Week 3
7/21 - 7/24 | Budapest
The remainder of my week-long stint in Budapest went by as well as the start. I made new friends, went on a few dates, explored the city, but mostly tried to live like a local. I think I could see myself staying longer in this place (politics and logistics aside). The Hungarians I met were a bit grumpy on the surface, but just beneath were curious, welcoming to foreigners, and offered unique and interesting perspectives on the world. I was impressed by their sense of personal independence (relative to the Americans I know, who often seem lost in their lives or dependent on others for their sense of direction) and their pragmatic yet honest way of communicating.
Budapest itself has also upgraded considerably since I last visited. Credit card infrastructure is available everywhere, you can now pay for public transit via an app, the city remains open and alive even into the early hours of the morning, and it’s quite easy to find products you might think you can only find in the US (or at least, their European equivalents). I was really happy to see such rapid modernization with conveniences in the country—it considerably increases its livability score in my books.
There’s still a bit I didn’t get to do here, and I certainly want to come back, if not just for the people. I want to see the caves beneath the castle, take a dip in the Gellert baths, ride a hot air balloon above the city, and take some day trips out into the countryside. Gozdu (Blue Bird Karaoke especially), Szimpla, Instant, Freyja, Szechenyi, and the other tourist highlights are also worth a revisit, as I have some amazing memories from nights here. Till soon, Budapest.
7/25 - 7/27 | Belgrade
I was prepared to be disappointed by Belgrade after seeing Zagreb and Sarajevo, and after hearing mixed reviews of Podgorica. Much to my pleasant surprise, I wasn’t. After an early morning bus ride with my new German friend Anna, my old Serbian friend Marko picked me up from the bus station and brought me to his grandparents’ home in New Belgrade.
After a quick refresher, we headed into Old Belgrade where I had the largest and most delicious crepe of my life at a restaurant I would’ve never possibly found without local help. I also sampled the local drinkable yogurt (Balans), which is both healthy and tart and delicious. Perfect for cooling off on a hot summer day.
The afternoon was spent wandering down the main street and the old fortress, finding a drink in a local cafe, and just generally trying to cool off. I was struck by the cool stone architecture in the pedestrian center of the city and the abundance of…interesting…statues scattered about. I then took a break from socializing to take care of personal errands before meeting Marko in the part to meet some of his childhood friends and to play chess at midnight with some old Serbian guys. Can’t get more typical than that.
The next morning, I took a walking tour of the city and learned a little bit more about its ties to the Eastern Bloc, the Orthodox Church, and the Serbian perspective on the Balkan Wars. We visited several cathedrals, saw the Parliament building, and more weird statues, and just generally got a good feel for the layout of the city. Afterward, I was tired and needed a nap, before spending more time getting lost in side alleys and perusing local shops. While Belgrade isn’t quite at the cosmopolitan (or population level) as, say, Budapest, it feels really vibrant and lively. Later on that evening, I met Marko and a bunch of his friends at a local bar, and we spent the night talking about yacht parties, living abroad, and their Serbian roots. It was a relaxing, local kind of night.
My final day in Belgrade was spent on a Yugoslavian history tour, which was recommended to me by a local. There I learned more about the communist regime in Yugoslavia following WW2, visited several important monuments from that period in history, and had a guided tour of the Museum of Yugoslavia (where Josip Broz Tito is buried). Following this whirlwind recap of history, architecture, politics, and more, I took my afternoon to venture to the Nikola Tesla Museum to learn a bit more about the famous inventor and his cultural heritage in Serbia. I even got to participate in some experiments involving Tesla coils and electrification. At the completion, I had to run back across the city to catch my overnight bus to Split. Belgrade has my interest, though—I’d recommend this place and will be visiting again.
