I knew little to nothing about Serbia, but our new found friends Max and Will talked about how cheap it was to stay and eat there, so we thought, why not?! We bought the Eastern Europe Lonely Planet and read up on it. Seemed interesting enough and we had tons of time to kill. So we ventured away from the beaches for a little city action.
From Montenegro we hopped on a 12 hour bus ride up to Belgrade. The bus was almost empty and air conditioned! Great start for the next chapter on our trip. Everything was peachy until about 8 hours in when our bus broken down in the middle of no where.
Not exactly ideal, but soon enough another bus pulled up almost full to the brim. With just enough room for a couple skinny Canadians, we squeezed on the sweaty bus. Little did we know that there was yet another stop on the route and even more people got on the bus. There wasn’t enough seats for them so they stood in the aisle. For almost 4 hours we had kids screaming and kicking the back of our seats, people eating, talking, sweating, all cramped on this hilarious bus ride heading north. We finally arrive long after dark, I’ve never been so happy to get off a bus.
Neil is captain navigator again. We wander towards our hostel, The Eye of Belgrade, in search of food.
You seeing a pattern? I feel kind of like a cave women always in search of something to eat. In our case we are always looking for cheap and somewhat “healthy” food to eat. Ahahaha Good luck team!
We stop at the very first decent looking kebab shop. And, it’s BRILLIANT!! What a treat for us starving kids! All be it not the healthiest option, but so bloody tasty and pretty cheap; $12 for two huge doners and a drink each. We made a mental note to make a second visit to this place. We stuff ourselves with meaty garlicky goodness and hike up to the hostel.
The next morning started off with a huge breakfast at Biblioteque.
The decor of the restaurant was really fun. It was like an old library (hence the name) there were shelves full of books available for people to pick up and read while they ate.
Terrible service, as usual for Eastern Europe, but the food was on point. Typical greasy eggs and bacon; unhealthy and tasty.
I swore I was never going to eat again I was so full.
We realized that it was Monday (who’s really paying attention these days?) and that meant the Museums were all closed. Instead, we window shopped and adventured around the city.
Like Lonely Planet described, Belgrade was not a beautiful city. It was kind of a mix of communist and slightly more modern architecture. The sun was shining and the main shopping/cafe area was buzzing with people happily enjoying the day.
There was tons of graffiti everywhere!
We accidentally stumbled upon the Citadel and had a bit of fun.
The Military Museum had tons of tanks and paraphernalia all around the outside.
War is fun!
Randomly throughout the city center we saw clay art sculptures.
Some of them were quite cool. We even caught a shot of the guy who was making them.
That night we caught a movie. For two admissions, two BEERS (!), popcorn and a water it was $10. Unbelievable.
Also, this was the most interesting theater I’ve ever been in. Every screening theater had a classic movie star theme and fun statues from tons of other films decorated the lobby.
Definitely worth a second visit. We saw the new Harry Potter movie and Bruno. Both were played in English with Serbian subtitles.
The third day we finally visited the Museum properly. The military clothing and fatigues were the most interesting. The crazy outfits that men fought in decades ago are really outrageous. Unfortunately, they were all behind glass so all our pictures had major glare.
With one more stop at the infamous kebab shop we were on our way to Bucharest, Romania.
I was so excited for my very first train ride. We opted for a sleeper car since the train ride was a 16 hour overnight ride. Best idea yet!
Off to Romania!
~Josie