We took a quick trip to Belgrade. Quick in two ways...one we were only there from Friday evening until Saturday afternoon and quick because the driver drove like we were being chased by the Feds (but I'm not naming any names).


Our Hotel was far from "Splendid". It was old and my bed was definitely made for someone who was no more than 5' 2". Once I priced more western style accommodations, I shut up. The staff was friendly and helpful so what more could I want? Hot water? Now that's going too far. However, the view from our windows was great.



That night we went out to check out the town. The man at the hotel helped me get oriented on the maps and then made some suggestions about where to go. My cyrillic reading skills are just below Carson's English reading skills. He would have laughed at me. At about the 6th sign where I couldn't figure out some of the letters I had a total Carson reaction too. I wanted to say, "Forget it guys, let's go to McDonald's". We ate in the Bohemian quarter...after I finally found it. The waiter was really nice. We didn't order...he just kept bringing out food. My favorite thing was the aperitifs. The alcohol was in a little vial suspended in ice water.


The next day we went out exploring again. We took in everything you can in just 4 or 5 hours. At the Orthodox Church I couldn't go in (bare shoulders) so I hung out at a coffee shop across the street. Today must have been the day for Christenings as families were coming in one after the other. (For the record, not all of these pictures were taken by me)


Next we went to the Old Fort...


...from which we had a beautiful view of the city.


The advantage of traveling with other people is that I can actually be in some of the pictures (I had previous criticism that my blog contained no pictures of me).

The architecture was interesting, yet somehow unremarkable. I think one of the guidebooks suggested that few cities have been rebuilt more often then Belgrade.


Speaking of that...we checked out the Hotel Jugoslavija (which had a cover over it to hide most of the damage from the 1999 bombing. And the former Chinese embassy. Everyone was impressed that I could remember the date of the bombing. Mom, you should remember why...we were on a US airliner headed to Thailand when we ran out of feul over China and had to land in Shanghai...yes, I know the date of the Embassy bombing. Seriously, though, when you look at it, it would be hard to think the building was anything but either the Chinese Embassy or a gigantic Chinese restaurant.



It was a really fun trip. I still like Sarajevo best, but I liked Belgrade better than Zagreb. We did end up eating at the McDonald's but for us it was a rare treat.