How'd I end up in Serbia?

Here I am, in Serbia, and I seem to recall laughing uproariously with Rachelle about the idea of travelling to Serbia (or was that Bulgaria? Either way, it's odd to be here).

This morning, the bus from Vukovar to Belgrade was supposed to come at 10:45 but it didn’t arrive until 11:15; I was afraid I’d pulled another Slavonski Brod! Why is it that the towns I enjoy the least are the ones that give me so much trouble leaving? Maybe it’s a sign that I haven’t stayed long enough to understand them. (Or maybe my first impressions of them were right, and they’re annoying bastards).

In any case, I was happy when the bus arrived, even though it meant I was leaving Croatia, which is never a happy occasion. But I'll be back.

Just outside Belgrade, we passed a massive shanty town that was as shocking as anything I’ve ever seen. There was so much trash lying around, clothes, furniture, linens, garbage, and in the middle of it were adults sitting and smoking, and kids running around playing. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

The bus ride to Belgrade was a quick three hours, but the walk to the Three Black Catz hostel was the longest hour of my life. I apparently took the scenic route, and I still have no idea how I got there in the end, because I can’t read the Cyrillic street signs or the map! I finally had to ask the Tourist Info where the hostel was, and turns out it’s right off the main square, which I didn’t even know I was standing in when I was in it!

I’ve decided to stay in Belgrade for a few days and take day trips from here, because I can’t be bothered to lug all of my stuff around the country.

After I dropped off my bags, I headed back into the streets. There’s some pretty sweet shopping here (Zara and Morgan de Toi almost made my mouth water!), and I had to take out money before getting amongst it. I took out 10,000 dinars (I’m not exactly sure what the dinar is worth, so hopefully that’s a normal amount to withdraw in a day!). I spent a blissful hour shopping; I decided it was well and truly time to buy some new shoes so everyone will stop looking at my sandalled feet in horror.

I went for a stroll down the main street and was lured into a park by the surreal pink and purple sunset over the Sava (it later dawned on me that the gorgeous haze is actually smog, but nevermind). In the park was the fortress, which I checked out for a little while.

I headed back to the hostel, hung around there for a few minutes and left again. I decided tonight will be my last night there. The guy who runs it, Mladen, is quite nice, but it has that unfriendly European-vibe that I hate and I felt a little uncomfortable there by myself when everyone around me was speaking in different languages. I’m at a restaurant now, about to eat dinner, and after this I'll head right home to bed, and find a new place to stay tomorrow.