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Published: April 14th 2008
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Monday 7 April - Belgrade
Panoramic view from the restaurant on the 18th floor, but not a lot to see. Got a bus into town, bought a map and some postcards, queued up at post office for stamps. Sat in the sun with a coffee to write them. I didn’t pay on the bus in either direction - the first was too full to move, and coming back the driver had no change. The people on the bus were very helpful and put me off opposite the hotel. Discovered there was a big supermarket right next to the hotel, and laid in some supplies. Out to dinner with Jean-Jacques to an excellent local restaurant recommended by the guys on Reception at the hotel. Huge place with exposed beams and lots of plants and very attentive staff. I had Serbian beans (rather spicy baked beans) and a big dish of roast vegetables, and pancakes for pud. The meal cost about 22 dinars (£11) for 2, but the wine cost as much again -never mind, it was very good.Monday 7 April - Belgrade
Panoramic view from the restaurant on the 18th floor, but not a lot to see. Got a bus into town,
bought a map and some postcards, queued up at post office for stamps. Sat in the sun with a coffee to write them. I didn’t pay on the bus in either direction - the first was too full to move, and coming back the driver had no change. The people on the bus were very helpful and put me off opposite the hotel. Discovered there was a big supermarket right next to the hotel, and laid in some supplies. Out to dinner with Jean-Jacques to an excellent local restaurant recommended by the guys on Reception at the hotel. Huge place with exposed beams and lots of plants and very attentive staff. I had Serbian beans (rather spicy baked beans) and a big dish of roast vegetables, and pancakes for pud. The meal cost about 22 dinars (£11) for 2, but the wine cost as much again -never mind, it was very good.
Tuesday 8 April - Belgrade to Pozarevac, 98 km
Good breakfast - fresh fruit salad, Serbian beans, egg, cheese and bread and honey. No coffee, had to drink tea. From now on I carry Nescafe at all times! Stopped at a good café for lunch, had a nice
coffee there. The route passed through flat endless fields, like the plains in Hungary, then later much prettier countryside with small-scale farming. However, the afternoon saw loads of gravel pits and mines, and a huge US steel plant. We passed through one very poor town - Smederevo - more what I had expected to see in Serbia: dilapidated buildings, dirt, depression and resentful people.
Pozarevac is very boring, it has one nice pedestrianised street with cafes and not much else. Had a job finding a restaurant at all; found a little place where one of the customers helped translate, and Jean-Jacques and I got a reasonable meal (I had beans again - a good change from cheese all the time). The chap who translated for us told us how much he loved his country, but did not like to work - this seems to be a national problem.
The hotel is a fleapit, dirty and dilapidated with torn and dirty carpets and lights that don’t work. I am sharing an “apartment” with two couples. The living room has a fold-out double bed, the bedroom has a double bed and beside it a fold-out armchair which is my bed. I have to walk through the other couple’s room to get to the loo. Not very satisfactory! AND they are all asleep at 9.20 pm.
Tuesday 8 April - Belgrade to Pozarevac, 98 km
Good breakfast - fresh fruit salad, Serbian beans, egg, cheese and bread and honey. No coffee, had to drink tea. From now on I carry Nescafe at all times! Stopped at a good café for lunch, had a nice coffee there. The route passed through flat endless fields, like the plains in Hungary, then later much prettier countryside with small-scale farming. However, the afternoon saw loads of gravel pits and mines, and a huge US steel plant. We passed through one very poor town - Smederevo - more what I had expected to see in Serbia: dilapidated buildings, dirt, depression and resentful people.
Pozarevac is very boring, it has one nice pedestrianised street with cafes and not much else. Had a job finding a restaurant at all; found a little place where one of the customers helped translate, and Jean-Jacques and I got a reasonable meal (I had beans again - a good change from cheese all the time). The chap who translated for us told us how much he loved his country, but did not like to work - this seems to be a national problem.
The hotel is a fleapit, dirty and dilapidated with torn and dirty carpets and lights that don’t work. I am sharing an “apartment” with two couples. The living room has a fold-out double bed, the bedroom has a double bed and beside it a fold-out armchair which is my bed. I have to walk through the other couple’s room to get to the loo. Not very satisfactory! AND they are all asleep at 9.20 pm.
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