Below you will find pages that utilize the taxonomy term “Belgrade”
9:10 to Bar
August 17, 2015
Just four days since the last train experience and I was ready for the next one. No overnight trains for me though. Not in the near future. This time it would be a day train, specifically the one to Montenegro (via Užice).
Unlike last Friday I was already tired when I arrived at the station. Thanks to a noisy street in front of the hostel and a bunch of little shitheads in the hostel.
Belgrade at Night
August 16, 2015
The local government doesn’t shy away from spending a few tax dollars on illuminating the city’s shiniest buildings. Good reason to grab the camera and head out for an evening/night walk.
Both of the above buildings are about three minutes walking distance from the hostel. The church below about 15-20 minutes.
Београд
August 15, 2015
As in almost every city on earth, the area near the train station in Belgrade is not the nicest. When I arrived yesterday, short on sleep and covered in stale sweat, I thought I had arrived in some super-dodgy third world country.
That changed though with every meter walked and by the time I was at my hostel (10-12 minutes), I had already come past some nice buildings and people in the street looked normal (i.e. not homeless).
The government buildings are made to show off and are kept in good shape.
At least most of them. Some still show the signs of 1999, when
Noisy Night
August 14, 2015
Vaguely I remember Deutsche Bahn’s advertisement for overnight trains: “Arrive refreshed at your holiday location”, “Save one day of travelling”, etc.
Those reasons and a good experience on a trip to Denmark years ago probably made me decide on the overnight train option.
The journey started well. Turns out when you pay a little extra (and book early enough), you can make the trip from Balaton to Budapest in an airconditioned, reasonably new car. It’s only one car in the whole train but yes, that’s how I like my 21st century!
In Budapest I had about four hours of stopover and with the temperatures once again pushing 40°, I spent quite a bit of it in a mall not far away from the station. Needed to buy a towel anyway.
Fifteen minutes before the scheduled 22:25 departure, the waiting crowd was let onto the platform. Lots of backpackers, some older folks with small luggage. The seater cars we walked by where all in good shape but once we arrived at the 30-40 years old “couchette”, I started to have doubts