Day 9: Sunday 16th October 2022

Start: Sofia, Bulgaria

Finish: Belgrade, Serbia

Currency: Serbian Dinar 1AUD : 74 RSD

Temperature: 4 degrees leaving Sofia, Bulgaria. High of 21 in Belgrade later today.

Hello my literary friends!
This morning we were up at 6.45am for breakfast before bags to bus and departure at 8am. The bus is bigger than our last one and the group consists of 41 travellers. Breakfast was good, with a wide selection of fresh fruits, meats, cheeses as well as the usual breads and pastries. We said a quick goodbye to the members of the group who were finishing up with us before heading out and loading the bus.

It took only an hour to get to the Serbia/Bulgaria Border. So by 9.15am we were in the queue for our passport checks at the border to exit Bulgaria. On the other side of the border we queued to enter Serbia. After border crossing, we stopped at a service station for a quick bathroom break. There were a couple of options for snacks and hot beverages and the bathrooms were clean.

Another few hours drive and we arrived at our ‘long comfort break’. The truck stop had a couple of cooked lunch options but most of us chose to skip lunch and wait for dinner, snacking on our packed foods from the hotel breakfast.

We arrived in Belgrade in the early afternoon, watching the brown and grey buildings from Communist rule filter across the skyline, once again punctured occasionally by more modern glass and steel buildings. The Hotel Abba is home for the night with well sized rooms and great bathrooms. The only thing we laughed about was the ‘privacy blind’ on the large glass bathroom window which is controlled from the outside of the bathroom. We had a good giggle watching it go up and down, exposing the entire bathroom to the rest of the bedroom.

Refreshed and ready to go, we jumped on the bus before being dropped into the city for a walking tour of the centre of Belgrade with our new guide Bojan. Large gardens expand throughout the city, fringed with cafes and cobblestone walkways adorned with shopping centres. Armed with a little microphone headset, Bojan walked us around the fortress where we took in several buildings and structures of significance. We also walked across a bridge with several defunct military vehicles including tanks and anti-aircraft missile launchers were displayed. In one of the main streets we also drove past buildings which were almost levelled during the NATO bombings in the 90s, which really brought home how much trauma the city has experienced in the past 30 years.

When we were released for free time, a couple of us decided to find somewhere for dinner, seeing as it was 5pm by this time (and back in Bulgaria it was 6pm). We settled in at the Restaurant Mihailo and ordered a variety of dishes from the daily menu including pickled cabbage salad, pork steaks, beef goulash and a ‘burger’ which was mostly a large hamburger patty and chips.

Pron: Mack-e-a-donea – not Mas-e-donia according to our Serbian guide.

 Tips:

Accommodation: The Hotel Abba, Belgrade, Serbia.