Photos from Serbia 2025 (Page 1)
Contents:On Our Way to Serbia!,
First Impressions of Serbia,
Visiting Family; Exploring the City,
These photos encompass the first moments of our trip to Serbia; from the plane ride to our first entry into the city. We would be in Serbia for a total of ten days, with the first and last being dedicated mostly to travel.
This trip was planned by my Mother, with the purpose being to visit family and see the village where Nana grew up (Nana being her Mom, my Grandma). Five of us went on this trip: me, my brother, my parents, and Nana.
Location: Cleveland Hopkins Airport; Gate
About: After making it through security and finding our gate I loaded up this camera with some film and took the first picture of our trip. We were to fly from Cleveland to JFK Airport in New York then directly to Serbia.
Location: Cleveland Hopkins Airport; Hallway
About: Found within the Cleveland Hopkins Airport. Although this isn't actually a real fossil, just a casting of one, it looks really authentic. The camera did a good job with the focus here.
Location: Cleveland Hopkins Airport; Hallway
About: When I traveled to Ireland in 2023 this was the gate we waited at for our connecting flight. The Morning sun shining through the ceiling windows gives a very warm and familiar quality to this picture.
Location: Cleveland Hopkins Airport; Runway
About: Finally on the plane, I took this picture of the air traffic tower while we were taxied around on the runway. I love the initial take off; feeling the plane ramp up in speed and lifting off the ground.
Location: Airplane; Above Ohio
About: Finally in the air, looking down you really get a good idea of how many trees and forests we have where we live.
Location: Airplane; Above the Clouds
About: I've said it before that I love clouds so much, so you could imagine how much I love to be on an airplane right on top of them. The view is just breathtaking; to me it's heavenly.
Location: JFK Airport; Gate
About: This was taken the moment we got off the plane from Cleveland. Now in JFK, we had the challenge of finding where the gate to Serbia was. Luckily we had someone help guide us to this area, without them there would be no way we made it there on time.
Location: JFK Airport; Tram
About: JFK Airport has a tram system to take you to other parts of the airport. The entire airport is two things: massive and under construction. I will say that riding on the tram was fun, and I would totally be down to just hang out on it going in circles around the airport, but it's such a difficult place to navigate through.
Location: Airplane; Cabin
About: I was the first one of the plane, how? Nana got wheelchair service and was first in line to board the plane, with me and my brother accompanying her. I've never got to experience being first on a plane before, especially one as large as this. We were given a blanket, pillow, and had these screens where we could watch movies, although I chose to have it set on the GPS map showing where our plane was and stats like how high up we were or how fast the plane was moving.
Location: Airplane; Above New York
About: Taken sometime recent after take off. The land below is so pretty with the water and rounded edges of the land. I also like the tip of the planes wing in the upper right showing the Air Serbia logo.
Location: Airplane; Above the Clouds
About: A zoomed up shot of the Air Serbia logo. The blue sky on the top half with the clouds on the bottom half suit this image very well; I like the end result a whole lot.
Location: Airplane; Above Serbia
About: This shot captures what the landscape of Serbia looks like from up above. Even though it's a bit cloudy and blurry, fields upon fields of farm land populate the surface as far as you can see. You can also vaguely spot villages scattered about.
These fields almost look like a barcode.
Location: Belgrade; Belgrade Airport
About: Looking outside from inside the airport. This gives a modern first impression of Serbia (if you look past the construction), but this impression quickly changes once you leave the airport. At this point we had been up for 24 hours without sleeping; this was taken in the morning.
Location: Belgrade
About: This was taken right about when we first got into the main downtown area of the city. Traffic wasn't easy to deal with, but the sight of an unfamiliar place kept me wanting to continue on.
Location: Belgrade
About: While driving around, we passed this store, which appears to be a book store. I would have loved to go inside and check it out, even if the books were in a different language, but we never got the chance to.
Location: Belgrade
About: I'm not sure who this statue is of, but across Serbia are many statues of many different people. I wish I knew a bit more of the history to understand these important figures.
Location: Unknown Village
About: Eventually, we left Belgrade and made our way to our main destination, Vrsac. The village pictured here is one we passed through on our way. A unique thing about Serbia is one road links together all these different villages and cities.
