists. The liveliness extended all the way down to Knez Mihailova at the foot of the hillock.

Belgrade might not have the refined elegance of Budapest or the oriental sentimentalism of Sarajevo, two other renowned capital cities in this region, but it does give the air of the capital of three Yugoslav countries over the course of a century. In recent years, nightlife in Belgrade, with lively clubs, good booze and beautiful people, is so much touted to attract visitors, especially from the West, but the city is indeed also an interesting destination for history and culture lovers.

One of the top sights is the mausoleum of Josip Broz Tito (1892-1980), which is also known as the "house of flowers." It was in Tito's era that the Yugoslav country achieved its greatest fame in the world. Tito's mausoleum is a part of the Museum of Yugoslavia where a special pavilion exhibits the gifts from world governments to Tito in his lifetime.

If the hustle and bustle of Belgrade's city life is too stifling for you, there is always nature to escape to right inside the city. Apart from Kalemegdan, a walk along the Danube is also highly recommended. You will find art galleries, historical monuments, and former Yugoslavian architectural wonders all the way upstream till you reach the historic town of Zemun, where the river significantly widens from its downtown part and forms an extremely pleasant view with green islets in it. Chances are that you encounter locals roller-skating and biking along the riverbank and feeding herds of swans from land with bread, while sailing boats near and far out on the peaceful river blister in the sun.

(The author is a researcher at the Institute of Global and Area Studies of Capital Normal University.)