Belgrade

I normally look forward to train rides, but to take 8.5 hours to go 200 miles is ridiculous, but I didn't have any better options to get from Budapest to Belgrade.  Also the train had no food on board, so I had to stock on supplies the night before.  The ride wasn't bad, the train had AC for most of the trip & was fairly quiet too. I arrived in Belgrade a little late & headed to the apartment I was renting for 3 nights.  The place was decent for $20 per night & it was about a 20 minute walk to the tourist area downtown or just a few minutes on the bus.


I don't think anyone would describe Belgrade as a beautiful city with lots of great tourist attraction.  I guess the best description would be gritty.  Serbia has struggled economically since the wars in the 1990s & there are still a few damaged buildings that are unrepaired from the NATO bombings in 1999.  I think the city has been bombed at least 40 times in various wars.  I have to say that almost all of the people I met were very friendly & most spoke English very well.







I did a walking tour on my first full day in Belgrade which was pretty good.  I also went out several times for Serbian food, which is mostly grilled meats.  On my 2nd day, I visited an area of town called Zemun which has a nice old town & also a viewing tower of the city.  They did have some ugly communist style skyscrapers there too.

Walking tour guide








There is a large Orthodox Church that I visited at night in Belgrade to take some nice photos of when it was lit up.  Overall I had a good visit to Belgrade & would not have minded staying there for another day or two.  I know Serbs have a bad reputation in Europe, but I have to say that I did not see it when I was there.  Here are some more photos from Belgrade including the Brankov Bridge at night.












I felt like I was back in South Carolina when I saw this

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