Ninja turtles, Jedi’s and naked baby aliens

At some point the fun has to end, and both of us have to go back to our regular lives at home. When I say regular life I talk about the flight I have to catch the 18th of April from Copenhagen, so that I can play Reykjavik Open. Anyhow we had only planned 12 countries on our 20-day trip, and since we managed to do all of them, it must now be the time to go “home”… my 15 hours bus ride awaits and here comes a blog post about our last three stops in central Europe: Vienna, Bratislava and Prague!

A funny sign

A funny sign

Huge Wiener Platz
We had just had a huge schnitzel in a nearby restaurant and were getting ready to leave:

  • Lokander: “Should we tip?”
  • Ellen: “I can barely afford the food and much less to pay for someone else’s!”
  • Lokander: “We should tip”
  • Ellen: “Fine I will leave the 8 Leks and 5 Kune I have in my pocket”

Lokander later referred to that as: “the cheapest tipping he had ever experienced”. I just explained that it was tipping on budget and something is always more than nothing! Nonetheless Vienna is not a cheap city to stay in, and I had a hard time adapting to the fact that a meal and a beer no longer was cheaper than a pack of gum bought in Sweden. What to see in Vienna:

  1. The National Library is really worth stopping by. The whole building is wonderful and both Martin and I enjoyed a long relaxing pause in the park (approximately 10 minutes, we did not have time for more). I have to say, that I could really see myself sitting on a bench with a book outside of this library the whole summer… If I lived or studied in Vienna.
  2. The Historical Art Museum: “Three hundred years ago Maria Theresa was born in Vienna. In 1740 she succeeded her father, Emperor Charles VI, the last male Habsburg ruler, in what were difficult times. Almost all the European powers waged war against her, believing that the young woman would not be able to hold on to her crown. How wrong they were: Maria Theresa became one of Europe’s greatest rulers and mother of sixteen kids”. The Historical Art Museum in Vienna was more than just a museum; they had signs all over the museum marking important women through history and called for feminism. I love it. Here I also had the chance to shine (bore Martin to death) with my extra knowledge from ancient history classes about ancient sculptures from Greece: Archaic, Classic and Hellenistic sculptures and their features… I probably only remember this because my teacher refused to give me the highest grade at my exam, and I subconsciously still know that I f***ing deserved it! The four Ninja Turtles also became a topic, but I gave up when Martin said he did not know what “The Ninja Turtles” was or who they were named after. Come on, how should it otherwise be possible to remember the most famous renaissance artists: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Rafael and their work!? Nevertheless the whole museum is stunning both on the inside and outside. In the end, Martin did not even regret paying the 15-euro entrance fee.Archaisk, Classic and HellinistikArchaic, Classic and Hellenistic 
  3. The Votive Church you cannot miss even if you want to. This neo-gothic church really wraps up the city and once again underlines how spectacular the architecture of Vienna is.

I ended up getting the most amazing dress at a random store we passed by on the way home. As mentioned earlier I was on budget, but once again I was happy to have the love and support from family and friends, when I needed it the most (it is referring to the dress) 😉

The Historical Art Museum. Theres is an exact copy of the building if I turned the camera around. That would be the The Natural History museum.

The Historical Art Museum. Theres is an exact copy of the building if I turned the camera around. That would be the The Natural History museum.

The garden in front of the National Library, which can be seen in the background

The garden in front of the National Library, which can be seen in the background

The city hall - this is also the place where Vienna Open is played!

The city hall – this is also the place where Vienna Open is played!

