Second Day in Belgrade

We just got up, it’s about 9, sleeping late, staying up late.  Once we’re with the Stanford tour, we’ll have to start setting the alarm clock.  Today Les has promised us a driving tour of the outer areas of Belgrade.  Yesterday, Les took us by his apartment which is about a ten minute walk from our hotel.  Our hotel is in the center of town, so his apartment is pretty much in the heart of Belgrade.  It’s on a tree lined street, unfortunately a little graffiti spoiled, with cars lined up on the roadside (just like in San Francisco).  He’s on the second floor, in a partially renovated 1200 or so square foot apartment with a nice kitchen he barely uses, new furniture, his office where he works his tax magic, great lighting and some nice custom closets, a couple of extra bedrooms.  It’s a comfortable place, but on the fourth floor up a long winding and uneven staircase.  Les and Tijana just got back from a trip to some Croatian island, where they brought back samples of a nice Croatian white wine, which we got to taste.   Les and Larry and I then went back to the hotel where we had a little late supper at the hotel restaurant, which serves quite elegant food, a pleasant change from the meat and French fries we’ve been consuming.  I had asparagus soup and fruit salad.

Tijana lives in her own apartment, with her two young daughters.  Jelena, Les’s ex-wife, is also in the neighborhood.  (Marko lives with her.). It’s a complicated life, but it seems to work out pretty well for them all.

Did I mention that Marko, Les’ son, is going in August to study computer science in a program in the Netherlands, in Delft?  Larry and I have visited Delft.  It was a charming city, and most of the Netherlands is charming too, full of bicycles and bridges and canals.

Well, Larry’s getting up and dressed, so I can get some breakfast.  I think we’ll skip the hotel breakfast today, and find some coffee out in the city.

Quick Update

Watching the sunset on the Danube with Les, Marko and Larry
The Three Guys

The Sunset

Some Adventures in Belgrade

Les took us on a tour of Belgrade this afternoon.  We walked down the pedestrian shopping street and into the old fortress area, really a big park with exterior and interior brick walls leading to the center of the complex behind REALLY thick walls and gates with a beautiful view of the Saba River and the Danube, where the rivers flow together.  You can see the clear water mixing with the browner siltier water.  

We met Tijana Les’s significant other and had drinks and lunch.

She is really nice.  Les is lucky to know her.  Then Marko, Les’ 19 year old son, came, but I forgot to take a picture of him.  I will tonight because we are all going to meet up again to see the waterfront of the Danube and have dinner.  He is going to study computer science in Delft in the Netherlands, starting in August.

Les speaks Serbian really well, it is so cute to listen to him having long conversations in Serbian.  He seems to know a lot of people in Serbia, too.  At the cafe next to the tennis courts where Les used to play, the owner greeted him and us warmly and brought over some sausages and pita bread to go with the drinks.  Larry is continuing to sample brandies.  

Now we are back at the hotel, and Larry has fallen asleep.  We will soon go out again!  

Meeting Les in Belgrade

Snacks and drinks in old town

Our hotel in Belgrade is located right next to the National Theatre and across from the big National Museum on the Republic Square.  The museum has an extremely long line of folks waiting for entrance.  Apparently, it has just reopened after being closed for fifteen years!  I don’t think we’ll get into see the pictures unless we’re prepared to wait a very long time.  Les met us at the airport in his beautiful Mercedes and drove us into the old town to our hotel with a running commentary on the town he’s lived in for 16 years.  The hotel is modern with a beautiful first floor bar and breakfast room with windows overlooking the museum.  We both slept well last night despite the nine hour time difference.  Les took us on a walk on the balmy summer evening around the Belgrade University buildings and student park, and down the pedestrian shopping street where we stopped for a traditional Serbian appetizer plate and drinks, plum brandy for Larry, Montenegro beer for Les and me.  Notable on the appetizer plate was a substance Les says Serbia is famous for, a kind of clotted cream that tasted to me just like butter (but Les assured me it was better than butter).  Later on in the hotel bar, we had Serbian red wine and then retired for the night.  This morning we had the hotel breakfast, unhealthy pastries, thin coffee.  I wonder if we could do better somewhere else?  Prices are low in Belgrade, a dinar is about a penny, and our lovely glasses of red wine last night were only about 450 dinars, $4.50.  But I don’t think the breakfast is a bargain.  Larry has just pointed out to me that we should be drinking espresso, not filtered coffee.  Les says he sleeps late, so we’ll give him a call soon.  We need our tour guide!

Arriving in Istanbul

The flight is almost over.  Business class on Turkish airlines is pretty nice although I would feel churlish complaining about anything.  The flight left at 6:15 and I was asleep and well fed by 8.  I woke up around four am when the lights came on in the cabin and the flight attendants started serving breakfast.  We’re now being asked to return to our seats “due to weather conditions.”

Business class dinners are quite prolonged,  and I can’t remember the last time I was able to make it through all the courses.  Last night I ate a lot of shrimp appetizers,  zucchini soup and swordfish,  with white Turkish wine from Cappadocia.  The attendant brought me a quilt to attach to the seat and another to nestle under,  and with a narrow but flat bed to sleep on I had pleasant dreams lulled to sleep by the restful melody called “airplane cabin.”  Usually I sleep to “wind in the trees” but jet engines are also soothing.

I couldn’t eat much breakfast.  Larry appears to be doing fine,  except for a telltale smear of chocolate ice cream on his shirt.  We will land soonish in Istanbul,  then transfer to a plane to Belgrade.  Larry says he’s doing just fine, thank you. 😊

Now it’s a bit later and we’re waiting on the Turkish Airlines plane to take us to Belgrade.  The plane is full of a sports team in turquoise shirts all of whom seem to be about seven feet tall.  The descent into Istanbul was really interesting.  Looking out my window I saw the emerald coast bays which Larry and I explored in a gulet back in 2016 and then the thousands upon thousands of apartment buildings and hundreds of boats leaving white trails in the water.  The Istanbul airport is very small and crowded.  All the planes seem to park out on the tarmac and passengers are transported in buses.  It was really hard to move around in the terminal because of the crowds,  but walking distances were short. I bought a couple bottles of water and a plate of three little pistachio baklavas!  After all,  we were in Turkey,  albeit briefly.

It looks like we get a nice dinner on this flight, too.  Larry says he’s tired.  Unlike me,  he didn’t sleep enough last night on the plane.

Trip to Belgrade, Budapest and Danube

http://carolscruise.blogspot.com/2018/06/trip-to-belgrade-budapest-and-danube.html

There used to be a nice introduction here, but Blogger seems to have misplaced it.

But yes, our adventure started.

A Picture with a Caption

A photo of Kathy, Carolyn and me enjoying halibut in Seattle