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Well, not quite but at least I've arrived! I can't quite believe that I managed, so effortlessly, to while away ten hours at Frankfurt airport until my connecting flight to Belgrade but I think I passed with flying colours. Thanks in part to my wonderful new investment - my Thermarest - which saw me comfortably laid out for at least four hours catching up on some sleep (ear plugs in) in a not too hidden corner of Frankfurt airport.
It came as no surprise that my flight to Belgrade was delayed but by this time I had time wasting down to a fine art... Arrival into Belgrade was relatively painless except for those passengers that wouldn't/couldn't wait until the plane had come to a standstill before trying to dislodge their hand luggage (which I'm sure was heavier than their checked in luggage) onto unsuspecting heads. I had fortunately ducked although the woman next to me did cop a hit in the head. Maybe it was karma because she did steal my window seat...
As usual I was the last to exit the airport. I had a minor hiccup to my initial plan to ride into Belgrade in that the plastic attachment that holds my handlebar bag in place had broken (even though I had painstakingly wrapped it in a towel to ensure that it didn't get damaged). And, oh, I was also having difficulty pumping up my tyres - the difficulty being that I had no energy. I wasn't too concerned though. I knew that there would always be a taxi shark waiting who would be willing to take me and my bike in exchange for an exhorbitant fee. How right I was!
So, I managed to get the taxi driver to stop at a servo and get my tires pumped before heading into town to the Royal Hotel. I was fortunate to get a room but only for that night. (By the way there was nothing royal about the hotel but it was pleasantly balkan and clean and the restaurant served a great tomato soup with bread for the price of $2).
Now, I am staying a the 3 Black Catz hostel which is on the same street as the Australian Embassy. It is a great location and very friendly and helpful people running it. I ran around yesterday morning after breakfast to find out if they had room for a couple of nights and sure enough they did - yay! I also ran around trying to find glue to fix my broken handlebar bag holder with. Quite an interesting exercise in itself going into a hardware shop trying to explain what it is I was after. Thankfully both men spoke English although one rudely suggested in Serbian that I was obviously sleeping if I couldn't see where the glue was (it was before my eyes). I didn't let him get off lightly though because, although I may not speak Serbian, there are some words that I do know. I made it clear that I did not appreciate him saying that to me - he sheepishly turned away. One for Bernii, nill to chauvanistic male.
So, hostel and glue sorted I was able to explore. Belgrade is a great city. It reminded me a little of Bucharest. Buildings beautiful although a little ramshackle, people dressed to impressed and cafes galore. I decided to walk to Zemun (Zemun was the most southerly point of the Austro-Hungarian empire whilst the Turks were still in control of Belgrade) which was about 8km from Belgrade's old centre. Along the way there was an array of barges that serve as clubs/restaurants all with names like Acapulco, Bombardier, Bangkok, Bibis, Monza. There was also a lot of clean up work going on in preparation for summer (and its corresponding influx of tourists) and also from the recent flooding. Sandbags were still around.
By the time I got to Zemun the sky looked quite menacing. I actually only got to walk up to the fortress and take a couple of photographs before it really let loose. It poured and I only managed to get to a cafe/gallery when I was thorougly soaked. However, I was made to feel welcome and offered dry clothes and provided with wonderful company. It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon. I ended up coming back to Belgrade by bus with a man who visited the gallery (a friend of the owner's in case you start thinking I would go off with any Goran, Zoran or Marko). We had a coffee (actually I was keen to try the beer and did so) close to my hostel on Republic Square - a great location to people watch before I made tracks back to the hostel.
Today I plan to visit Kalemegdan the fortress at the confluence of the Sava and Danube Rivers, the Ethnographical Museum, which at the moment has an exhibition on jewelry and Skadarska, Belgrade's equivalent of Montmartre. A lot to see, a lot to do. Let's hope the weather holds out. If not, there are always cafes to fall back on...
Tomorrow I plan to commence the cycling. A scary thought as I know I have way too much gear. I plan to make it a short ride to Smederevo - test the legs, my fitness and what Serbian driving is all about.
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Shellii
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Yay...you've made it plus bb06 update
Hello, I cant find your email adress in my uni email thingy and so I thoughts I would take up some space on your blog - tell me if it takes too much memeory (and then send me your email address to uni - I know its meant to be simple but...humour me). I am so happy to hear that you got there (relatively) easily!! And it sounds like you are not wasting any time getting out there!! Good on you! All's pretty normal here. Bodhi and I are fairly naked most of the time as promised. (Only kidding, Bodhi is too shy). I know you said you wanted to hear all the banal details but...I dont think I can do it. You know how it goes...went to work, came home, watched Buffy, didnt do my homework, went to uni, paniced, rushed my homework, went to the gym, felt sick, went home, watched Buffy, didn't do my homework...etc etc. But I will let you know a bit about BB06. Jamie and Katie got married (by Gaelan). The bridesmaids all wore pink. I think its just an elaborate ruse so that she can do the deed with him. Karen was evicted - no surprise there. And yesterday, and I missed it - damn work!!!! - Michael got outed as the insider. Everyone is really pooey with him. David cried!! And the intruders went in. There is a gay hairdresser that looks like a punk elvis (not a spunky one though), a loud mediterranean and a very pretty little thing who I think already has the hots for Jamie. I will let you know more as I find it out. There was not much to say about AO, surfice it to say that...how shall I put this...Jamie must have enormous feet - it even made David glad that jamie batted for the other side and would pose no risk of personal injury. I'll try to write soon...or rather I will try to do something worth writing about soon. Have the best time. Happy trails and hope to hear more adventures soon!!! Love Shellii