Museums in Belgrade

As stated earlier, for the next few times I post I will be posting one old entry/adventure and one new one. Here's the old one.

While Katie and Tory were visiting we thought it would be a great idea to see some of the many museums in Belgrade. Unfortunately, these original plans were often waylaid since I spent a lot of the time they were visiting trying to accomplish small tasks, working, and being lost. So, several times the new plan was for them to go to a museum by themselves or for me to meet them at the museum a few hours later.

Well, we learned the hard way that although the Serbian and Eastern European guidebooks boast of the many museums in Belgrade, there is a huge difference between there being a lot of museums and those museums actually being open for viewing to the random tourist.

The first example of this the National Museum situated on the Trg Republika. Tourists might be interested in viewing this museum, but good luck. This museum has been closed for renovations for the last 2 and ½ years (At least – it was closed when Rachel arrived and never reopened during her two year term here). Belgrade visitors: don’t expect to see this one.

A second example of the maze of museums in Belgrade lies in the fact that museums inexplicably close early for the upcoming holidays. For instance, one might go to a museum that is in specifically non-Protestant and find the museum closing early for the day due to the upcoming holidays (as to whether or it was the upcoming Orthodox holidays or Protestant holidays is unclear). Belgrade visitors: beware that hours posted outside the museum can be changed at will.

Our third example lies in the Museum of Modern Art of Belgrade. We had heard rumors that the museum wasn’t that great, but we figured we would give it a try. Tory and Katie did not want to leave Belgrade without having ventured into a Belgrade museum. Unfortunately, I had to do some last minute tasks at work. So, it was agreed I would finish up and then meet them there. Unfortunately, they didn’t have a cell phone that worked in Serbia. Our only possible method of communication was for me to text message them with updates on my status. However, this was not a two-way flow of communication – they couldn’t text message me back. Therefore, when yet another museum is closed for renovation and said museum is your meeting place you find yourself in a pickle. Especially, when your friend text messages you to say, “I’m stuck at work for longer than planned. I will text message you as soon as I am finished and on the way. That way if you are finished you can go to a café and then come back when I text message you that I’m on my way.” Belgrade visitors: I’m not really sure what lesson was gained from this one. Perhaps, expect the unexpected?