Eastern Danube, Day 7: Belgrade

Friday, July 31, 2026

Early this morning, the AmaVerde arrived at Belgrade, Serbia. I have been particularly anticipating our visit to Belgrade because I spent several weeks here in 1987, when it was still Yugoslavia, and have been interested in what might have changed.

In the morning, we took a guided tour of some of the highlights of Belgrade. We began at the Kalemegdan Fortress at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers, which was much the same as I remembered it. From there we went to the St. Sava Orthodox church, a very large and beautiful structure constructed since my previous visits. We also went to the Nikola Tesla museum, which had some beautifully preserved samples of early electrical instruments but was rather small. We were told that a larger museum is planned that will accommodate many more of his artifacts.

After lunch, Kenna and I set out on foot for downtown Belgrade. It was a very hot day, but we managed to walk down much of the city’s pedestrian (shopping) street, stopping at various shops along the way. We then walked through the “bohemian” zone, Skadarlija.

After a while we found Klub Knjizevnika (the “Writers’ Club”), which had been one of my favorite restaurants almost 40 years ago. It was about 3 pm and we weren’t really hungry, but after explaining my previous visits they welcomed us in and we had a snack consisting of a salad and a dessert. The Klub is said to be one of the best restaurants in Belgrade, and our snack was served very elegantly, including an amuse bouche to clear our palettes and some local bread. We ate in a very modern glass structure that had been recently constructed, and after our meal we were invited downstairs to the indoor dining area that I remember from before, which was much the same. It was a treat to take Kenna to this restaurant that she has heard so much about over the years.

We returned on foot to the AmaVerde after our snack (did I say it was very hot?), stopping along the way to pick up some souvenirs in the business district.

After-dinner entertainment was an energetic Serbian folklore performance by four young men and four young women who danced, whistled, and shouted. They were accompanied by an ensemble consisting of violin, accordion, clarinet, and drum.

This article is part of a series about our recent trip to the Eastern Danube. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.