Belgrade, Serbia

I have questions I ask and answer whenever I get to new place:

Is water safe to drink from tap?

Where is the closest grocery store

How do you catch and pay for train/bus/etc?

Where to get cash and how much is appropriate?

These are all questions I wished I had compiled in a checklist to be used before I arrived in each new location or country during these last seven months instead of doing the mental gymnastics every time I arrive in a new place. But it is the last country now and I finally have my list.

My flight is early in the morning from Vienna to Belgrade, Serbia. I need to get out of the Euro zone since my visa is close to expiring (90 day Schengen). It seems the next stop nearby is Serbia since I visited many other Balkan countries but not this one yet.

After arriving by plane I go to the city shuttle that is 20 minutes late and the crowd is starting to gather around. I’ve already been waiting about 30 minutes prior so I am proactive and push myself towards the front of the group when the shuttle arrives since I’ve been waiting much longer than most of these people and there is no formal line. The shuttle is a smaller bus and not everybody is getting on. My last stop during my travels and I finally learn to be pushy to my advantage. Most of the time I am overly considerate even when it hurts me. After the shuttle I have to switch to another bus and the heat is starting to kick in; my entire backside is drenched in sweat. I am on a crowded bus standing and trying to balance with my large backpack containing my life for several months and the guy next to me is real annoyed with my backpack. I am too sir. I am too. My hotel is right next to the bus stop and my room is ready. I’ve been so lucky with my room being available as soon as I arrive lately. I relax in the AC for a couple hours before I go back out to sweat again with a walking tour of town.

I meet with the tour and a tour guide takes us many sites in town and explaining their meaning. I learn places to hang out and restaurants to try. He of course tells us to try rakia but I’ve been to the Balkans before and I’m a pro at rakia now. The tour is great but he says nothing about anything related to conflicts in the last fifty years; the commentary stops at World War II. From what I’ve read the most museums around here do not address it either. I am really curious to get their perspective on recent conflicts since I’ve already heard some commentary from other Balkan countries. Maybe another day or so I’ll hit a museum or have a guide that will talk about that period of time. I do learn Serbia goes way back and has a long history. I definitely need to learn more.

After the tour, some of the more outgoing people of the tour arrange a meet up at a beer place around the corner. The six of us go and have a beer. We have two Aussies, two Americans, an Italian and a Colombian. We have a delightful conversation getting to know each other. We take the conversation to dinner afterwards. I try another one of those Balkan meat patty things that seem to be so popular in the region. This particular one is a combination of ground beef, chicken, and cheese. It comes with a side of fries, so yeah, very healthy.

pljeskavica as a type of Serbian hamburger made with ground beef, pork, or lamb. I ordered mine beef and chicken and cheese.

Google takes me through these buildings on my walk back to the hotel. I feel like I’m trespassing but I think others travel the same way.

The next morning I head out to visit the Nikola Tesla museum. Tesla was born in technically Austrian Empire in a region that is now Croatia but was born to Serbian parents. He spent the much of his life outside of Serbia but his inventions were brought to the country after he died, even though he spent most of his professional life outside the country. The museum can only be visited by tour once an hour. The two early tours the morning I visited were already reserved by large groups – although individuals cannot reserve in advance and have to pay in cash. I check in and notice I can’t buy my ticket yet. I am told to come back in about 30 minutes so I go around the block to try the pizza the tour guide yesterday raved about called Bucko. I rarely pass up a good pizza so it is an easy sell for me. The pizza is known for the sauce that is spread on top (called a salad). So basically it is a normal pizza slice with a spread of your choice. I got the beef salad which seemed to be the most popular. It is good but messy and something I am not sure I’d order again. Maybe I’ll go back and try another salad but there are a few more foods in Belgrade I still need to try.

I return back to the Tesla museum for the tour and demonstration of some of his inventions.

I walk around town a bit afterwards.

I head down to the funky Skadarlija district to have dinner at one of the two restaurants I have on my radar in that neighborhood. It’s a very short walk from my hotel so that’s nice since its still hot out. There is a Serbian band playing for dining guests. The music is traditional and sounds like something you’d hear in in many European tourist restaurants.

Karađorđeva šnicla is a Serbian dish consisting of a breaded and rolled veal or pork cutlet stuffed with kajmak. It was named after Karađorđe, a Serbian revolutionary who led the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire from 1804-1813.

I had it with chicken since eating lots of beef and pork lately. It is good but very rich. Probably would never order it again but glad I got to try it. Also tried the Krempita again, this time with berries inside. I have had the dessert before and but I missed enjoying it from my Balkan days a couple months ago. I also discover that I am in love with the cheese topped Sopska Salata (Serbian salad). The salad is fresh chopped vegetables and cheese, so good.

After dinner I explore Skadarlija and end up down a funky alley with bars and more restaurants. I hope to come back here another night.

