Serbia

Q: What did renowned Serbian chess player Boris Kostic say to each of his defeated opponents?
A: You got Serbed!

Yep, we went to Serbia.  Belgrade is a place that I can’t ever say that I thought I’d ever be for any reason…though I guess that applies to most of the places I’ve been so far on this journey.  Pulling into the city, Serbia’s relatively recent war torn past is apparent. Despite the presence of modern edifices and typical semi-big city conveniences, dilapidated structures and bombed out buildings aching for demolition still litter the streets.  Even so, Belgrade has its charm.  The first thing I heard about the town is that it has a fantastic fort overlooking the river and city.  I couldn’t help but think of all the family vacations to small Carolina coastal towns over the years when Dad would get excited for us all to go to the fort.  Well as I remember, I’d complain and gripe about stomping around a fort instead of spending more time building sand castles and getting in fights with waves, but then would thoroughly enjoy myself.  So now I like forts, and the one in Belgrade is a spectacle.

Overlooking the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, it sits at a beautiful location. Though the fortress was built in the 500s, it has been updated periodically through the past 1500 years and has the varying architecture to attest to that fact.  The structure itself is impressive, but the view overlooking the Danube is perhaps the best spot in Belgrade.  Apparently, many of the locals agree because there were at least 20 couples making out at the fort (of all ages I might add). Side note- there are gorgeous women all over in Belgrade...I've been a lot of places and I must say, Belgrade ranks up there with Knoxville, Birmingham, and Atlanta on the beautiful women scale. Ok, so I digress...

After walking around the fort for a good two hours or so, Awal and I decided to employ a new strategy for dinner. Considering how we're on a super tight budget for the trip, we went with the "walk around and eat cheap stuff for sale on the street" method.  Yep, great decision. We managed to get another fantastic kebab and eat gelato twice.  Gotta love adventure eating.

One night in Belgrade...I say it was a success...on to Bulgaria