Woke up at 07:00, down to breakfast. Orange juice, coffee, yoghurt, pastries, toast. Not a great selection of hot food.
Weather was still grey but not raining, around 9c.
Today we’re wandering around Belgrade. Song looked at the history of Belgrade and it has been in around 140 wars. We leave tomorrow, hopefully before the next one kicks off.
Out into the cold, walked into the centre of the city, down the main shopping street. Lots of restaurants with tables set up outside. Carried on to the fortress, the main attraction in Belgrade. It was quite impressive – on top of a hill with commanding views over the city and the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers. It is now a park and there were a lot of stalls set up selling food and souvenirs. Wandered around a bit then back down the main street again and coming towards us was a procession of people dressed in medieval gear and wearing armour, some on horseback.
Popped into a cafe, had a latte that came with a straw, something new, also had a Nutella and cherry crepe while Song had a salad. Cost about $9. We asked for the non smoking section and the waiter told us downstairs, we were the only ones there. Others arrived and all lit up – obviously something lost in translation, so we got out of there.
When we emerged back onto the street it had been raining, so we missed it. Just as well, because I’d left the umbrella back in the hotel (I’ve got to stop doing that). Saw a bakery and bought some rolls for the bus trip the next day. The bakery was the same colour scheme as a chain we like in Europe – Pauls – and the food was the same, but the name was different. So there you go.
Walked around the corner to an old part of the city, which was really one street lined with restaurants and with a cobblestone road, which was a twisted ankle and faceplant waiting to happen with all the rain making them wet.
Not much to see, so headed back in the rain via a market, bought some fruit then back to the hotel to do the photo backup ritual – SD card out, copy to the PC, copy to the external HDD, upload to the cloud.
It started to brighten up so we went out again, back to the fortress so Song could take another 200 photos (I’m not joking). Lots of people out now, filling the restaurants and strolling around. Walked to the number 2 seafood restaurant. Got a table OK even though it was Saturday night, luckily it was early so it wasn’t very busy and we actually had a smoke-free meal for a change.
They gave us a small starter of tuna and whitefish pate and bread, then we ordered – I had squid stuffed with risotto and prawns, Song had grilled squid. Both were served with shard cabbage on potato (same as the restaurant yesterday – it’s either traditional or trendy) and a leek and carrot thing, We also ordered a seasonal salad which was basically coleslaw without the mayonnaise.
The meal was pretty good, but not as good as the place the day before. They gave us a complimentary dessert to share and a coffee – not because we complained, but because it was our first time there.
Not wanting to walk anymore, and because some of the streets looked a bit dodgy (we felt OK during the day), we got a cab back to the hotel.
Tomorrow we’re up at 06:00 for a 7 hour bus trip to Sarajevo.