Location: Vrsac
About: Serbia has some really beautiful clouds. I love this image, especially how grainy it is.
Location: Vrsac
About: More clouds pictured here. I have nothing more to say other than "cool clouds".
Location: Vrsac; Hotel Helvecija
About: From our hotel room balcony, you can see this building surrounded by vineyards. This is an extension of our hotel being built to serve as a reception hall for weddings and parties.
Location: Vrsac; Hotel Helvecija
About: You will see many pictures of this hill from our trip. This is what you see looking outside the hotel. The clouds behind it almost look like larger mountains behind it.
Like the previous roll, these photos capture the first moments of our trip, with it mainly highlighting Vrsac, the city we stayed in the longest.
These pictures do a very good job at showing Serbia when walking along the street; the different places, animals, nature, people, and so on.
Location: Airplane; Above the Clouds
About: A bright and clear view outside the window. For a Serbian Plane, it was clean and in beautiful condition.
Location: Airplane; Above the Clouds
About: After having flown for a while. They make you shut the window blind when dinner is servered, so I was quick to get a quick shot of the sky before then. The colors and the gradient sky is heavenly.
Location: Belgrade
About: I noticed a lot of street art like this while we drove through Belgrade. This was one I particularly liked, despite not knowing who it is or what that text reads.
Location: Belgrade
About: Belgrade, and Serbia in general, have a lot of buildings that are connected to each other like pictured. I really like this look of different building styles merging together, the telephone lines add a nice touch to it too.
Location: Belgrade
About: We stopped by a park to stretch our legs and get directions to our next destination. While my family was sitting around I took a quick venture into the park (which was dirty, overgrown, and had some homeless people laying around). Nonetheless, I got this picture; that blurred car in the background is a police car.
Location: Vrsac
About: The hill overlooking the city of Vrsac. I love all the houses that are around the base of the hill. The red roofs are very characteristic to Serbia.
Location: Vrsac
About: The buildings pictured in the distance here is where the city center is. It's a very easy walk over there and probably my favorite downtown area of any city we visited, mostly because Vrsac isn't a massive city, it's more moderate in size (at least for Serbia standards, your average American town/city is likely bigger than Vrsac).
Location: Vrsac; Hotel Helvecija
About: The hotel we stayed at used to be a winery, and still is kind of! If you venture into the basement you'll see a huge venue perfect for weddings or events.
Location: Vrsac; Hotel Helvecija
About: Another picture of the basement, this time of the bar. They did a great job blending the old-style look of a winery with some modern elements.
Location: Vrsac
About: As with any city you explore, pigeons are bound to be around. They were walking around me because of the burek I was eating. I gave them some flakes and more started swarming around, nearly walking on my feet. I like the motion blur of the four pigeons with the center one staying sharp.
Location: Vrsac
About: Cities and villages are decorated very pretty with flowers and things such as this. It was surprisingly empty here given the time of day, regardless, the weather was perfect to sit outside and enjoy the Serbian air.
Location: Vrsac
About: I took this picture at night (obviously) mainly to test out exposing an image given a low light setting. I set the camera down on the railing, set it to manual shutter speed, and guessed with how long the shutter should be open for. I probably had it open for a good second or so, and the image came out good. The lights are bright but great detail can be seen on the buildings and the trees.
Location: Vrsac
About: Another view of this familiar hill. The framing being vertical makes this shot better, in my opinion.
Location: Vrsac
About: This image has a really unique quality to it; you can really see the graininess of the film. I think the sky looks beautiful here, and that quality of the film gives off an old-timey vibe, as if this picture was taken in the 1970s.
Location: Vrsac
About: Vrsac had a lot of stray animals, especially cats and kittens. This was one cat we came across while walking to the downtown city. These animals are used to all the people passing by, so they don't bother you much, and can sometimes be really friendly too.
Location: Downtown Vrsac
About: This is one of the main areas in downtown Vrsac. We were sitting on a bench playing with the stray animals when I captured this picture. There are a lot of restaurants like this with outdoor seating.
