Belgrade

On the bus on the way to Prijepolje. The bus just filled up at the second stop, and I was able to move seats to give a guy two sets next to each other, my most success experience yet with a Serb who does not speak Engish. Now sitting next to a girl who speaks enogu english to ask me to put her stuff onthe rack above the seat, but I lost my window seatand therefore prime sleeping position.

My day in Belgrade was very good. Upon arrival the lady at the tourist desk seemed to think my guidebook's airport to city instructions were dumb and had me take the city bus in. That was lenghty but fine, and my hostel was much farther on foot than I expected. When I arrived I got oriented an talked to the guy at the desk for advice,which aside from dinner suggstions(never did have that meal) I followed to great success. When I asked about museums, he looked at me like I was a dork and said they were all bad, closed, or both.

It was nearlt two so first order of business was lunch. I went to a place the hostel recommended and therefore expected some English. Nope. I'm not even sure they could figure out I wanted food because the vaunted Point at Raw Food ordering tehcnique nearly failed,but what else I would have been doing in their small resteraunt I am unclear on. But it all worked out Ok and I got a carry-out pljeskavica, or Serbian for really good hamburger.

I hiked up to Kalemgdan for great views of the city and of the merging of the Danube and Sava. I ate my burger sitting on a crumbling fortress wall. I had a brief chat with an ols Serbian lady in which niether of us knew what the other was saying. I think she wanted to know why I wasnt wearinge sunglasses while sitting towards the sun. Whatever it was, hopefully it was not important. The park was evenly divided amongst young families playing , old men being old (chess etc), and twentysomethings making out. On my way out I filled up my water bottle from a street fountain, which was helpfully labeled H2O on my Serbian map.

I then walked through the old city towards two big Orthodox Temples. Succesfully told someone on the street the day of the week, and had a very excited local explain some icons to me in St Marc's. I really like the feel of Belgrade. Taking the bus in the city first strikingly reminded me of Ljubljana and Zagreb, which makes sense. The overridng adj was gritty, and some parts of the city are just plain ugly, because of communism, decay, or both. But the old town was just lovely. In London, everyone is either in a hurry of loitering. In Belgrade, everyone seemed to srike a happy medium. The streets and parks were packed but everyone was doing something, if only chatting, and seemed to be enjoying the great weather outdoors.

After St Sava, I bought my bus ticket for 1145 Dinars, or $16. Back to the hostel at dusk, and talked politics with some Swedish dudes, basketball with the Serbian on duty, and traveling with the English girls in my room. Also caught up on the draft( strongly approve of he george hill trade), prepped for my sisters arrival, discovered my guidebook does not include Bosnia, and generally stayed up too late.

Now to check out the beautiful countryside and sleep.