Belgrade - First Trip Into Former Yugoslavia

I guess that I’m about a week behind, so I oughta try and get caught up. At this precise moment, I’m finally on a train with some comfort (read: almost empty) and I have some time between Budapest and Zagreb, so I’ll try to do that now.

Next up on the tour blog is Belgrade. I left Sofia, which I ended up liking quite a bit, and hopped on the train to Belgrade. This was another long train ride, with another long passport control stop into another city that I knew very little about. I think Belgrade was the capital of the old Yugoslavia, if I remember my high school geography well, and it is the current capital of Serbia. I knew not to make a big deal out of being an American in Serbia (not that I do anywhere else) in particular because of the whole Kosovo thing. Anyway, it was new and I was excited.

The train ride was interesting. During the first half, I spent my time in a little train booth with a very talkative 71-year-old Bulgarian woman. That was fine except that she didn’t speak English and I didn’t speak Bulgarian. That didn’t stop her, though. She did teach me a few words in Bulgarian, just in time for me not to need them seeing as I was leaving Bulgaria for Serbia, but it passed the time. During the second half of the ride, I realized that Serbia is the official smoking section of Europe. It’s been so long since I’ve seen people smoke in enclosed areas on pubic transportation that I had assumed that it was banned pretty much everywhere. Well, not everywhere, because there was a lot of smoking on the train. This includes the two hours that the train wasn’t moving, because it kept stopping out in the middle of nowhere for 15-20 minute periods. I think this pissed off the Serbians because they got a little rowdy (many had been drinking since we left Sofia), but I’m not sure if they were upset or just loud. They seem to me to be a group of people that yell “good morning” at each other at home. Just a loud group.

I got to Belgrade and I knew my hotel was supposed to be very close to the train station. It was nighttime by the time arrived. I walked outside and couldn’t see my hotel, so I pulled out the formerly-known-as-trusty-GPS, which proceeded to guide me down a dark street and away from my hotel. After the GPS turned out to be FUBAR, I decided I had to follow the numbers on the street – and just hope I was on the right street because I couldn’t find a sign anywhere. I ended up walking back down towards the train station and, sure enough, my hotel was just across the street from the station. Had it had a sign or something, I wouldn’t have needed my formerly-known-as-trusty-GPS, but a hotel sign might be asking for too much. (Note: The picture to the left is what my formerly-known-as-trusty-GPS took for my hotel.)

I checked in and I have to say that the hotel was pretty sweet. There was a large plasma television in my room; all international calls were free; the shower was larger than some rooms that I’ve had in Euorpe; and dinner was free – though because of the two-hour delay in my trip from Sofia, I missed dinner the first night. Anyway, I was set up to see Belgrade.

What is there to see in Belgrade, you ask? Hell if I know. I had seen signs everywhere telling me where Kalemegdan and the Belgrade Fortress were located, so I decided to try that area first. It was within a twenty-minute walk, so walk I did. It wasn’t the most scenic journey, but it wasn’t too painful.

Kalmegdan and the Belgrade Fortress include a castle and fortifications built throughout the Middle Ages. It also is a rather large complex and there is a very nice park within the confines. As far as castles go, it wasn’t particularly awe-inspiring, though the views of the Danube and Belgrade from the fortress were breathtaking at times. Also, the park was beautiful and I saw lots of single parents and children taking in the beautiful Serbian morning. Also, there were various museums on the complex and I visited the army museum, which primarily consisted of old tanks and guns from the late-19^th and early 20^th centuries.

After Kalmegdan, I headed over to Republic Square, which was very close by. It is at the end (or beginning, depending on your entry point) of a pedestrian area that is about five or six blocks long. The pedestrian area, and especially Republic Square itself, had numerous boutiques selling souvenirs and other wares and cafés for coffee and alcohol, though getting service at them proved to be a pain in the butt. Given the beautiful weather, it was a nice area in which to stroll around and people watch.

That’s it for this entry. Tune in next time when we’ll see if there’s anything else to do in Belgrade.