Serbia is a landlocked nation, but Yugoslavia, which Serbia was part of until its violent collapse in the 1990s, had a seaside via Croatia and Montenegro. An older woman I spoke to lamented the loss of her country which “had it all” in terms of nature. Although Serbia has no seaside, it is by no means lacking lakes and rivers.

Belgrade, Serbia’s capital, is a city at the confluence of two mighty rivers: the Sava and the Danube. In the city, the riverfront is choked by commercialization and concrete walking paths – enormous malls, restaurants, and expansive pavement. The ‘Belgrade Waterfront’ is the most recent development to the riverside — a project bitterly protested by locals, designed to line the pockets of corporations and oligarchs. (Read more about it here: https://placesjournal.org/article/history-of-the-present-belgrade/?cn-reloaded=1&cn-reloaded=1). Despite this, the view of the river from Kalemegdan fortress is always magnificent. (see photo 1).

Last weekend, my host family took me away from Belgrade to their village house on the banks of the Danube. (see photo 2) I could not believe that this was the same river I walked alongside in Belgrade! The riverside was lined with lush trees, rugged cliffs, and sandy beaches. How does a riverside go from this to urban jungle?

On Monday, I leave for a two-week excursion to Budapest, Vienna, and Bratislava — all these cities are also on the banks of the Danube. I look forward to meeting new faces of this river as I follow its course across borders, upstream and back again.