Cigarettes and Alcohol

I apologize for the generalization, but I think smoking and drinking summarize what Belgrade has to offer. I don't do either, so my brief stay here was a bit uneventful...

The overnight train from Ljubljana passed through Zagreb (Croatia) on its way to Serbia. Hence, I got woken up 4 times throughout the night for border control. Not very pleasant, but at least I got my passport finally stamped : ) Plus, I had the whole compartment to myself!

I had no clue what to expect of Belgrade. I've heard the name on the news a lot in the past, but nothing more. I don't even think I've ever seen pictures of the place. I only came to Belgrade because I needed a place to break my journey from Slovenia to Romania.

So...The station appeared old and run-down, but fine. I had no clue where to head from there though. ALL of the signs were written in Cyrillic (something that never entered my mind...) !!! Unfortunately, my guide book translated all the street names into the English alphabet, so I couldn't get my bearings straight. Standing at the street corner, I ran into another girl as confused and lost as I was; we decided to stick together and head into the city center. Which turned out to be very easy with the helpful locals who read out the street signs whenever we needed directions.

Once I dropped off my bags at the hostel (overnight train = too early to check in), I headed out to explore whatever Belgrade had to offer. Honestly, not much. The main tourist attraction, Kalemegdan Citadel, turned out to be just a huge park where people smoke, play chess, or sit around.
This viewpoint ("eye") was supposed to have great views...but of nothing special, I realized.Being the nerd that I am, I wanted to check out the Tesla Museum later in the day. I took a loooooong walk to the other side of the city, only to witness its absence. Sigh.

Anyways, about the cigarettes and alcohol...It seems like they are the favorite pass time. Everyone does it everywhere incessantly. I hate breathing in smoke from someone walking in front of me! I can't stand eating with smoke either. And they even allow it in the hostels!!! The drinking too. Some of the people in my hostel were playing drinking games in the common room until daybreak!!! I was EXTREMELY annoyed, but too tired to walk out and smash their heads. I don't understand why people travel just to smoke & drink, especially when you end up wasting the whole entire day with a hangover the next day... You can do that back home, no???

The MacDonald in Serbia is great though, even with the smoking! They had a bunch of flat screen TVs on the walls, where I was able to watch the Olympic gymnastics for a couple of hours :)

Oh, and I did get a hold of that contact lens solution. Not the brands I'm used to seeing, but it was made in the Netherlands, so should be fine.