Belgrade

Our first day in Belgrade was pretty interesting. We spent a long portion of the morning still on the train. The train was supposed to arrive at 6:40, but didn't get in until almost 9. It worked out because it gave us some extra time to sleep. I think there must have been some problems with the train because there were several moments during the night where the train just flat out stopped. Whatever, we made it and we made it safe. I think the Canadian couple next to us were kind of panicked about the delays though. They kept on going in and out of their compartment to ask the conductor how long we'd have until we got there  and each time he told them that we'd be about 2 hours late.

We eventually made it, though and because we did not have any Serbian dinars and the guides specifically recommended against exhanging money at the train station, we just walked to the hostel. It ended up being a lot more of an uphill walk than we had anticipated and we must have looked pretty gross by the time that we found the hostel. We dropped our bags off and then ran off to get some dinars before coming back to check in. Our beds were ready (yay), so we also took the time to shower and get rid of all the train grime that we had accumulated overnight.

We finished just in time to run over to Republic Square for a free walking tour of the city. It was not with the tour company that we like to do our free tours with, but it was still a pretty well done tour and our guide was a lot less awkward than our guide in Copenhagen. The only problem is that on a hot day such as today, our guide did not have a break until almost the end of the tour. There were some points of the tour where we were just so hot that nothing she was saying was sinking in. Mia and I remedied this with ice cream though. A cure all.

The tour was fun. Belgrade's an interesting city where on one corner you will find a building that has not quite yet recovered from recent bombings, in another corner you see the lush "Bohemian Quarter" full of pubs and bars, and another street is the more ritzy pedestrian only shopping mall. The people here have also been very nice and friendly. I think the coolest part of the tour was the big fortress, which is now also a park. You see ruins of this old medieval fortress, a great view, and a lot other goodies.

Oh, also, there is a street here that the locals refer to as "Silicon Valley." Mia and I were initially excited because we thought it'd be a techie little quarter of Belgrade, but it was actually more Orange County than Silicon Valley. It's apparently a street of overpriced bars where rich locals make sure to flaunt their wealth and women with boob jobs try to find rich husbands. Also, apparently those with fancy cars will make sure to park their cars illegally in ways that everyone can see.

We were dying by the time the tour was over because it was so hot. It ended around the touristy pedestrian street, so we ducked into the closest air conditioned restaurant we could find and had lunch. Mia got gnocchi and I got a "burrito," which was more like a quesadilla. i think and Eduardos trip is due when we come home.

Anyway, we made our way back to the hostel. Mia stopped and got red glasses like the ones of her that she broke and had been trying to replace. For old times sake, we walked into a Lush. We made it back to the hostel around 3 and both of us passed out for a while.

We didn't leave again until 6:30-ish, when we decided that we should probably go out and do something else. We decided to go check out the Belgrade Beerfest, which is the big event going on in town right now. Our plan was to get a drink, get dinner and get out. The woman who we asked for directions at the front desk probably thought we were cooler than we actually were. When I asked if we could take a tram back from the event, she looked worried and told us that they'd only run until 11:15. Lol.

Anyway, BeerFest was actually surprisingly fun. We thought it'd be a lot more like Love Fest, but when we had made it there, it was actually a very family friendly event. There were even rides nearby. We tried the Serbian Jelen beer, which kind of tasted like Stella. Mia got some chicken sandwich thing and I got some hot dog like thing. We drank and ate, listened to the band perform, and then made our way out as the crowds started rushing in.

Now we're back at the hostel and I'm being eaten alive by bugs. Time to pull out the bug repellent, I guess. Tomorrow, we do the Nikola Tesla Museum and some other sight seeing. The walking tour covered many of the major sights of the city, but I think there were a couple of other things that are worth seeing. In the evening, we do overnight train #2 to Sofia, Bulgaria where they shake their heads to say yes and nod to say no.