Belgrade (take 1)

As you all know, one of the main reasons for the Belgrade/Budapest/Istanbul itinerary was the fact that we were able to buy a miraculous thing called the Balkans Flexipass. It allowed us to have 5 travel days for a dandy price of 50 euros...about $75.

We found out we were unable to buy the pass until we got to Belgrade, so Nikola went to the station to buy our tickets for the Bar-Belgrade leg of the trip. Obviously he likes to travel in comfort because when he showed us the tickets we found out we had our own compartment with only two beds. It was like a little mini dorm room just for us. Thanks Nikola!

bunk bed! 

He drove us to the station and told us how in the middle of the night they would come by and ask for our passports and all of that fun official stuff. Lauren and I decided we would just wait until the border to sleep so we didn't have to wake up twice. In the meantime, we were entertaining ourselves with playing cards, and taking some pictures. Once we passed the border, we slept until the conductor came around to tell us we would be in Belgrade within 40 minutes. We knew we were going to have to hit the ground running and we had a lot to see in the limited time we had before catching a train that night to Budapest.

In the meantime, Nikola set up for his friend (also conveniently named Nikola) to come pick us up from the station and show us around the city. I'm glad he did because we would have had no idea where we were going, and it was a little bit of a hike to get anywhere from the station. Once we got to the apartment, we were handed off to another friend (named Marko) to show us around. He didn't speak the best english, but we were able to communicate and he joked around with us all day.

First he took us to Kalemegdan, which is a fortress/park that overlooks the rivers. We knew it was pretty big, but I think Lauren and I were both amazed at the size of this place. We walked around a little while and saw what there was to see, including a statue and the remains of an old fortress before leaving to head to a cafe (the typical euro thing...no one can go a day without stopping in to a cafe or two). We met back up with Nikola and they explained to us that they both had other obligations and that we would be on our own for the rest of the day to explore the city.

the fortress

view from Kalemegdan, where the two rivers meet. I think New Belgrade is across there somewhere

Lauren and I took it as a challenge because we both had no idea where we were going. It was fun to navigate and in the meantime we realized how much bigger it was than Bar. During this time we went and saw a few famous churches and a street named Skadarlija, which is the "bohemian quarter" and is known for its restaurants, cafes, and little side streets.

Skadarlija

Sveti Sava (unfortunately the interior was under construction)

Sveti Marko (unfortunately the EXTERIOR was under construction)

We eventually made it back to Nikola's apartment and sat there for a little while, while visiting with him and his roommates, watching Serbian Spongebob Squarepants and Cake Boss, and just resting before our second night in a row on the train. Ick!

....next stop, Budapest!