Naked baby alien
Wow, I really do not know what to say. I barely remember the city of Bratislava since the people we met were so strange. I mean the beautiful castle completely faded in the light of the weirdness being emitted from the “Downtown Backpacker Hostel”. Before I tell this story I have to say, I am not a racist and I have a high weird-tolerance:

  • Martin and I had just received our keys for the room and were preparing to leave the bags and go out and see something. When we walk through the door to the “Van Gogh” room we were met by the sight of a Muslim man from Senegal who was praying. We both said hello and sorry for disturbing and walked past him in silence. The man did not say anything but just starred at us in anger before he continued praying. At this moment another person who lives in the room walks in and accidently steps on his prayer rug (the rooms at hostels are very small, it clearly was an accident). The Muslim man gets extremely angry takes his mat and continues praying outside of the room while watching videos of people screaming??? I later learned that this man sold wood (voodoo) figures for a living. At first I felt bad for being scared of this man, since he was black and Muslim, but as Lokander said, it had nothing to do with his skin-colour or religion, but the fact that his behaviour was extremely strange, nevertheless all of his brothers were nice! I ended up changing room, but mainly because everybody said he snored awfully loud. I left Lokander behind.

This was just the beginning. After we both had quickly walked down the stairs and outside the hostel, we decided to grab some food, see some sights and maybe take a beer. The first two ideas were great, the later… I do not know what to say:

  • I had talked to an Italian guy, who wanted us to have a beer with him and his American friend. Lokander and I agreed and went to the hostel bar. At first everything seemed quite “normal”, but as the conversations went on, it really took a surprising turn. The American guy became completely obsessed with psychoanalysis and chess players and started asking the weirdest questions I have ever heard:
    “If chess players had to play naked in a tournament, do you think it would affect their performance?
    “Imagine chess players holding a baby while playing. How many would drop the baby, when seeing a winning move and having to perform it?”
    “Aliens are arriving at earth. They cannot communicate in language or writing. Do you think chess would be a suitable game to use for communication?”

I was completely speechless. The last thing he said to us when we left the hostel in the morning was:

“Naked, baby, alien!”

I have to admit; I am probably going to use these questions for my blog, when I make player profiles during Reykjavik Open. It is definitely going to be interesting.
Yes the castle was interesting, the war memorial nice, the old city beautiful – but I think it will take some time, before I stay at a hostel again, or mention the fact that I play chess…

A war monument in Honor of those who where killed by the Red Army

A war monument in Honor of those who where killed by the Red Army

The castle

The castle and one out of many Chinese tourists… 

The castle

The castle

Last stop: Prague, Prag, Praha?
Our journey took an unexpected turn when we realised that we were going to Prague during the Easter. Why you ask? Basically the city is full of tourist partying and celebrating. Danes and Swedes everywhere and everything was booked. The only available place was “Gay Hostel” for 250-euro a night… well luckily I am an interracial breed and have family everywhere, which we really could benefit from this time. Central apartment for free, yes please, and thank you to my fathers cousins daughter!
Since it was Easter we had the pleasure of some Easter markets and a completely people packed city. Prague is amazing and instead of recommending something to se (which would be basically everything: take a guided tour or just walk around for a couple of days. Martin have been here… a lot, and still got things to discover) I am going to tell you some fun facts we got from the “free”-walking-tour:

  1. In the Czech Republic they on average consume 142.6 litres of beer per person per year (infants included). This is on average 80.7 litres more than an ordinary Dane! (We personally did a beer tasting with 15 different kinds. Martins favourite was cherry-beer).
  2. The biggest “religion” in the Czech Republic is atheism and it is one of the least religious countries in the world. Since the percentage of atheist is so high, Jediism is an official religion in the Czech republic. More than 1500 people wrote jediism, when they were asked what religion they belonged to by the state. (Jediisme is basically based on the Jedi’s way of living in Star Wars).
  3. The president of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman once said that he wished death upon all vegetarians. A little harsh if you think about how hard it already is to be a vegetarian in this country.
  4. The enormous castle on top of the hill gets illuminated every evening. The president at that time was a friend of Mick Jagger. The state itself could not afford to pay for the lighting but Mick offered to do so. The lighting is officially sponsored and paid from his personal pocket.

And do see the clock, but do not expect anything. It is the biggest tourist trap and has been voted the second most disappointing tourist attraction more than once. The Mona Lisa wins every year. Anyone who has been in Prague knows what I talk about.

Prague Classical Music and Opera.