Goodbye Vienna (and Austria)

I go to the famous cafe Sacher to try their torte cake. I order the combo with the coffee and the special Brut champagne. If I return I’ll insist on sitting upstairs in the beautiful velvet dining space.

I visit the lovely Austrian National Library. I love a library with old books.

Finally get to try wiener schnitzel at Huth Gastwirtschaft.

I visit the Imperial Crypt, the crypt of the royals.

I then visit the Stephansdom Crypt where I see a plethora of human bones as well as intestines and other innards in alcohol jars. I highly recommend this tour if you like creepy things. No pictures inside.

Some internal body parts, juicing up for hundreds of years

I walk around town and then have cocktails at an American bar.

What goes with crypts, bones and cocktails? Seeing the Barbie movie in a historic theater. This theater also is famous for showing the movie The Third Man. If I had more time in town I’d come back to see that.

After the movie I take the train and walk to my hotel through the Prater amusement park where I get to view it lit up for the evening.

My final day I visit Belvedere Palace and its weird art. The palace is a museum and holds some famous artwork by Gustav Klimt and other artists.

Finally I eat a late lunch at an old glass building, the restaurant called Brasserie Palmenhaus Wien.

There is so much more to see and do in Vienna but but I am flying to Serbia in the morning for my final stop so I go back to pack. This time I have to pack for flying since all the bus and train routes were terrible.

This time tomorrow I’ll be back in the Balkans

Part 3 : Heading back to Ljubljana

I wake up way earlier than expected disappointed because I actually want to sleep in this morning. I pack up early for my drive back to Ljubljana. I have my last two climbs up that very long uphill path to get the car out of the tight garage. I am pleased to find no dings on my door. People in Slovenia must just be very considerate and careful. I see that there are parking spaces I can park for 30 minutes closer to apartment (but still a steep walk uphill). I try to parallel park along the stone walls but it is proving to be more difficult than I anticipated. I am backing up into a steep and curvy parallel spot. While I try to straighten the car out it seems impossible because of the uneven stone road. I think the car has some automatic no collision feature on because I feel it trying to stop me from doing things. The alarms are also screaming at me if I get too close to a wall. However the screaming is warranted because even though I don’t hit a wall I am seconds from getting one of my back tires caught in this deep moat like thing along the stone wall. Things could have been bad. I will be so glad when I get rid of this car.

I finally get my backpack and return the garage key card and say goodbye to my host. And one more steep walk uphill. You should see my legs. They haven’t looked this good in like ten years. It is amazing what 4 days of intense hills and stairs will get you.

I decide to stop at the Technical Museum of Slovenia (Tehniški muzej Slovenije) on the way back to Ljubljana. The museum is basically building after building of items related to technical advancements.

The collection is large and vast but the museum is very popular for its extensive collection of cars, some that once owned to the beloved leader of Yugoslavia Josep Tito. How many cars does a communist leader need?

There is an old monastery on site and weird rooms of taxidermy animals. They must have put lots of time into this museum in the past; now much of it is outdated.

Finally make it to the car rental place. They dont do an inspection right away but I inspected and I think there is absolutely no damage. I take the bus back to town. Luckily the walk to my hotel is much shorter this time. I am staying in a proper hotel the next two nights. I like that is closer to the bus station since I have a bus scheduled in 2 days.

I still think Ljubljana is charming. I could make time in town to visit a museum or two but I am happy just walking around. I finally eat at a restaurant I had been eyeing last time called Julija. I order the special ravioli they have on the menu and a side of grilled vegetables.

After dinner I walk back towards my hotel contemplating stopping at a cafe when I come across another festival in the area by the church. This time it is a burger and beer festival. I am sad I already ate since the burgers smell good. I stroll along the water and pick up some pistachio ice cream. The pistachio ice cream I get in the Balkans is different. The nuts are put into the ice cream in more of a nut butter format like you would expect in a jar of peanut butter. The pistachio I’ve eaten elsewhere is always an overly processed thing thoroughly blended into the cream.

The next day I only leave the room to eat and run some errands. I need some warm weather shirts because it is starting to get warm everywhere I go and my wardrobe is heavy on the long sleeve shirts.

I finally try Kodila meat market and take a chance by ordering the Bujta repa (fermented turnip stew) and I am rewarded. I normally avoid anything related to sauerkraut but the sour turnip plus pork plus paprika really works for me. The waiter calls it hangover food. I am not hungover but I guess I might be working on one today with my two glasses of wine with lunch. I also try again the Prekmurska gibanica cake. It is like before, it is a semi sweet cake. It’s something in theory I should love because I don’t love sweet things but its not my favorite Slovenian dessert; I very much prefer Bled cake.