Location: Downtown Vrsac
About: Here is one of the stray dogs we came across, we actually saw him a couple times throughout our stay in Vrsac. He came up to where we were sitting minding his own business, but once we waved him over he got all happy and playful.
Location: Downtown Vrsac
About: Another picture of the stray dog, laying out right by us. I like this image as it captures a lot of what Serbia was like for us; stray animals, people out walking, beautiful nature, and an older/worn-out look to the streets and public areas. My only thing against this image is the crookedness of it.
Location: Downtown Vrsac
About: Taken while walking down one of the streets. At the end of this road we met a kid who became our tour guide, taking us around to different spots and shops, showing us his school, and telling us about the city. It was the most random thing to happen on our trip, but easily one of the highlights. People in Serbia are pretty trusting, as his Mom was okay with him taking three Americans all around the city by himself!
Location: Downtown Vrsac
About: This image gives a good perspective of the main walking areas of the city. Although there's a car right in the middle, this entire area was absent of traffic, blocked for use by pedestrians only. To me, this is what a city should be like, even a smaller one like this; made for walking and foot traffic, not driving and parking to each destination...
Location: Downtown Vrsac
About: Taken from the same area as the previous image. There are a lot of stone monuments and structures anywhere you go in the country. Images of the cross or Christian Symbols are common place from homes to downtown city areas. I could've better centered the cross in this image, but the kid giving us the tour was moving fast!
Location: Downtown Vrsac
About: At the very center of this open area was this sign. I'm not exactly sure what it reads, but something something "welcome". At night, this area is crowed with all sorts of people; the adults sit outside at restaurants drinking and smoking while the children are running around playing with their friends in their own groups. It's very lively here, which makes it a comfortable place to be in, even as an outsider.
Location: Downtown Vrsac
About: Yet another shot of this main downtown area. All the trees and flows make it feel alive and home-like. Even just sitting around people watching was fun and relaxing.
Location: Downtown Vrsac
About: While eating a burek outside a restaurant, I looked up to see this building through the trees. The architecture here is amazing, and a lot of it is run down and visibly aged and weathered. This adds authentic character to it, which is nice, but most buildings are like this; people don't maintain these buildings, so at some point when it's beyond fixing it'll have to be destroyed or redone completely.
Location: Downtown Vrsac
About: While eating a burek outside a restaurant, I looked down to see this stray cat sitting right below our table. He was very shy, so he didn't want to come over to me, yet he still watched us and kept close (but at a distance). I really like how this image turned out, especially considering the difficulty I had photographing him since he kept hiding behind things.
The photos here were taken with one of the point and shoot cameras. I didn't use it a whole lot during this trip, only this one roll of film to be exact. Because of this, the pictures range from the very beginning of the trip all the way to the last day. I'm happy with how a lot of these pictures turned out anyway, especially considering that nearly all these photos were snapped quickly without much thought into the setup.
This gallery will show a good variety of the things we saw and places we've been. If I had to choose one roll of film to represent this entire trip, it would be this one.
Location: Unknown Village
About: Taken outside the home of someone we stopped to say "hi" to. Houses in Serbia were usually like this, one floor, close to the road, and each building connected to one-another.
Location: Milo's House
About: Left is Milo and right is Nana. This was the first person we stopped to talk and catch up with, we learned about his family business of building roof gutters for peoples homes, the relationship between him and my Grandpa (good, but same as any brothers are), and many stories of past events. Sitting in a dark room like this was very characteristic of nearly all the family visits we made; eating desert foods, sipping Coca-Cola, and telling stories. Milo died August 8th, 2025, one month after this day.
Location: Milo's House
About: This basement is where Nana used to make bricks back when she was young. These bricks would be used to build a house down the street which is still there and standing.
Location: Milo's House
About: The legendary Blue Room. It has not changed in here since Nana was a young girl; places like this are really only used when company is over, a place to sit, talk, and tell stories with each other, the one big pass-time of Serbia.
Location: Serbia
About: Driving through the countryside are seemingly endless fields of either corn, wheat, or sunflowers. We stopped on the side of the road here to go into the sunflower fields and take pictures.
