Belgrade, Take Two!
I couldn't believe we finally made it to Belgrade. Back in 2014, we planned on going but never did. In fact, we even booked train tickets and paid for our hotel stay in advance. Anyway, we had a memorable stay in Serbia this time and we hope that someday, we get to return and explore more of the beautiful country.
By the time we got to Belgrade, we had already been in Europe nearly a month. We developed a very deep tan because of the scorching heat from the sun in the Balkans. While we were glad it was dry, it was difficult dealing with the very high temperatures going up to the 100s at times.
Marc woke me up early during our first morning in Belgrade and told me about the views from our room in the Mercure. That's the National Assembly building as can be seen from our room's balcony.
As I try to recall our first full day in Belgrade, I remember us passing by the main Post Office building and going in to take a look. I ended up buying a pack of postcards as a souvenir of our trip.
We also passed by St. Mark's Church on our way to the Nikola Tesla Museum and St. Sava Church. It was a very beautiful church. Luckily for us, taking pictures was allowed. We were very quiet, of course, since there were some locals praying.
This was the main altar inside St. Mark's.
A scene inside St. Mark's
The Nikola Tesla Museum. We planned on visiting that morning we came. However, we later realized we had to book our reservations online prior to coming over. Hence, we gave it a miss the first time we passed by. We did visit towards the end of our vacation in Belgrade.
After going to the Nikola Tesla Museum, off we went to see the St. Sava Temple. We had seen videos about it on You Tube. We never realized how impressive it was. Absolutely jaw dropping!
Inside the impressive and gold filled St. Sava Temple
My interest in the religious icons had already been piqued by the time we reached Belgrade. I had already bought a few in each Balkan country we visited and I thought of adding some more to my now growing collection. Each church we visited had a gift shop where there was a wide selection of icons to choose from. There were two gift shops inside the St. Sava Temple and this was one of them.
After going to St. Sava Temple, we made our way back to the shopping district and walked along Knez Mihailova. It was a long pedestrianized street lined with clothing stores, restaurants, cafes, bookstores, souvenir shops and more. It was very lively here all day everyday.
The National Theater
The Republic Square with an obstructed view of the Marriott Hotel popular among Americans
A souvenir stand
A cute cafe called the Coffee Dream
Local architecture. Just like in many cities in Europe, one has to look up to admire the views!
The Bank of Serbia
Russian Flags were hoisted along the entire stretch of the Knez Mihailova Street
The Belgrade Cultural Center along the Knez Mihailova Street. We also saw a branch of the Instituto Cervantes here.
In Slavija Square. This is where we were supposed to end up had we been able to take the A1 Bus from the airport to the city center when we arrived in Belgrade. It was not far from our hotel.
The Historical Museum of Serbia. We decided to visit it one afternoon to beat the afternoon heat. Admission was the equivalent of US$4. The museum wasn't big but for the price we paid, we were pleased.
The Instituto Cervantes along Knez Mihailova Street
The Delijska Cesma fountain along the stretch of Knez Mihailova Street
The historic Moscow Hotel
This was the supermarket Marc and I visited in Belgrade almost on a daily basis. It was here where be bought our breakfast before we set out exploring and sightseeing in the city. We sure were grateful to the young female employee who checked us in at the Mercure when we arrived. It was she who recommended this place to us.
I believe this was the old Post Office Building across the National Assembly or Parliament Building and also close to the Mercure. We bought the pack of postcards here.
This was the hotel we were supposed to stay in last 2014 had we been able to make the trip. It was highly recommended then and tourists who spent time there were pretty pleased with their accommodations. It was right across the old Belgrade Train Station.
The French inspired entrance to the Belgrade City Hotel where we were once booked to stay in for our Belgrade vacation last 2014 that didn't happen.
The facade of the Old Belgrade Train Station now empty and vacant. The new modern station is currently being built.
The rear of the old Belgrade Train Station. This side faced a square and the Belgrade City Hotel.
This was huge statue of Stefan Nemanja which stood in the middle of a square right behind the old Belgrade Train Station.