Ponosni sam stanovnik Dorćola, mnogo mi se sviđa ovaj kraj. Odem do Savamale, i to dužim putem, sa- mo da bih se prošetao. Sjajan deo grada, poseban, pun malih barova i žive muzike. 5 TOP RAJLIJEV IZBOR RILEY’S CHOICE 1 2 KC Grad obožavam zbog muzike i bendova, a Dom omladine takođe zbog koncerata. I am a proud resident of Dorćol, a neighbourhood that I really li- ke. I go to Savamala, and go via the longer route just so that I can walk and see the city. That’s a great part of the city, special, full of small bars and live music. I like KC Grad because of the music and also the Belgrade Youth Centre, also because of its concerts.
Kafane su mi još uvek fascinantna mesta. Uglavnom uz piće sedim sa strane i posmatram sve te raspevane ljude, koji znaju reči svake moguće pesme. Uopšte nemaju srama da pevaju iz sveg glasa! Kažu da su to užasno tužne pesme, a što su tužnije, ljudi glasnije pevaju. To je jedinstveno i nestvarno iskustvo koje nigde nisam video. Mućkalica, definitvno moje omiljeno jelo. Obožavam restoran Čubura na Vračaru, uvek naručim mućkalicu ili Karađorđevu šniclu. A tu je i bogata ponuda brze hra- ne. Teško je izabrati najbolje. Rakija, još jedna neverovatna i nepojmljiva stvar. Čuo sam o njoj bezbroj zanimljivih priča. Jedni je gustiraju, drugi piju na eks, svako ima mišljenje o tome kako tre- ba da se pije, od kog je voća najbolja... Treba mi vre- mena da uđem u tu rakijsku filozofiju. U svakom sluča- ju, dobra rakija je misteriozno piće, posle nje nikad ne znaš kako će se završiti noć. R iley Hammersly arrived in Belgrade from San Francisco after securing a job at Nor- deus, an independent games developer with its headquarters based in the Ser-
Kafana taverns are still fascinating places for me. I usually sit to one side with a drink and watch all those singing people, who know the lyrics to every possible song. They aren’t at all afraid to sing at the top of their lungs! They say that those are terribly sad songs, and the sadder the songs, the louder they sing. That’s a unique and surreal experience that I’ve never seen anywhere else. Mućkalica stew is definitely my favourite meal. I love the Ču- bura restaurant in Vračar, where I always order either Mućkali- ca or a Karađorđeva schnitzel. And then there’s Belgrade’s rich street-food culture. Hard to choose a favourite! Rakija brandy, yet another amazing and incomprehensible thing. People have shared a lot of interesting stories with me about it. Some sip it, others down it, everyone has an opinion about how it should be drunk or which fruit is the best... I need time to get into that rakija philosophy. In any case, good rakija is a mysterious drink, after drinking it you never know how the night will end.
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“Life as a sports fan is totally unique here. I recently went to the Belgrade derby played be- tween Red Star and Partizan, and it was undoubt- edly the most intense sporting experience of my life. The complete passion the fans showed was just out of this world. The non-stop singing and the chanting, it really was something special,”says Ri- ley, who has woven his love of football into his job as Community Manager of the incredibly popular football management game Top Eleven. With more than 160 million people having played the game across the globe, Riley is re- sponsible for managing Top Eleven’s rich com- munity of players. That means he spends his time talking and listening to the game’s millions of players on social media. He dedicates himself to sharing interesting stories about the game and what he loves more than anything is to see
people from all corners of the world sharing their love for Top Eleven. “The fact that so many people have chosen to play Top Eleven is something that I think is so cool, and I feel responsible to return that energy and excitement to them,” says Riley. “I’ve been here less than a year, but I feel like I’ve been here a lot longer! This is a great compa- ny and everyone made sure that I didn’t feel like an outsider at any point. It’s a large family that adopts you and cares about you, so my job is ba- sically working with awesome people on exciting projects,” laughs the affable Riley. As for Belgrade? “I really enjoy living here and the coolest thing about that is that I’ve only scratched the surface. This city has so many lay- ers to it and I don’t think I’ll be able to discover all of them any time soon.”
bian capital. When he arrived eight months ago, Riley had never visited Southeast Europe, so liv- ing in Belgrade represented a new adventure for him or, as he says, the cherry on top of his al- ready exciting life. Born in San Francisco, Riley lived and studied in Los Angeles before moving on to live in major European cities such as London, Rome and Ber- lin. However, he still only saw some things for the first time once he moved to Serbia, a place he de- scribes as unlike anything he’s experienced before. Like almost every true local, Riley has a love for sport and good food, and he has been amazed with what he has found here.
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