Budapest, Hungary to Belgrade, Serbia

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July 9 Sunday
Woke up at 5 AM so I decided to get some work done before heading down to breakfast. We left the hotel at 8 o'clock in the morning. The tour director talked about the Hungarian language and alphabet, which originally was not using Latin script. He passed around a copy of the original Hungarian script which I thought was similar to ancient script of other countries. He even stated that the ancient Hungarian script was found in some places in North America.

As we drove through the Austrian countryside heading toward the Bulgarian border, how many farms growing crops of wheat, corn, and sunflower. The wheat crop was in the process of being harvested.
About an hour and a half along the highway we passed a military caravan of vehicles. The last one in the line had 3 men with weapons as well as the first one in line. The Hungarian police was in the lead.

We stopped in Szeged, Hungary for an hour and a half. Very pretty downtown area. Beautiful parks and lots of military and non military statues. Had to go into the pharmacy to get some antiperspirant since I ran out. Being Sunday there wasn't very much open in the marketplace only had three stalls. I was able to pick up some Hungarian glass for some relatives. One of the stalls it was actually selling dream catchers! LOL I ended up eating at a McDonalds along with some other members of the group. I was able to change my Hungarian currency to a few 1000 Serbian bills. (About $20). The rest I converted into Euros. We then left and headed toward the border.

We got in line at the Hungarian border at 12:05. There are 15 buses ahead of us. It's 75° outside and getting hot. Thank God we are in the air conditioned bus. IT TOOK 4 HOURS TO LEAVE HUNGARY!!!!!!!!!!!!
Only took 30 minutes to get into Serbia. The only good thing was that I was able to get caught up on my blogging. Just got to upload the pics. For the next two countries Serbia and Bulgaria we will get our passports stamped. Any other EU country there are no stamps. We had planned on getting to the hotel and some of us planned a massage but the delay required Scott to cancel them.

Not a big difference upon entering Serbia. The road was bumpy most of the way. Lots and lots of farms especially sunflowers. We were directed off the highway when the police put up a barricade across the highway. They were checking for something. They waved us on when they found out we were tourists. We passed an open landfill where some of the trash was burning. From the border to Belgrade we didn't see any large towns other than farms in small villages. Once we got into the city on the outskirts there was lots of very tall, very old communist style apartments. They looked terrible.

We are staying at the Crowne Plaza on the outskirts of town in an industrial park neighborhood so there will be no walking around for me. The view is kind of depressing. Communist style apartments and a business complex that is no longer being utilized. The room was warm when I walked in. It was locked at 20°C /68°F but the room was much warmer. I called to the receptionist and they said they could set it as low as 18°C /64°F. I hope when I come back from the buffet dinner it will be better. Since I face the setting sun I went ahead and pulled the blackout curtains to help keep it cool.

The buffet dinner was at 8 o'clock. We had most of the large restaurant to ourselves with a little section set up just for us. They have a selection of three different types of meats, various vegetables, and a lot of types of salads.when I arrived they were out of chicken, but according to some of the people that was a good thing. Then they brought out a fresh batch of chicken that was really good. After eating some of us want to go explore the rest of the hotel to find out where the swimming pool was. It was located in the spa area, and you had to wear the slippers that they provided in your room to even go into the pool area. They let us see it through the doorway and it was very different. The ceiling glass was a dark blue, the room was darkened, in the water look like a dark blue. We couldn't see the whole pool but it looked pretty big. Maybe tomorrow I'll go for a swim. Before heading back to my room I decided to stop at the change machine and get a few more Serbian dinars for tomorrow's excursions. I got to my room and it was a little cooler but still I was sweating a little bit. I had asked for a fan earlier but they said they don't have any. So far all the hotels I've stayed at only had heavy comforters and no sheets to cover up with. There is no way I'm going to be I'll sleep with the heavy comforter on I'm already sweating in the room. So I stripped the bed sheet off and slept on the comforter and use the bed sheet as a blanket.

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