Our first stop was Sveti Sava, the world's largest Serbian Orthodox Church, or at least that's what it will eventually be. It was started in the 1930s, but construction was interrupted by WWII, communism, and the 1990s war. So, it's still being built, which means you can go inside and take all the photos you want! (If you can breath through all the dust.) Green marble adorns the walls of this domed building, which should be quite nice when complete. Altars have been set up and people use them to pray. One thing that really struck me was the police man stationed inside the church in a security booth. His booth was not to the side of an entrance door, rather it was located against a wall under the center dome. I had never seen that in a place of worship. It's one thing to have security inside church grounds, it's another to have him in the middle of the church.
Outside the church we walked by the national library (on the same plaza) and stopped at the fountain. We spotted a girl wearing a bathrobe and slippers, which was bizarre to see in a city where fashion is highly regarded.
To get to the center of the city (the more touristy area), we tried to take a bus. I paid the man with a 200 dinar note (about $3US), but he didn't have 40 dinars to give us as change. He said something to us in Serbo-Croat and we tried to explain that we were American and had no idea what he was saying. Luckily a woman was able to translate and help us. She told us to ride the bus anyway and that she would tell the control man why we had no ticket if he was to get on and search. She taught English at a university and Spanish at a high school. Her English was great and she took us to the street we were trying to find. She also explained that people in Belgrade work from 9am-3pm or 3pm-8pm which is why there were so many people on the buses at that time. She was wearing green heels, tight jeans and a black sweater with a v-neck in the back. Her bag and huge necklace were green as well. She was so fashionable, especially for a teacher on her way home from work. (I was wearing my army green parachute pants that are way too big on me - for the third day in a row.)
Anyway, she guided us to the Knez Mihailova, a pedestrian street, where we used the internet to book a room in Sofia and look up the location of every MANGO in Belgrade and Sofia. The cafe was located in a bookstore which was full of books in English as well as Serbo-Croat (in both Latin and Cyrillic letters). We browsed and found tons of familiar books in Cyrillic - I took pictures, the guard got angry and yelled at me in Serbo-Croat.
We tried to find the MANGO on the pedestrian street, but it had been moved to a new mall across the river. Instead of shopping, we ate popcorn and people-watched while sitting on a planter in the middle of the street. Many people were dressed to the nines in bizarre outfits which incorporated patterned tights, midriff-bearing shirts, and super high heels. We laughed at the ridiculous color combinations as I tried to photograph as many people as I could.
We walked to the end of the street and up into the Kalemegdan, a former fortress and now a park. I explored while my mom rested on a bench. I was most excited to climb to the highest point of the fortress and look out over the Danube River. The park was filled with people, mostly locals. Again, we did some more people-watching, spotting things like combination ballet flat-espadrilles......so ugly.
Exiting from the park, we decided to have an early dinner (we hadn't really eaten lunch and our breakfast was on the bus at 7am). We chose another Lonely Planet place, which the woman at tourist info had recommended. At Tratoria Kosova, an Italian restaurant near the center of Belgrade, I ate more cabbage salad (!!!) and seafood risotto while mom had a lettuce salad and gnocchi. Then we went across the street to a grocery store to stock up on snacks. We were afraid we wouldn't have enough dinars to get back to the bust station, so Mom charged $2US worth of water, fruit and candy.
It was still early, so we walked around a bit more. We spotted a woman with a MANGO back and asked her where the store was. Thank goodness she understood English because I'm pretty sure we freaked her out. Unfortunately she told us the store was far away, on the other side of the river. We continued along, stopping to look at the Hotel Moskova (Moscow) and a fountain outside it. Then we went in search of ice cream. I wanted coffee, which was not going to happen, so I settled for a fruit flavor (I should have gotten chocolate). This was probably the most difficult communication experience of the trip.....I wanted my ice cream in a cup. They didn't have proper ice cream cups, so instead I had it in a drinking cup and had to eat it with two straws. My mom wanted her ice cream in a cone. This was possible (and the preferred method for serving), but I didn't realize that I had to pay for the cone. It wasn't a lot of money, I was just confused. The woman kept pointing to a sign written in Cyrillic expecting me to somehow magically understand that the sign said the ice cream is one price, the cone is extra. I couldn't figure out why they priced it this way if they basically only offer cones (my cup request caused a bit of a commotion).
Back at the train station, we decided to brush our teeth and get ready for bed before boarding. Mom went first to the bathroom while I watched our stuff. When it was my turn, I walked over there brushing my teeth. The guy was really confused and acted like I was a complete freak for brushing my teeth in public...the nerve of me! Anyway, I finished brushing, used the Turkish toilet and was washing my face when the guy comes into the bathroom to wash his hands. Of course, the first thing through my mind is, "Oh shit, I'm in the men's room!" No, no, no. I was in the women's bathroom. I confirmed this by pointing to myself and pointing next door (to which he replied, "no"). I was pretty sure I had picked the right one because I chose the one with the "z" on the door and the Serbo-Croat word for women begins with a z when written in Latin letters.
The man kept repeating a word which sounded like "serbieski" and pointing to himself. He would shake his head, say "no serbieski" and point to me, and then shrug his shoulders. This went on for three or four rounds before I realize that he was asking me where I was from. I told him America, washed my hands and got out of there.
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