For this evening I have a fancy Michelin dinner scheduled. It’s up at Ljubljana castle. I take the funicular up the hill. Even though it is a long wait today for the funicular I am early. I walk along the free parts of the castle while I wait for my reservation. I am eventually seated on the terrace. I am used to dining alone but I always feel awkward when I do the fine dining because normally I read a book while eating to pass the time and it somehow doesn’t feel appropriate at the fancier meals. The food is good but it isn’t the best Michelin food I’ve had. Maybe I’ve had enough of the fancy foam dishes for a while. Give me some local favorite comfort foods instead.

The heavy meal and wine exhausts me for the evening. I head back to the hotel to pack since tomorrow I travel on to the next country, Hungary.

Mostar

This morning I took the train to Mostar, a medieval ottoman city famous for its stone streets and iconic bridge. Mostar is in the Herzegovina region of Bosnia & Herzegovina. It’s confusing because it’s not an actual political border or state but just a region of land. There are actually borders within their country but they are named differently.

Cheese burek this morning before my train

It’s about a 25 minute walk to my hotel where I get to walk through a cute town awakening for the day. Little do I know in just a few minutes crowds will thicken as day trippers come in via very large groups. I drop my bags off at the hotel and brave the crowds for a bit while I wait for my room to get ready.

During my wandering I end up at the famous Stari Most (bridge). This unesco bridge was originally built in the 16th century but was destroyed in the war of the 1990’s. It was reconstructed in the early 2000’s. There is a tradition here of jumping off the bridge into the Neretva river below. I forgot about this tradition until I see three guys “getting ready to jump”. They start collecting money for the jump – I later discover they are actually taking bets whether or not someone will jump. After a production they step down and don’t jump. Confused as I am I watch them for a while repeat this same routine multiple times. I am convinced it is a scam and happy I don’t give them money. I find out later from a tour guy that they do eventually jump but these younger guys make more of a production out of it to collect the most money. I still not have seen anyone jump but like I said it is a tradition and actual club you can join to work your way into the big jump.

I order coffee and a local dessert at a cafe and enjoy a view of the river.

It is now time to check in so I return to the hotel and settle a bit to let the crowds die down before I go back out.

I decide to visit a highly rated cafe to eat before I attend a walking tour I have scheduled this afternoon. I am tired of cevapi so I try some grilled chicken instead. I am very happy with my order.

Grilled chicken, salad, cheese, pita bread, grilled veggies

I meet up for the tour. The tour guide is a local who was an adult during the last war. He tells us about town history pre-war and Yugoslav era. Then he tells us how things were during the 1990’s war in this town. The ethnic groups are the same as in Sarajevo but here the residents are majority ethnic Bosnia and Croats with the Serbs forming a minority. I have gotten a completely different perspective than I did in Sarajevo. There was conflict here but the players are different and they change over the course of the war. The whole situation is so complex that I am sure it will confuse me even more if I talk to someone who is familiar with the viewpoint of the other two sides. The only thing to hope is that peace will last here.

Finally I find a place to get a couple drinks after being in a mostly dry town for two nights. I try a flight of beer and a local whisky in a NON-SMOKING area! I love enjoying my evening without a side of smoke. I really take the clear air for granted in the USA since we long since outlawed smoking in most indoor places.

Tomorrow I have a day tour scheduled for the country-side of Herzegovina.

Park Güell

One of the appeals of returning to Barcelona once again is to finally make a visit to Park Güell, another place I missed during my last visit to the city.

I schedule my visit at the opening so I can maybe have a visit that isn’t uncomfortably crowded.

My travel instructions have me exit at the metro stop at the bottom of the hill. I am not excited about a morning sweat.

Once at the top of the hill, I am still early and I have views of the city.

Once inside the park you can stay inside as long as you want but to see some of the more fabulous features of the park you must visit in one direction only. I start my visit by heading to the most popular spots. I am not completely alone but I have photos mostly void of people that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Like anything these days it gets more busy as the day goes on so I visit all the highlights, sometimes multiple times, and then leave. I imagine at one time this might have been a great place for a picnic, when perhaps the crowds were not as bad.

After my visit to Parc Guell I decide to walk back towards my hotel since I want to explore the artsy neighborhood of Gràcia.

I still have half a day left so on the walk back I detour over to another of Gaudì’s works – Casa Vicens. This house is the first important commission he received, said to even begin Modernisme movement in Catalonia and Europe. I am just pleased to view the interesting tile choices and wild ceilings that are in almost all the rooms. Its current layout is different than its original configuration since it is now used as an event and exhibit space.

The classy gal I am, I decided to try a local delicacy. (Well not really since it is worldwide chain and I might have fallen to peer pressure to take a picture “for the gram”.)

Finished the evening at wandering around Las Ramblas. I head back to my hotel with the most confusing lobby. You can only tell the elevator is there because I catch the door partially open in a photo. Tomorrow I visit the inside of another of Gaudì’s great works, La Sagrada Familia.