A thirty-something woman living in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, is married to a Serb, Milan. She recently spent a week in Belgrade, Serbia, where her husband was born and raised, and she shares her impressions of Belgrade & Serbian food in an interesting blog post. Her husband had not been back to Serbia for eight and a half years, and she had never been there. Prior to this trip, she thought that time had stopped in Serbia in the late eighties:
My views on Serbia, prior to this trip, had been formed mostly through my filtered and limited exposure to Serbs here in America. My husband likes to reminisce, and therefore I thought that time had stopped in Serbia in the late eighties–all the Serbian movies and TV shows we watched were outdated; he went on and on about old Yugos; I was shown photos in which people were outfitted in eighties getup that made me cringe.
But she was in for a very pleasant surprise:
Time most definitely has not stopped in Belgrade. When I landed, I discovered a vibrant, pulsing city that is both gritty and beautiful. Shiny, new glass high rises and office buildings dot the landscape, right next to Communist-era cement behemoths and ornate gems from the 1800s. Immaculately dressed women and men strutted around in their fashionable finery. The pedestrian zones were clogged with outdoor cafes and restaurants, all filled with people and conversation. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of New York and Paris.
It’s well worth reading the whole post titled A Wasp’s Journey to Serbia – part 1 as it covers a bunch of different things, including Serbian food. As she notes, there are some really interesting and tasty things to be had in Serbia.
