DAY 4 6/17 Budapest-Belgrade
We woke up in Budapest and went to sleep in Belgrade. After a hearty breakfast in Pest, we hit the streets of Buda to explore the historical buildings. I really liked this city when I was first here and I loved it the second time, too. We didn't do much except wander through the imperial buildings and look at the views of Pest across the river. By noon, we were ready to move on. The drive between the two cities only took a few hours and the Serbian boarder was not that much of a hassle. Serbia was the only country that we didn't have insurance for so we expected to buy 2 days worth at the boarder. We went into buy insurance and were promptly told that we must buy 1 months worth, as there is no daily coverage. Being a Sunday, of course, there was only one option and you really don't want to argue with a Serb at the boarder, especially when they were keeping Dan's passport until we could provide proof of insurance. I still think it was a scam but we shelled out the 125 Euros, retrieved the passport and were on our way. Except I was prohibited from driving, as Dan forgot to add my name to the insurance.
Of all the countries we visited, the Serbians are by far the worst drivers and had the worse roads (until we got into Bulgaria). On a two lane road, they would overtake in the middle, irrespective of oncoming traffic, which is slightly unnerving, especially when one is driving a backwards car. The landscape was littered with farms and not much else. After a few hours, we pulled into the chaos that is Belgrade. I didn't like Belgrade the first time I was there and I was not exactly won over the second time around, either. Through the Catalhoyuk project, we know several people who live in Belgrade that we were hoping to meet up with. But that was obviously not meant to be. Mira was out in the countryside; Slobo had left that morning; Marina was working in Greece and Betsa was asleep all day and had her phone switched off, forgetting this was the day we were arriving. I eventually called another Serbian friend in London and had her contact Betsa's parents who then called our hotel. A bit of a circuitous route but it worked and we met up with Betsa, albeit at 11:15pm. Sigh. I don't think I was meant to like that city, no matter how much I tried. At least it didn't rain this time.
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