Today began as a cold, bleak morning in Beograd (or Belgrade - the two are used interchangeably). We stepped off the train around 4:45 am (yikes!), and quickly surveyed the landscape. The train station was empty and cold (nothing like the amazing train stations in England, France, and Germany that we have seen). It took a bit of doing, but for the second day in a row, we found storage for our packs in a nearby bus terminal. James first had to change money, and Erin took the opportunity to reorganize her pack and bag.
We had downloaded and saved directions to the closest McDonald's, but the street names were all in Cyrillic, and we saw an advertisement for McDonald's (not the nearest one) immediately outside the railroad station, indicating a location 1,000 meters away. This was true, and the walk was interesting, as we passed by at least one survivor of some of the political in-fighting Serbia has suffered in recent years:
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| A down-town building still shows the scars of war. |
We found the McDonald's - and also found that it was closed. There was literally no place open with any kind of seats or heat until 7am - which was disapointing and also scary. We stayed huddled on a park bench until we could make it into McDonald's. Finally, it opened and we were the first people inside! We ordered food, freshened up to the best of our abilities, and then waited for the city of Beograd to lighten and (hopefully) warm up. (You may notice that we are starting to look a bit more "grungy" than normal...That is what happens when you take two overnight trains in a row, without access to showers or clean bathrooms).
It never got too warm, because the sky stayed overcast and somewhat rainy all day. The rain was a disappointment, but it never rained hard enough to circumvent our plans. James had picked up a tourist map when converting money, and we used the map to walk from the McDonald's into the main "shopping" center of Beograd, where we found the tourist office. We received a list of sights around the city, and we were off!
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| The first "sight" was an impromptu shopping center right outside McDonald's on cars parked in the street! |
We began with a tour of Belgrade's Fortress, in Belgrade's Kalemegdan Park. The Fortress was very impressive at a brute-force level, but it is clear that Serbia is further behind than, say, the UK in converting their history into tourist-profits. We saw what buildings have already been restored, as well as the in-process work happening in the Fortress's outbuildings:
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| Tabitha took up residence as one of the castle guards. |
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| Tabitha made friends with one of the castle's real lion guardians. |
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| Erin and James risking life and limb to take the perfect photo high atop the castle's grounds. |
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| We ponder where well be traveling next... |
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| Tabitha joins the pantheon of past Castle greats. |
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| One of the art installations on the castle grounds. That watermelon's for sitting! |
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| Erin and James before the tower's drum gate. |
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| There was a reason the maps are so difficult to follow... |
It started to rain as we finished our long exploration of the Fortress, so we took a quick break and went to the Knez Milhailova shopping district - specifically to sit down in the one of Beograde's dry malls. On the way, we searched out a post office to send a postcard, and also wandered through part of the University of Belgrade in search of bathrooms (as they often cost money to use, we have become savvy free-bathroom-seekers).
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| One of the mall stores - so close to the "perfect" name for a store! (That's "Bomba," btw) |
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| Our bird's eye view of the mall. |
At the mall, we reviewed our train itinerary and mapped out the rest of the day, and when our break was done, we were off to the Skadarlija district, or Belgrade's true "tourist" destination. Serbia has done extensive work in building up the cobblestone streets of Skadarlija, and it is now home to many tourist-oriented cafes, stores, and no cars. We carefully walked up and down the length of the street, enjoying the sights and sounds of those tourists brave enough to weather the light drizzle coating the city:
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| James and Erin pose with a permanent resident of Skadarlija. |
After Skadarlija, Erin took the reigns over completely and ran us through the remainder of Belgrade's tourist "hot-spots" before dinner, ending with a look to where we are:
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| Not only where we are - but where we've been, and where we have yet to go... |
We ended our tour of Beograd by being "bad American" tourists - and bookending our culinary experience with a visit to Pizza Hut. In our defense, they were one of the few places that advertised free internet access, and Erin's job (as well as the blog postings) depends on that access. James was not sure how to tip on the bill, as it came to 1,200 Dinar (or about $15.60) - the waiter suggested re-doing a credit card charge, and James used his suggestion to the penny. The waiter was then embarrassed that he had asked for too much (his $2.65 tip) and despite James's entreaty, brought back some change.
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| Outside the Pizza Hut, another impromptu shopping center - this was books sold from cars. |
While it may not look pretty (and it wasn't), this was considered a "class" that we paid for - and even got a "goody-bag" of a bottle of water, a bar of soap, and a wet-wipe. Also, the light in our cabin stopped working shortly after we boarded, and we had to unpack in the dark until the conductor fixed it. Traveling in Eastern Europe is certainly an adventure...
After dinner, we made our traditional grocery-store run, picked up our bags, and boarded our (third-in-a-row!) overnight train to Ljlubjana.
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| Our "class" included water on the cabin floor. |
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| What our cabin looked like when the light was working. |
