Serbia. Sept 06

Belgrade.
Arrived in Belgrade about 12:30 pm. Ignored the taxi drivers willing to rip me off and sussed the bus into town. My hotel was central just off the main sq of the city. It has to said it was a realy nice hotel the room was super just the right size everything you req and everything worked. Belgrade as a city is not a Paris, St Petersburg or Rome it's strength is the lively cafe's and bars along the pedestrianised area. The leafy bohemic quarter a grid of streets NE of the main sq, is also nice to wander around. So I just spent a few days wandering said streets and relaxing. Beer, wine and food were very cheap too. It was costing about £20 - £30 for a full two course meal with a bottle of wine and a coffee in a good quality white cover restaurant.

View of the Fortress area at Novi Sad.

On Monday I got the train to Novi Sad, it cost £1.50 for a two and a half hour journey. When I get to Novi Sad I make the most basic of "schoolboy errors" cuz I hadn't checked the location of my hotel I just get in a taxi outside the station show him the address of my hotel and off we go. It only cost £2.50 so not bad. I book into the hotel, again pretty good for the money. I decide to take map in hand and get my bearings. I walk out the hotel only to have the bloody railway station right in front of me, Doh!!

My main impression of the place a plaesant clean lively city. A city you will not die of thirst in. I think there are more bars, cafe's and places selling alcohol than any other city I can remember (and I've been to my fair share). On the minus side there are a lack of "good quality" restaurants, unless you like pizza, but that's not gourmet food. Luckily my instinct came into play and 2 out of the 3 nights I found I think the best in the city. Still very reasonably priced too. On the Wed night they had set up a stage in the town hall sq. Later there was a band playing mainly standard stuff, U2, Chillis, your bog standard rock classics. Then for some reason they played "I will survive" it was then I buggered off to the nearest bar. Parliament building in Belgrade.

Made my way back to Belgrade on the Thurs. Stayed in the same hotel so I was familliar with where I was.

In all a good trip, I achieved the required which was to rest from the manic last month. That said I think I wore an S-K shirt most days. While the band was on in Novi Sad I'msure some girl noticed my S-K shirt and was close to saying something. We'll never know.

Main town hall sq Novi Sad.