Lazy Belgrade Day...
What a great sleep! With individual comforters and a memory foam bed, we really created a nest. With the foggy/rainy day before us, it was a great time to catch up on sleep! This flat is quite small, but amazing… I’ll add photos tomorrow of the clever use of space. Took us a bit, but we finally encouraged each other to get up and start the day…
With our list in hand, we walked up the street outside our apartment. Crossing Republic Square, we saw the statue of Prince Mihailo (Prince Michael Obrenovic III). Time for me to get studying the history of Serbia…
This was a time we really wished we knew Serbian… the photos on display in the square were very moving. Children in uniform, military heroes… So, I asked my friend, Tanja, who is originally from Serbia. She sent a link that explained about the country being liberated from Germany with the help of Soviet Red Army, Yugoslav Partisans and Bulgarian Army.
Onward to check items off our list… this is the first Starbucks we’ve seen since we left. Timing was excellent because I forgot to pack my French Press. We usually take it everywhere… and the one youngest son Corey gave me is easy to pack! What was I thinking?!?! Knowing we would find one in this store, we walked straight up to it and waited in the long, long line!
Walking the pedestrian area, we noticed it was comprised of not only shops on both sides but also in kiosk-type booths down the center. Many have handmade wares, which is quite tempting to me. I’d love to take things home with me but we have no space and we are absolutely not allowed to check a bag because we can’t go to customs in Frankfurt.. as long as we stay in the gate area, we are good to go. So, we will do what is necessary to be able to travel!
By now, I am probably driving Barry crazy! Everything is picture worthy in my eyes… we can barely walk two feet and I am stopping to capture a moment, a statue, and building. As mentioned by our driver, Milos, there is such a mixture of architecture in Belgrade. All of the historical eras are represented.
It’s seriously impossible to get from Point A to Point B with me… we walk along together and suddenly Barry realizes I’m no longer with him… I’m fifty feet back taking a photo of something that caught my eye! Half the time, it’s an odd sign or a flower… the walkway… items in a store window… you just never know what will stop me!
Ever curious… we couldn’t help but notice stairs/escalators on some of the corners. Was it a subway? Metro? nope… and underground world of shops. These passageways are convenient for crossing the busy streets. Seems I always get disoriented on the opposite side of the street. When I walk out of the tunnel, every single time, I turn the wrong way. Today we ended up far from where we intended!
Passing this wall art, I noticed recognizable words (rare these days). “George Orwell”. So I stopped and took a photo so I could “Google Translate” and figure out what it was about. Here is the quote,
“Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”
I’ll just chew on that for a bit…
Always a good sign… a comforting sign when we see this! We know our apartment is just around the corner! When you get way off track from your intended destination, it’s a relief to get back to somewhere familiar. We ended going out one more time for a couple more items and a bite to eat.
With a short break in the rain, we made a run for it… umbrella in hand! Love the wet streets and the reflection of lights. This is a great city! Love the sights, the sounds and the smells…
Not quite sure about the significance of the light pattern on this building. It caught my eye last night but I didn’t have my phone or camera. On a side note, we walked nine miles today… just wandering the streets and getting familiar with our new neighborhood. It really didn’t feel like we walked that much because there was so much to see!
Finally back to home, sweet home… Tonight, the clouds hover over the buildings. I love the lights dancing in the foggy clouds. Wet streets. People singing. Actually… the people have been joyfully singing songs for a couple of hours. No one seems to notice the rain… Tomorrow we expect one last day of rain and then some nice weather. We have oodles of suggestions from our friend, Tanja, as to what we can do… what not to miss… where to eat… drink coffee… have cocktails. Our own virtual travel advisor! Until tomorrow…
