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Belgrade

Our last night in Budapest we were a little tired and cranky. We had no hostel and a train around midnight to catch so we had nothing to do. It was cold at the train station, but we tried to sleep.

Our night train was too short, so we were tired when we arrived in Belgrade, Serbia.

I've noticed that when taking trains one usually sees the worst parts of a city beside the railroad tracks. This was especially true in Belgrade where we saw areas filled with little shacks and piles of trash where gypsies were living.

We only intended to spend the day in Belgrade as we had a night train planned to Montenegro. Therefore, we had no hostile to stay at. Getting off the train at 6am in Belgrade we were tired and a bit intimidated.

Belgrade is definitely not as tourist-friendly as Budapest. There is a lot of work left to do.

We attempted to book a hostel so we could rest for the morning even, but the hostel was a bit unfriendly and so we decided just to walk to the main sight in the city, which was the Kalamegdan Fortress.

Luckily for us the sun started shining and it was a great day. We spent all of it sitting in the park at the fortress: reading, napping, and taking pictures.

I felt a bit like a homeless person sleeping in the grass with my backpack, but I was so tired that I didn't care.

The views from Kalamegdan were beautiful of the Danube and the Sava rivers crossing. The fortress was from when Belgrade was a Roman city.

I always find these old fortresses interesting. They went to such great lengths to build these protected cities up on the hills. It's really quite amazing to imagine all of the work that went into it.

This statue is called the Pobednik, which means the Victor in English. It was erected after WWI and placed at the Kalamegdan Fortress instead of in the Republic Square where the statue of the rider is because people complained about the nudity.

Mike thought it was neat that there were so many old men playing chess in the park and I really enjoyed a chance to eat some baklava!

That night we asked for directions to a movie theater and then watched The Rocker because it was the only movie they had in English. It was kind of lame but cute and it killed time.

In the end, we felt lucky that our day had gone so well, but we were happy to board our train that night and say goodbye to Belgrade.

***edit*** Mike tells me that we saw the movie in Budapest. Apparently this vacation has all become a blur to me because it was so long!

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Budapest

In a panic, we hurried to the train station to catch our train to Prague and start our ten day adventure. We had just gotten married that morning in a brief ceremony, and spent the day packing and preparing for our trip. It really hadn't hit me yet that we were actually married.

We had both begun to worry about this trip that I had largely planned. Would we make it to all the destinations, or would we be too exhausted from all of the travel and nights in trains? Would we still be able to stand each other at the end of it all?

In Prague we switched to a night train. It was quite different from the one we took to Zurich last Spring: it was pretty uncomfortable and also had four other beds, which meant that strange people might be sleeping with us. This particular sleeping car did not have me very excited about the prospects of many more nights on a train.

Luckily, the train was not crowded and nobody came in. I slept fitfully on the hard beds as the train rocked and made several stops. Mike slept like a baby because he loves riding in trains.

When we arrived in Budapest we started walking to the hostel I had booked. I hoped it wouldn't turn out to be a dump, but with hostels it's quite a gamble and I guess for 11 euros per night, per person, I shouldn't complain.

The hostel turned out fine, they were friendly and they had free internet and goulash for dinner so we were satisified. But I was a little wary of sleeping in the dorm room with other people.

We put our valuables in a locker and headed out for a meal and to see some of Pest, which is the side of the river that we were on. Mike made me promise not to tell anyone how many times we ate at McDonald's during our trip so I will omit that information (I've never been adventurous with food and in a foreign place seeing something familiar and predictable is very comforting!).

To get to the subways you had to take these long escalators down, and they were the longest and steepest I have ever seen in my life! It actually scared me a little because it felt like falling and you could feel the rush of wind when the subways went through.

We then took an hour long boat tour on the Danube. Unfortunately it was terribly cold on the river, but we got to take some pictures.

When we came back to our hostel for a nap because I had not slept very well on the train, the girl informed us that she had overbooked the hostel. But instead of it being bad news for us, it was actually pretty good because she moved us to a private apartment two minutes away.

I want to note that in Budapest nearly everyone spoke English, so it was very easy to get around.

The next day we went to the Buda side of the river and saw the Buda Castle. It was quite a climb up the hill, but there were beautiful views of the city and we had great weather.

There was a construction site where they were restoring some of the surroundings of the castle and hiding in the rubble we saw five little kittens.

Lately my heart melts whenever I see cats, I have become such a sap. Luckily I didn't have to feel sad about these kitties because they looked well fed and happy. I was also dealing with the guilt of leaving my kitty at home alone for the trip!

I actually really liked Budapest. I am starting to like these eastern European cities because I think they are interesting and beautiful. It's really fascinating, the juxtaposition of the old and new, the ugly and the beautiful. I'd like to go back to Budapest and I would highly recommend it for other travelers.

Next on our trip we took a night train to Belgrade, Serbia...

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