Day 6-7 - Belgrade

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Day 6:
Ivan and I went to the birthday party of Nikola (the 2nd birthday party I've gone to here). Before getting there, we found a transformer for my camera's adapter/charger and then we got a bite to eat at a little restaurant in a student area.

The birthday party was at some girls' house that Ivan had lived with when he was in college. We had snacks, talked and then went to a popular cafe/club. The air was thick with smoke, the club was very crowded and loud, and I was coming down with a cold, so I went back to the girls's apartment early (but, before that, I had another glass of wine 😉. Ivan, Nikola, and I stayed at girls' apartment in Belgrade since it would be too late to go back to Ivan's apartment (the buses run until 11 pm).

Day 7:
Woke up at about 6 am with a splitting headache and hungry. So, I quiely got up, put on some clothes, and went out for a walk and to find some food. I got some burek and yogurt (which here is drinkable). I wandered around for about 30 minutes and then got a 1.5 liter bottle of water. From there I went to a park, since the smell of the morning car exhaust was not going well with my cold, and found a bench and sat down. I sat there, watching people walk by, people walking their dogs, and soaking up the sun. I stayed there for about 1.5 hours... the sun was especially refreshing. One thing, though, there were crows seemingly everywhere I went and it was beginning to feel like some Hitchcock movie using silly foreshadowing. Of course, I only count it as a blessing (probably just as silly, but better than thinking it something to be concerned with). It did feel odd though. The reality is the crows and pigeons are all over the place in Belgrade munching on trash. And this park had a lot of it.

Went back to the apartment where we watched TV and ate. From there Ivan, Buca, and I went walking around Belgrade. I got some good photos of Kalamegdan and Knez Mihailova... from my two previous trips, I only have a few photos... but now I'm armed with a digital camera 😊. Buco then had to go to work (she works as a nurse in neontalal intensive care unit at the hospital and had the night shift). Ivan and I met up with Bobana at "the horse" on Knez Mihailova (pedestrian street). We went to a cafe and talked for a few hours about all kinds of stuff. A lot of people here have been saying I look the same as I did 10 years ago, and Bobana was saying the same thing. It was great to see Bobana and catch up a bit. Ivan and I then said goodbye to Bobana and took a bus back to his apartment.

An interesting side note is that today (Day 8) Ivan opened the newspaper and read that some guy shot his sister-in-law a "the horse" around 10 pm last night... which, we walked by there not too long after that.

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Photos

Blurry Me
At Kalemegdan with the Sava and Danube rivers in the background

Duckie and Paddington
The Danube River is the one farthest away... the Sava is the other.

Hello WWII
The Kalemegdan fort was built around the 14th centrury by the Serbs to defend against the Ottoman Emprire... which eventually used the fort during five centruries of occupation. These are German tanks and artillerly from WWII that the Serbs took.

Buca and Ivan
At McDonalds

Part of Kalemegdan
I joked with Ivan that this statue was origianl in that it was not another man and horse... instead he is nude with a sword and a bird. I've seen so many statues of men on horses it is becoming ridiculous.

Knez Mihailova
One of the most popular streets in Belgrade. Almost all major protest, public concerts, events, etc. are near here.

Knez Mihailova - 2
Another view of Knez Mihailova

Comments

[Augusta]

Bobana
How was Bobana?

[Augusta]

Crows
PS--Crows are freaky!

[Celeste]

Cold
What the weather like there? Sorry that you have a cold, I hope it gets better by the time I meet up with you!!

[Adele]

Photo
Did you get a photo of Bobana? Ivan's haircut makes him look different than I remembered him!

[Augusta]

Statue comment
Why does the statue guy have a sword and a bird and is naked? See, that's what happens when you drink all that Serbian wine! Let that be a lesson to you, Henry!