Lazy Day in Belgrade & Night Train to Budapest

The next day nothing was open again, just like the day before, because of Communist 3-day labor day celebrations. I resolved to take my book to one of the outdoor cafes on the main pedestrian street, Prince Mikhail, and just take it easy. I had a nice low-key lunch and coffee there, before I strolled ever-so-slowly through the grounds of the Kalemegdan, the ruined Serbian/Ottoman/Austrian fortress that occupies the highest part of Belgrade and is now a great public park. I walked the walls and the grounds of the old fortress, a task that itself took a fair amount of time, before setting up camp on one of the walls dangling my legs over toward the Danube. It was a real pretty location, where the Danube - coming from Budapest, and before that the German Black Forest - meets the Sava - coming from Slovenia and Croatia - and makes a big island in the middle. Kayakers and people were out boating on the river, and from my high perch it was a good backdrop to reading. All sorts of people were taking their holiday in the Kalemegdan and were hanging out, drinking beers, having picnics, etc etc. It was one of those places, like the Tuilerie gardens in Paris, that I would always take my book to if it was in my home town.

I burnt hours there, since there was nothing better for me to do until my night train left Belgrade for Budapest. Speaking of which, I was a little bit anxious for my night train; a ton of people had told me about how cautious you have to be on a sleeper train because random people jump on when the train is stopped and prowl looking for easy theft. However, I lucked out big time in that the train was relatively empty, and although I'd paid for a bed in a room with two or three beds, I was the only person in it. I had the whole thing to myself and, more importantly, could just lock myself in and go to bed. Minus the two passport checks at the Serbian and Hungarian borders, I slept like a baby. Good thing I'd set my alarm, though, because the employee that promised to wake me up when we got to Budapest certainly did not do so. I woke up to my alarm as we were coasting into the station and I had to throw my belongings together, get dressed, and hop off. Found my way to my hostel, checked in, and then - seeing that it was only 5:30 am - settled down for a nap.