whirlwind Belgrade

Peacocks next to Burberry - Belgrade is fast changing

 Having met a Cuban cigar selling Serb in Israel over Easter it had me wondering what I would  find in Serbia's capital Belgrade. Heavens above he couldn't leave his country previously without invitation from another government until 2005 - can you imagine! He escaped to London using his job as a Tree Doctor to gain entry with an invitation to speak to the Environmental ministry!  Finding a new prison in the UK with no papers to travel. Stories like this made me anxious and very intrigued about a newly "open" country. They have a Wimbeldon champion - it can't be that bad right?

I had what I can only refer to as another of my epic journeys. This time by train from Sarajevo to Belgrade. All in aid of collecting a  friend and seeing a new city. Honestly I wouldn't have gone to Serbia if he hadn't flown in there but it was a good excuse none the less. So I arrived in Belgrade the city of another one of the Yugoslavian strong holds - 13 hours later with an address for a hostel. Never once on the website does it say it is upstairs from a Kiwi lighting shop...making this lone traveller a very comforted soul.

I took a stroll in the evening to see the city and its nightly joys. Afterall this was only to be a bed to sleep in and then a return trip to Sarajevo. We had 6 days to cram in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia before the journey was over and I headed back to London. I spent my evening with the worst meal I had all trip at an Italian restaurant in the Bohemian Quarter. It was a quaint street with string quartets in every eatery battling for dominance over the dinners and cobbles worthy of a good physio setting up on the side street. 

The National Assembly from my evening walk

Republic Square

The next morning I took to the streets to see the city and await the arrival of my friend. With no sign of him arriving as scheduled I delved deeper into the city and enjoyed the city park and got to see some locals playing Chess. I rather like the amount of chess played in Eastern Europe and think I might invest some time in brushing up my skills so maybe I can engage more in future.

Chess Players in the city park

Belgrade itself was rather straightforward. It was not a place I would suggest to tourists as a "must see destination". It features a Republic Square which needs a scrub and a few fountains which seemed to break up the divide of monarchy and communism and well its not yet touristified ie. no information about the significance without a guide book. Graffiti covered many of the Communist styled inner city buildings. All of this was overshadowed by my impression of everyone being very TALL.

René and I eventually met at 2pm with a mere 90 minutes before we had to be on our bus south. The whirl wind tourist action went into overdrive making sure we had some refreshments and dinner for the drive...as we had very little local currency between us.

I learnt something that day. No matter how much you plan and you imagine when meeting a friend on your extended travels, things just don't work out the way you hope...planes are delayed, bus stops in different spots and expectations are different. But with all this on board we set off of Southern pastures making friends along the way.