Into Serbia and the beautiful capital of Belgrade

We are in Serbia at Camping Centre Belgrade, a motorhome stop 3kms outside Belgrade centre (N44.81780 E20.50363). Its €10 a night – the owner prefers to be paid in Euros to Dinars, as it holds more value than the Dinar.  For this price we get electric, fresh water, chemical toilet, grey waste. and WI-FI.  The downside is that it is by a busy road but it is the only place available for a motorhome to enable us to visit Belgrade.
Over the border from Romania into Serbia and we need to get used to using the Cyrillic alphabet again, as they use the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet. Plus we have crossed a time zone so we gain an hour - result!

We don’t know much about this country, other than it used to be part of former Yugoslavia but due to the conflicts in the 1990s (ethnic cleansing and civil wars) the country broke up and I think we all remember the war crimes committed by Slobodan Milosovic (Serbia’s president)!

The Serbia sticker added to Sonny (the motorhome) map.

The map is starting to look very colourful

Before coming in to Serbia we spent 6 days in Romania.  The country and the people are lovely.  Since visiting here 6 years ago, we can see a lot of investment into the country, notably by EU money with the signs everywhere showing what the money has been spent on.

We have been lucky to do quite a bit of wild camping in the country and felt so safe.

Following on from my last blog, we left the little village of Bazosu Nou and wanted to get as close to the Romanian/Serbia border as possible.  En route we travelled through Timishoara and thought it would be nice to visit but parking for motorhomes just didn’t seem to exist.  It is Romania’s 3^rd largest town and trying to navigate around the city to find a car parking space turned out to be very stressful, so after 15 minutes of trying we decided to give it up.  As we headed out we spotted 'Shopping City', so we thought why not, we haven’t had any retail therapy in a while.  And what do you know we find a Starbucks in here - coffee time!

Timishoara Shopping City - stretch limo must be a good way to travel here!

From here we found a lovely little wild camping spot for the night in Deta (N45.39361 E21.213114).  Not much to see or do in the town but a very quite and relaxing spot to catch up on paperwork, emails and to do some reading.  Next to us there was a motel, an outdoor and indoor pool and a little café.  No signs of the locals using it though. 

Wild camping spot in Deta

Leaving Romania we used up the last of our Ron/Lei on diesel, as the currency isn't worth exchanging back. Once across the border in Serbia we stopped at a bank to get out some currency – the Dinar.
We had no idea what the rate was but gauged it on the fuel price we saw in a garage and knew it was about €1.20 a litre.  As we only planned to be here 3 days we didn’t want to withdraw too much, so we took out 10,000, which turned out to be only worth €83.68 -  €1 = 119.49 RSD.  Too complicated for our brains to work out the cost to Euro at this rate, so we rounded it up to 120RSD to the Euro - much easier!

The following morning we got the bus into Belgrade with a Dutch couple that are parked up on the camping centre with us.  It appears that the bus drivers don’t take money on the buses and we think you must have to buy a bus ticket centrally somewhere.  The driver was happy to take us right into the centre for free though and we were happy to let him!

First stop Skadarlija – an historic cobbled street in downtown Belgrade.  A Bohemian street where in early 1900s poets and actors used to spend their time drinking and seducing gypsy women.  It is often referred to as the ‘Montmartre of Belgrade’

Sign post in Skadarlija - and yes the way to the moon is up!

Artistic drawings on the buildings of Skadarlija

From here we ambled through the town and to the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral

Serbian Othodox Cathedral in Belgrade

Kalemedgan Park, below the Belgrade Fortress.

And up to the Belgrade Fortress, known as the city’s symbol built on a 125 metre ridge above the confluence of two big rivers Sava and the Danube. It has been destroyed and rebuilt over and over for 16 centuries.

18th Century well of the Fortress, built by the Austrian's

Lots of old military arsenal on display

Random Roman statues and sarcophagus' found at the fortress

In the 1960s and 70s the censorship in Serbia and Yugoslavia was hardened.  During these years the country opened up the perspectives of liberalism, but more often, especially in the field of media and culture applied rigid methods from the early communist periods. This sequestered art is now displayed underground in the bunker at the fortress.

Nebojsa Tower - the largest and best preserved tower of Belgrade's Fortress.  Built around 1460 to defend the entrance to the lower town's port.

We loved this stall selling old books and records in the town

Proving your never too old to be a busker in Serbia!

We loved the city of Belgrade.  It was so refreshing not to see loads of tourist groups and to be able to wander around and soak up the atmosphere of the city, where the people are so friendly.  We enjoyed a delicious Serbian Grill at Tri ŝeŝira (Three Hats) in the Bohemian district of Skadarlija.  Perfect end to a perfect day!

Anyone for a shot!

We move on today towards the border of Croatia and then to Zagreb. 

 Sally x