Ellis and Jodie's Bulgarian Adventure

As we planned our recent trip to Serbia I consulted with TravelAdvisor.com to determine where to stay. The hotel that immediately interested me was Vila Marija, especially since someone I know had given it a very good recommendation. Well, now my own review of Vila Marija has been posted on TravelAdvisor.com. Although we got lost driving into Belgrade (our GPS did not show Belgrade streets), we eventually found the hotel and Igor, the owner was waiting to receive us. We thought we were very late in arriving (due to the heavy traffic on the road) but only the next morning we discovered that Serbia is in a different time zone so were not that late at all. The hotel was very comfortable (10 rooms in total) and it was nice to be able to talk to Igor and his wife, and to see their family. The hotel is not exactly in the center of Belgrade, but we were able to get a taxi to take us there. And there were some very nice restaurants within walking distance of Vila Marija, so plenty of choices ...

On our last day in Belgrade we went to see the Salvador Dali exhibition at the Museum 25th of May. Divine Works contains two of the largest suites of Dali's graphic works: Biblia Sacra (biblical scenes) and Dante's Divine Comedy . The Museum 25th of May, now known as the Museum of Yugoslav History, is also the resting spot of Josip Broz Tito , leader of Yugoslavia's partisans in World War Two and supreme ruler of the country until his death in 1980. Interesting to see at the museum were all the relay race batons presented over the years to Tito by youth groups and municipalities on the 25th of May, which was Tito's birthday. Apparently there are some 20,000 batons in the museum's collection.

Skadarlija Street is a vintage street, possibly the most famous street in Belgrade. The area is considered the city's bohemian quarter. Below is the bakery where we had lunch. Look carefully below. How much of this is real, and how much is a painting on the wall?

Kalemegdan overlooks where the Sava River meets the Danube River. We had seen the Danube in Budapest, and now we saw it in Belgrade as it makes its way towards Bulgaria, where it will serve as the border with Romania before spilling into the Black Sea. The Danube River is the second longest river in Europe.

We visited Belgrade, capital of Serbia. On Saturday morning we took a taxi from our hotel to Kalemegdan , the Belgrade Fortress. The fortress, which overlooks the spot where the Sava and Danube Rivers meet, was originally built in Roman times, but was rebuilt many times over the centuries.

We enjoyed the open market in Niš more than the fortress. Eggs were on sale at different sizes and prices, but you purchased them individually. We got lost trying to drive out of Niš and this led to an extensive tour of the city streets. Finally we saw the sign to Belgrade, and we followed it out of the city and onto the superhighway toll road leading to Serbia's capital.

The Niš Fortress, dating back to the Ottoman rule in the beginning of the 18th Century, was built on the site of earlier Roman, Byzantine and Medieval fortifications. The fortress is one of the most significant and best-preserved fortifications from this period in the mid-Balkans. Besides the entrance gate, all we saw preserved inside was a nice park, and we enjoyed a leisurely stroll there.

Our friends Danny and Leah came to visit us for a week and while they did have a chance to sightsee in Bulgaria, we also went with them for a long weekend in Serbia. We rented a car and Danny and I took turns driving. We crossed the border into Serbia and our first stop was in Niš, the country's third largest city. We had no problems finding the center as our goal was to visit the fortress. Below is the Liberators' Monument, celebrating the victory over the Ottomans towards the end of the 19th Century. In Serbia they speak Serbian, and although there are some similarities to Bulgarian it's quite a different language. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant in the city center. Jodie sat down with some locals (seen below). A signpost in the center didn't explain too much to us. Below, the city center as seen from the fortress walls across the river.

It rained on Saturday in Prague. When we got to the Prague Castle, we felt it was too cold for Daniela to enjoy herself, so some of our party headed back to the Old Town. Merav, Erez and I took a quick tour of the castle. We bravely climbed the 287 very steep steps to the top of the South Tower for an amazing view over the city of Prague. We met up not far from the famous Astronomical Clock for lunch.