Drowning in Sweat Day 2

Today is going to be another scorcher, lucky for us we are doing another walking tour.

We didn’t even set an alarm, but woke up at 8.30am so got dressed and wandered to breakfast. The one thing that I can definitely say is that service is generally terrible here. We gave our room number then sat at a table but there was no sign of anyone and had to go and order two coffees at the bar; neither of us were particularly hungry so we didn’t bother with eggs after that. I helped myself to fruit and some pastries, quickly ate and headed back to the room.

The City Centre walking tour was due to begin at 10.30am, so we packed and headed out via H&M, not for me I might add! We met Zlatan (just like the footballer Zlatan Ibrahimović) at Republic Square. He seemed completely different from the guide yesterday, and much more likeable. We set off on the walking tour which was due to last about 2.30 hours, instead it lasted just over 3 hours and was excellent!

The tour started at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Art whose building was financed by Freemasons, the pyramid on the street outside signalling this too. In fact, there are lots of Masonic symbols all over the city. We then walked towards Belgrade Fortress via a famous Kafana and the Cathedral. A Kafana is literally a cafe, where lots of shady deals and discussions happened; this Kafana was famous because it was called the Kafana beside the Church and was owned by Ivan Pavlovic. The church were not happy with the name as they did not want the church to be associated with dodgy deals and asked for it to be changed. As a temporary solution, the owner put an “?” on the door and that seemed to stick; it is now a Protected Monument of Culture. 

Terrible photo, I promise the Kafana is behind my right shoulder

The fortress was our next stop and where we had a great view of the Sava River and Danube meeting. The Fortress consists of the old citadel and Kalemegdan Park which we also walked through. There is a fountain in the park, and as you walk towards the Kings Gate entrance, there is one interesting thing to note. There is a stone pathway just off the main path, we were advised not to walk on it until we had heard the story. It seems there was a bit of a mix up with grave stones and bodies, so they decided just to put all the bodies in a mass grave; now Serbians like to re-use everything, so they took the tombstones and put them upside down and that was the path. The one thing to notice is that poor Olga was put in the incorrect way, and you can see the writing from hers. No-one would have been any the wiser had it not been for this; we chose not to walk down the path. As you pass the Kings Gate entrance, there is a bunker and a Roman Well which can be visited so we thought we would return later to take a look. There are also lots of other things to do in the fortress including a visit to the Military Museum, the Zoo or the Natural History Museum. 

We were absolutely roasting now, so we walked out of the park and towards the only Mosque remaining in the city. We were told we could enter, but as I wasn’t prepared, I had to borrow a robe. In fact, not even the guide expected it, but he was happy to wait. It was a very small mosque but it is over 500 years old; it also seemed like the men were more welcoming than the women.

Our last stop was Skadarlija street, a vintage street not far from Republic Square. The area we were now in was Partizan Belgrade territory (for all the football fans), and Zlatan pointed out that he was not a fan. There were lots of traditional restaurants with live music  and the streets were cobbled. He recommended a place called Tri Sesora, or Three Hats. It’s a famous restaurant and people like King Juan Carlos of Spain, George Bush, Louis Armstrong and Alfred Hitchcock have dined there. We decided to go for a drink, which then turned into lunch/dinner. The table next to us had something interesting so I tried to ask without seeming rude. They were Serbian, but the guy was great and pointed out what they had. I ordered 3 Hats Cevapi (like Koftas) and Iain had Chicken with Proscuitto with Kaymak (a creamy cheese sauce). Our friends in the table next to us even offered to take a picture when it came! The food was excellent and after finishing our meal, we were serenaded with live music. As we were paying our bill, the waiter asked where we were from, we said Scotland then whisky which seemed to do the trick; he then shouted “Glasgow Rangers,” which then led to him talking to us enthusiastically albeit in Serbian. 

Both of us were full, so decided to walk it off by visiting the Fortress again, but going into the Roman Well and Bunker. It was so hot, and we couldn’t quite remember the way, but eventually got there after snapping at each other we were going the wrong way, and complaining that it was too hot. I’d like to point out it was around 34 degrees, real feel 37 degrees. We went to a ticket office where a grumpy woman told us around the corner; we bought a couple of tickets and walked around the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition which was really interesting. At this point, we just assumed the well and the bunker were included in the price, and it was only when we got to the well that the person said that was not the case. 

So, we paid for entrance to the Roman Well; its neither Roman or a Well, but is actually a cistern. Apparently it started out life as a Jail, and there has been various skeletons of both animal and human. Alfred Hitchcock on a visit here, praised the “ambience”.

As we left the well, we asked about the bunker but that was apparently shut for now. Our next plan was to walk in the opposite direction and visit the Nikola Tesla Museum which was on Iain’s list of things to do. The museum is the final resting place for Tesla and displays some of his life and work. The visit started with a 15 minute video about his life, then we were shown a few exhibits and how they worked. It was quite a quirky museum, but if you do plan to visit, it’s cash only.

All that was left was to wander back to our hotel, it was only 5pm, but we had done over 17000 steps in 33 degrees. We found a stop on the way which served beer and wine, it was called Terrace and would do nicely. We only stayed for one drink before wandering a bit closer to the hotel, here we found a bar called ZuZu and had a couple more drinks, before deciding to call it a night. The area was buzzing and every man, woman, child and their do appeared to be out, maybe Scotland wld be like this if it was warmer?

Next stop was bed, but we needed to get water for our tour the following day, thankfully the supermarket is across the road.