Train due in 6:19 a.m. but arrived about 40 mins later than scheduled but I had read this was likely so no surprises. (Our walking tour guide later today told us he took this train 15 years ago and it came in 8 hours late …).
Should have taken a bus (even with my # arm) as we paid 10€ for a taxi which was a lot for not very far. But somewhat ameliorated by our accommodation offering us free breakfast on arrival which was very nice. We lingered over breakfast - out on the balcony in the nice sunshine - and so we were able to do our airline check-ins with the free wi-fi in a civilised fashion. Can forget the €10 taxi for now - take the good with the bad.
And our room became available early - AND I had the BEST shower I’ve had in 2 weeks!
I had booked a walking tour for 3 pm as I knew we’d need a focus for the day after coming in early on the overnight train.
We set off for the Botanic Gardens but these were closed due to an event.
Nearby was a pub, locals lounging at sidewalk tables under trees - it looked very relaxing so we managed to get a vacant spot and got out of the sun. It is hot. About 28 deg C.
We walked on to the Black Sheep Icecreamery (Crna Ovca) we had visited last time we were here. Yum. Then off to Revolution Square to meet our guide. A group of 6.
Very hot so good thing it is an UNDERGROUND tour!
Stefan is a very good guide and this is a very different experience to the one we had when we first arrived here a bit over a month ago with Nebojša, the nationalist in favour of a return to the greatness of Yugoslavia.
So we follow Stefan with his bright yellow umbrella from the Republic Square along the main pedestrian thoroughfare Knez Mihailova to the Belgrade Fortress.
We visit the Roman well and Stefan tells plenty of interesting stories about it. It was built at the beginning of the 18th century, during the baroque reconstruction of the fortress and is 51m deep, 3m in diameter and has two spiral staircases that connect at a depth of about 35 m forming a DNA-like shape - like the one in Orvieto, Italy. Alfred Hitchcock visited the well in 1964 and said that an environment like that was always a treat for him...
Close by, we visit a military bunker built in the mid-50s, the period of the Cold War. The bunker was never used for its original purpose.
We walk down from the fortress and through the very nice Kalemegdan Park along the Sava River. I enjoy seeing the fortress from a different perspective: looking up; and we walk much of its perimeter.
Nice bike path near the river:
This brings us to the Austrian gunpowder storehouse also known as Barutana which is a man-made cave, built in the 16th century. Here in the Lapidarium is quite a display of Byzantine and Roman sarcophagi, gravestones, statues, sacrificial altars and tombstones.
Finally we visit a cavern in which the food was stored and a wine cellar from the 19th century - and we get a glass of pretty ordinary white wine … I have a taste but go for the coca cola option. Good tour.
Walked through the Stari Grad (Old Town); stopped enroute at one of the many sidewalk bars. The heat of the day is starting to dissipate and there is a nice breeze. My feet are exhausted.
Stop by a sidewalk pasta bar where we get 2 bowls for 9€. Amazing. Yummy too.
Nice walk back to the hotel in the evening light.
There is a supermarket near our hotel - a tube of 20 effervescent Magnesium tablets is about $A1.50 (Chemist Warehouse back home: $A4 for 10).
Walked 12.7 kms.
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