Thyra Travels: Boozin’ in Belgrade

After a chance encounter, myself, and my friend Chronis from Greece, got a free ride and housing in Belgrade! I wasn’t even planning on entering Serbia, just staying in Bosnia. But, when two random Serbians offered us all this I said: “wait for me!”.

We rode in a little car over the border, only getting pulled over to give a bribe once (a cool 10 euros). On the way to the apartment we stopped to have a family dinner at one of the boy’s parent’s house. We were stuffed like pigs to a slaughter and treated to the best rakija I have ever had. At an ungodly hour we made our way home, and I passed out in my private room at the apartment (luxury!).

Over the next few days, I spent a lot of time exploring Belgrade with Chronis, who left for Budapest after a bit. We walked the whole city, went to an extremely fun international event, and played a lot of charades. After he left, I explored the residential neighborhood we were staying in. I took long walks every day, read my books, and spent time with my host, Milos. We watched movies, started Stranger Things (he had never seen, how!?), and went to the Nikola Tesla museum. I made empanadas one day, which were a huge success, and people started asking ME on the street for directions. Have I become a confident Balkan traveler? Seems so!

It was hard to leave, but I had to go to Croatia to catch my flight for Barcelona. Although the border crossing was fresh hell (four hours waiting), I am UNREAL pumped to see my friend.

T