Good Things About Belgrade

There are compelling reasons why so many of those who come to Belgrade stay on or tearn to come back. This is a list of some of the good things about Belgrade in no particular order.

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Weather
Belgrade has one of the best climates in the world. Well defined seasons, with plenty of sun. magnificent springtime, hot summers, temperate and sunny Autumn, cold and often snowy winters.

Art &amp; Street Art
Belgrade has an amazing Street Art scene. You can see just a few of the works I have snapped here: Belgrade Street Art Set on Flickr Serbian Stencils Group on Flickr

Good looking women
I think it is undeniably true that there are an extraordinary number of very beautiful women to be seen on the streets, beaches, bars, clubs and cafes of Belgrade. I am not convinced, though, that this is a good thing beyond delighting male visitors and providing eye candy for local men.

There may be too much emphasis on looks and exteriority leading to superficiality and a lack of diversity. It also pressures women and girls to conform to a beauty standard that is limited and takes no account of character elements of attractiveness.

I would love to find out more from local sociologists about this, if anyone know of any good papers or reports on this topic, please could you contact me via the web form:

Nightlife
Belgrade has an incredibly good nightlife catering to all tastes. Apart for the bigger clubs there are hundreds of small niche clubs and bars serving their musical sub-cultures. It is still pretty much a House music city, Drum and Bass, mostly extinct elsewhere, still thrives. Hip Hop is yet to take over as it has the the rest of the planet. There are superb alternative clubs and bars.

DJs

One of the things that makes Belgrade's nightlife so good is the quality of the music, and that is thanks to Belgrade's DJs being second to none. DJ Pookie, DJ Rade Banyan, DJ Pepe, DJ Achim, DJ Marko Hollywood, Ogee Gee Cash and Marko Nastic are world class.

Even superstars like Jody Wisternoff are stunned by how good the local talent is.

Restaurants
Belgrade's restaurants are inexpensive and quality of service and food is excellent. Portions are massive too. You can see my favourites listed here.

Inexpensiveness
Belgrade is, compared to Western European cities, extremely cheap. Food, Taxis, Rent and other costs are all much lower here than even neighbouring Croati

Self-Care is easy and affordable
Whether is first class medical or dental care, massage, beauty treatments or having a personal trainer - standards of care are extremely high and extremely affordable.

One can have a UCLA trained dentist working with microscope do a root canal here for EU30. The same procedure in an Irish practice might cost you more than 10 times that.

Heroic resistance and the fight for justice
Belgrade has a great tradition of heroic resistance, especially to tyranny and injustice.

From the massive student protests that eventually toppled Milosevic, to defying NATO's brutal bombing, to standing up to fascists and thugs today, there are real heroes living in this city.

Low crime
Whilst not completely crime free, Belgrade is an extremely safe city with extremely low crime.

Women walk unescorted anywhere, any time. Break-ins are extremely rare, muggings almost unheard of, as is stranger rape. There is no fear of crime lie you have in Western European cities.

Neotenous Capitalism
The capitalist machine is not fully in control here yet. Companies are not as cynical and manipulative. There are still local shops and market. The relentless pressure one feels in Western cities to spend and consume is not as bad here.

Things are getting better (Economic boom)
Belgrade is booming economically. There are new buildings going up, urban renewal, new roads and a general sense of things getting better - a positive, Utopian atmosphere.

This is contrasted with the sense of collapse and deterioration one finds in so many Western cities - dystopian, fearful atmosphere.

Modernist and Brutalist architecture (New Belgrade)
Belgrade is a Modernist and Brutalist paradise. The Genex Tower, Bloks 61, 62 and 63, 25th May Sports Centre (below) etc.

The city is a magnificent cross between noire Gotham and Blade Runner combined with Communist Futurist Utopianism that makes the perfect Ballardian cityscape.

Compactness
Belgrade is perfectly sized. It is compact enough to be able to walk across the city centre in a couple of hours, whilst most journeys in the city by car are under 20 minutes. The airport is a 20 minute ride form the city centre, as is Ada (the lake).

Concerts, Shows &amp; Conferences
Whereas you can next to never get a ticket to a major concert in London or New York without having to pay trbel to touts, you can always get tickets to Belgrade events and they are always reasonably proceed.

Kindness
People here show remarkable kindness and generosity even though they are hard up themselves. The poor (especially Roma), street dog, and the old are all treated better and with more warmth than I have seen, certainly elsewhere in Europe.

Xenophilia
Despite occasional propaganda to the contrary, I can safeyl assert after 3 years that Belgrade is the best city in the world for foreigners.

Foreigners are treated extremely well here, despite our countries having bombed this city less than 10 years ago and continued hostility towards Serbia from many countries.

English is widely spoken, people are very helpful, welcoming and respectful. Not once have I every encountered aggression towards me because of being a foreigner. Quite the opposite actually, Serbs are nicer to foreigners than to each other. Foreigners are often favoured to the point that rules are bent for them or special provisions are made just for them.

Crypto-cosmopolitanism
Thanks to so many Serbs having lived overseas (the diaspora) or having family and friends overseas, the city is much more cosmopolitan that it looks.

Serbs are very much plugged in to the global culture, with the latest fashions in clothes, ideas and business practices all in evidence as soon as they appear in other metropolises.

It is not just contemporary cosmopolitanism, but historical. Belgrade and Serbia have been portals to the east (or west) depending on your orientation. This city has spanned cultures, empires and hemispheres.

One of the cruellest limits placed on Serbs is the visa regime that stops young Serbs from travelling and exploring. I cannot wait for the day people here can travel freely. When I see how creative and brilliant people are with what they have gleaned from the internet or second-hand, I can only image the outburst of growth and creativity that will follow full visa liberalisation.

Phoenix spirit
Belgrade has been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times. There is a great sense of resilience and survival here. It is a can-do city.

Serious friendships
Serbs are very serious about friendship. When you make friends here they are proper, sertious friends. You may even end up with family, as I did with my Kuma.

The Rivers &amp; Ada
Large bodies of water are always wonderful things (like the sea). Belgrade has the confluence of the Danube and the Sava. This large expanse of water influences Belgrade's weather and provides us with beaches and swimming spots, as well as riverine commerce, freshwater fish and sundry other elements.

One of the best things about the rivers is the river people - a strange tribe of Belgraders who live in boats or splavs along the rivers. A sub-tribe called the Savalinns occupy the weird and wonderful stilted houses of Ada Medjica.

Cultural and Historical richness
Belgrade is over 2000 years old and over its entire history it has been a cultural and economic powerhouse.

This is as true today as ever. From high culture of theatre, dance and classic music through to the hundreds of musical sub-cultures, artists and now digital culture, Belgrade remains one of the world's great cultural cities.

NOTES / TO ADD

Freedom and less Nanny State

Serbian design

Cafe culture

high academic quality of students quality of fresh produce and seasonal veggies