Location: Serbia
About: Next to the sunflower field is the corn field, and in the distance are "hills", one of which our family supposedly owns(!?). All this produce is beautiful to see and walk through.
Location: Grebenac
About: Grebenac is the village Nana grew up in. The first thing we did upon entering the village was visiting the well a few houses down from her old home. You've never tasted water as cold, pure, and refreshing as this. People would drive from their homes to fill up on gallons of this water.
Location: Grebenac
About: Another view of the Grebenac well. The house in the background complements the well here.
Location: Grebenac
About: Maica is my Great-Grandma, Nana is her daughter (pictured right), Steluca is Nana's Neice, who is currently living here. We spent a lot of time here with Steluca learning about family and sharing stories.
Location: Serbia
About: The following day saw sunnier weather. This is what you'd commonly see driving through the country from village to village, taking the only road that links these villages together.
Location: Serbia; Distant Village
About: We stopped at the house of another family/friend of ours who live on a farm. They literally live off the land, feeding animals that they butcher for food, growing vegetables and fruits, they even have bees that produce honey for them.
Location: Serbia; Distant Village
About: When we first came up to their house these two dogs were barking and jumping at us (behind a fence) all tough and mean. Once they realized we were friendly, they were quite respectable.
Location: Serbia; Distant Village
About: Look at him, he's such a good boy. So respectable.
Location: Home of a Distant Family-Friend
About: This is the yard of a different family we visited with. I love this picture so much, with the sun ray shining through, the plants, and the aged fence leading to the building in the back. It's unfortunate I accidentally got the back of this person in the shot, otherwise it would be perfect...
Location: Home of a Distant Family-Friend
About: Like the previous family we visited with, this family grows their own food and butchers their own animals, including this pig one day. To buy your own food everyday is too expensive in Serbia, so to some extent you have to live off the land or raise animals to slaughter for food.
Location: Home of a Distant Family-Friend
About: This is a "hunting dog", so their family told us. He was rather aggressive the entire time we were there, thus didn't get any pets. (Side note, the buildings have such character to them and I love it!)
Location: Home of a Distant Family-Friend
About: Unlike the other kittens we've come across, this was not a stray cat, but still very shy. He would watch us from a distance, and back away if we made too sudden a move or got close. The exposure for this image was unfortunately a bit too high. Can you spot the second kitten?
Location: Vrsac
About: Back in Vrsac, every time we walked to and from the downtown area we would pass this dog sitting outside his home, he was not a stray dog. He only ever looked at us walk by, never followed us or barked. Very polite of him.
Location: Downtown Vrsac
About: The city centered as pictured earlier, now at a different time of day when more people were out and about. Walking around the city in the evening was very special; I do miss this.
Location: Downtown Vrsac
About: Looking down a different street in downtown Vrsac. There are a lot of areas to explore around the city, which makes walking around it very fun. Overall I like this picture, nothing bad to say, but also nothing great.
Location: Downtown Vrsac
About: A really cool shot of that cross in the previous image, backed up a lot further here. You can see all the people eating at restaurant tables outside on the right.
Location: Belgrade
About: While touring around Belgrade, we came across this fortress in the city. At the entrance is all this military artillery that you can go up close to and see.
Location: Belgrade
About: More military devices used by Serbia at some point in history. This picture was captured on top of the gate that leads into the main fortress area.
Location: Belgrade
About: Walking through an alleyway in Belgrade. There were some places in the big city we probably shouldn't have gone into, but it lead to cool pictures like this. The image being slanted I think does it better than if it were just straight.
Location: Belgrade
About: Sitting outside at a cafe in Belgrade. A lot of the streets in Belgrade are blocked off to prevent car traffic from passing through, which leads to some restaurants like this setting up tables in the middle of the street for you to just go up to and sit down at. The woman pictured here sat down at the table next to us then immediately pulled out cigarettes to start smoking. Everyone in Serbia seems to be a smoker; ashtrays are common across all restaurants.
Location: Belgrade; Belgrade Airport
About: The airport we flew into and out was very nice, although it did seem a bit empty at parts (like here). You can see it's staffed, yet there's nobody to check into their flight.