I woke up this morning to the sound of shunting trains in a hostel for railway workers in Belgrade that now also acts as a hotel. Things have started slowly here but are getting going. We left very early yesterday to get the train to Stuttgart from Kehl. The journey through southern Germany was almost fairytale like with the scenery covered in snow. It wasn’t so great when we got to the airport as the snow held everything up for two hours. Then we got to Belgrade and got the bus in to the city from the airport. We then had a very miserable two hours in the cold, wet and snow trying to find our hotel. We discovered that the address given both by the agency we booked through and by expedia on google searches was actually the address of the 
Railway Ministry (JTO pictured with a train outside the Ministry) and that by using common sense and the description of the place we found it.(Picture of the hotel behind the red and white carriage in the picture, taken from the end of a platform of the station, more than half a kilometre in a direction at a right angle to the Ministry.) Not before we had spent longer than we wanted walking around the area of the Railway Ministry. After we had found the hotel we did some shopping for some toiletries and then went out to the restaurant next door where we had chicken fillet and chips.
It was well cooked simple fare but using lots of fresh ingredients. Afterwards we had a drink in the hotel bar with some of the railway workers staying there too. This morning the shunting of the trains in the yard woke us a few times and, after a search for a cash-point machine, we had a great breakfast in a soviet style restaurant before seeing the parliament building, Albania building and we are now in Republic Square before heading off to find lunch and see the fortress. The people are friendly and good looking but 
Belgrade needs a lot of work doing to it, including some of the buildings where there is evidence of the effectiveness of the taxes I paid on munitions that were used to stop that genocidal nutter, Milosovic.(Picture right showing two buildings with serious bomb damage.)
Tags: European capital, Pictures, weather
20/02/2009 at 23:20 |
Interesting seeing my city through your eyes. Well, in saying my city, it’s the city where my pour mother has brought me into this life and then sent me off at the young age of 18 to the far land of Oz, only to recently have me return back to Europe to live in Strasbourg.
But still somehow my city, with all of its glory as you objectively describe it. Post communist recovery, fuelled with abundant charming arogancy. Hope you enjoyed some of it… Lots of hidden treasures there.
21/02/2009 at 14:00 |
Neil. I am glad you found my account interesting. The second half has been due all week but I hope to post it tomorrow. I am interested you too are in Strasbourg from Oz.
22/02/2009 at 17:22 |
[…] of the Balkans II By theflashingblade When I finished my last piece about the visit to Belgrade we were heading for lunch. We had this at Prolece (pictured below) […]
18/05/2009 at 17:52 |
[…] It was a bit different at sunny and 29C compared to the cold snowy place we arrived at in February. We bought our tickets for the night train to Skopje and then walked into the centre of the city. […]