Day 65 Rubbel and Ruin!

Friday 25/05/2018 Apartment Danube Tadeuša Košćuška 62b/1, Stari Grad, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia, Beograd, RS

Today is another slow start we are wearing down I think, each day a little slow must come with age I am sure... could go like the clappers when younger, now we go but just a bit of puff is much slower....

Anyway.... off we set after bring pics and diary up to date... not sure which way to head so set off to have a look at the Danube which is actually only a Street or 2 over... when we booked this place it is called as you see above Apartment Danube and on the web the pics show views over the Danube, hence why we picked it.... well like so many marketing their wares these days they embellish their product, just a little to con you in... so yes it us close to the Danube but definitely not able to view it from here....

The walk to the river is past ruined buildings and heaps of graffiti and when we do get there everything is weed over grown or dry and rubbish littered everywhere... to be honest if it had red dirt you’d swear you could be in Bamaga or an aboriginal settlement out west except for some modern buildings... and the further along we go the more modern the buildings with heaps of outdoor cafes and floating restaurants on the river, but with rubbish laying everywhere and weeds abounding even in the raised garden beds that maybe once had flowers but now is dead grass and dead weeds.... so very sad after being in cities who take such pride in their visual appearance..... it actually leaves you feeling a bit hollow without pride in an area... some try, you can see that with balcony flowers in pots here and there... but it’s mainly the streets, parks and waterway thats where some country employs staff to keep it clean.... that’s what makes us think this country must be struggling mightily..

Like Budapest which tells you it’s population is in decline, we read the latest stats for here and over all Serbia, it is in decline more die than are born, the birth rate is at an all time low and many are leaving the country... and yet we are seeing huge numbers of teenagers all very modern... as our day went on I said to John......you could.... pick up the people here and plonk them in Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne and not know the difference... except for language they look just the same as us, with dress and even lifestyle... it’s just a shame they don’t have the passion to make their country look inviting....

So we wander along becoming more depressed I am sure, but eventually find old warehouses turned into upmarket restaurants about 15 or so really very posh......... then we spot the River Cruise Ships moored hence why all the upmarket restaurants are in this spot.... because it looks from the outside like any wharf not very inviting.... we stopped at one for a cuppa as the heat was knocking us around after being in cooler climates for so long... this particular one had a model having a shoot done, with 5 women fussing all over her 2 were the photographers, she changed her outfit 6 times while we were there... but I will say the decore of this place is unreal... like I said you’d think you were in some posh restaurant in Brisbane....

We order a beer, a tea and bruschetta and once again the bruschetta is tasteless... we still can’t figure out how tasteless food can occur when you have all the same things on it... we think this was the cheese..... it had no flavour....we ate it anyway continuing to people and model watched..... restoring our bodies so we could continue exploring the city......

The Cruise ships were very quite all the guests must have been on shore tours... buses were all sitting there to go and pick them up from the look, of it...sadly all around the old warehouses were rubbish, graffiti and dead weeds... a good look for the international tourist to be greeted with...

So on we go up very tall steps to another level of Belgrade’s main area... eventually we find the main part of town and yep looks like any city..... except this one is also filled with heaps and heaps of outdoor cafes... just everywhere you look, a very metropolitan atmosphere..... the normal shops of any city and heaps and heaps of people.. not as many beggars as in Budapest they were everywhere... only noticed a few here and those that were actually looked healthy and well dressed... not sure why they were begging but they all had notes in their hats so the locals must look after their own, like in Asia look after their own also......

By now we had been going a while trying to figure out where we are.. there are Map stands everywhere but not easy to follow... Many, many people speak English here and many, of their signs are in English .......except.... the map signs so it was a challenge trying to figure it out.... We found a Maccas yes.... John finally got a bigggg coffee that tasted normal... we sat out doors and watched the world go by... I am beat today for some reason totally buggard... all this sightseeing is wearing me down.... but revived off we go I am on a mission to find the Skadarlija it was the original Bohemian quarter where many poets, play writes painters and actors congregated in the old days... I forgot to mention while at Maccas about 100 little school children and their teaches all hit Maccas coming from busses that dropped them off..... I had to go inside to buy something and besides the littlies there were people lined up everywhere... but were they efficient .... churning out chips after chips for the little ones and serving the hordes as well and very quickly... not like Germany where they took all day without hardly any customers... very different indeed... plus the kids behind the counters spoke English... very impressed with the whole thing...

On our way to find Skadarlija we passed the main Town hall a beautiful building and had a heap of scaffolding being set up a big group of dignitaries and police out front withTV cameras so guessing something big was about to happen...had our look then out of there as too much going on.... up the street we see another tall interesting building not sure what it is but discover it’s a church a huge church, I take a few outs from the outside then get game and go inside.... How very different, no seats as such, just a huge bug open area less ornate than many we have been in, in Germany and Hungary...very tasteful and serene with some people praying and others on the few chairs that were there on the sides of the walls..... I see a man and a child in a orange, bending low in a prayer but kept bowing 🙇‍♀️, so I just couldn’t figure out what religion it was.... thinking it was maybe a Serbian. orthodox not sure... but after we left we discovered it was called ST Marks..... and further research since has confirmed it as Serbian Orthodox......

It took us a few hours to eventually figure out the street maps but we did find it and yes very different to the rest but now full of tourist restaurants like Lygone Street in Melbourne.... and yes with girls out trying to con you into coming to their restaurant.... we did stop at one at the very end of the street which was very quite and gave us a chance to rest once more and watch the world go by... the side of the street has been in days gone by painted with scenes, but with the years passing and no upkeep, it really is looking worse for ware.... some of the shops look unreal with heaps and heaps of flower boxes...

Once we had another rest, gosh resting a lot today we made our way home... really tired so just had left overs from last night watched a bit of TV then off to bed....Read more