Saturday morning began late with a traditional breakfast of stuffed pastries and coffee. Then it was on to sightseeing. I was fortunate to discover an app that has self-guided walking tours of over 400 cities and that also lets you plan your own walking tours according to what you want to see. So, Dante and I set off on a walkabout that took us by the somewhat famous 4-star Hotel Moskva, Parliament, the Old Palace, St. Mark’s Church, a couple lovely parks (Pionirski Park next to the Old Palace and Tašmajdan Park, adjacent to St. Mark’s), the Tesla museum, and the St. Sava cathedral.
We grabbed a late lunch at a very non-touristy diner before heading back toward old town and stopping in at the Hotel Moskva for a coffee and fancy dessert.
After that, we decided to walk over to Zemun, a neighborhood north and west of old town, across the Sava river. It was a nice walk along the river, but neither of us realized just how long the walk would be. It ended up being about 5 miles. A lovely walk, but it was nearly dark by the time we got there, which made it difficult to find or enjoy most of the sights there. After a brief visit, we hopped a bus back to the city center and headed back to Skadarlija for dinner. We found Antik, a very eastern European-looking restaurant, sunken half-way underground, with a wooden interior and miss-matched furniture that gave the place a homey feel. A group of musicians was playing traditional Serbian music. The place was fantastic, and we really enjoyed the experience. I had some of the best soft goat cheese-like cheese I’ve ever had in my life.
TL;DR: Saw lots of touristy stuff and enjoyed my time during Belgrade walkabout day 1.