Prague Classical Music and Opera

A great view from the other side of the river of the castle

A great view from the other side of the river of the castle

 

St. Vitus Cathedral in the castle area

St. Vitus Cathedral in the castle area

I definitely also recommend the Chocolate Museum! You can eat all the chocolate you want for a very small amount of money. I am pretty sure I got value… but I also had nausea the rest of the day. Martin do not even like chocolate anymore.

And then there were one…
The last step on the journey was in a bus with 70% Danish teenage girls from a basketball team (that really liked talking loudly the whole ride) and 20% Danish teenage boys (that have a vodka they share). I took a great picture though, that really illustrates that the Danish youth is no better than the Albanian average person when it comes to queuing. I can also conclude that I basically have taken the bus from Albania to Sweden… not in one sitting, but I think it counts!

The bus ride from hell

The bus ride from hell

This is my last official post about this trip. My head is now pointed at Reykjavik and the game of chess once more. The tournament starts the 19th of April, and a short teaser will soon be posted!

Thank you very much Martin for a remarkable journey, and I am so sorry that I had to end our friendship today because you confessed you like pineapple on pizza.

The climb

The days are quickly passing by and Martin and I are desperately trying to keep up with the fully packed schedule. Now we have moved from Bosnia and Herzegovina, where we strolled around the old parts of Sarajevo and Mostar, to Croatia, where we enjoyed the sun and ocean in Split and Zadar, to Slovenia where we only had time for a very short visit in Ljubljana. City girls, beach boys, castles and dragons, there is a time and place for everything.

Bingo!
Our hostel was owned, ruled and controlled by an older woman. Young people were walking in and out, while both an unknown man and a child were screaming at her from different stairs in the building. We had barely given her the money for the room, before she stuck a full map of Sarajevo with 50 different marks on it in our hands.

  • “Now go out and see something”

The woman screamed back at the stairs while a Turkish man walked into the room. I was looking at the map, at Martin and then back on the map again:

  • Ellen “We should be able to see all of this tonight”
  • Martin “It will be a long walk and evening”
  • Ellen “Uhhhh, lets play bingo and cross of the marks as we go!”

We were going to leave for Mostar early in the morning, so we only had the rest of the evening to do all of Sarajevo, however we had a lot of experience and had already concluded, that there is not a city, which we are not able to see in a day! Good walking shoes, strong legs, a map and acceptance of the fact that you are not going to drink, eat or sleep are the keys.

Me crossing of the last sight

Me crossing of the last sight

As expected we managed to see all of the 50 marks on the map and even get a Bosnian beer at a bar. We were both completely exhausted and when we were finally home and done, I eagerly climbed the stairs to my bed in the hope of some sleep before the early morning. As I dropped my head on the pillow and closed my eyes I became aware of loud chrushing, ratteling and whimpering noices. Apparently the Turkish man was snoring, and I was not ment to get any sleep that night either…

We managed not to break a bridge, shoot a prince or start a war
Which makes both me and Martin successful visitors of Bosnia and Herzegovina. When you also take into count that we ate Cevapi, drank local beer, drove through the mountains, saw the bridge in Mostar and the 50 sightseeing point of Sarajevo, I think we did a pretty good job! Things you have to see:

  1. “The yellow fort” on top of a really steep hill is a must. On the way you get to enjoy the beauty and emotions of a cemetery filled with white gravestones as a monument to the people fallen during the Siege of Sarajevo, and if you you manage not to give up due to exhaustion and get to the top and the fort, you are rewarded with a bench and a gorgeous view of the city.
  2. Benderija’s house also known as “the spite house” is really a sightseeing point in my taste. This house is meant as a pure example of the stubbornness of the people in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The story goes that when the Austrian-Hungarians occupied Bosnia, they wanted to construct a lot of buildings and where this man (Benderija) had his house, they wanted to place the city hall, but Benderija refused to move. After long negotiations he said “fine, you can get this land, if you move my house to the other side of the river, brick by brick”. They did and here it is.
  3. Mostar is a small city located about 2.5 hours from Sarajevo and is definitely worth to pass by. Here you really have the chance to sit by the river and enjoy a mighty cevapi, stunning nature, old architecture and the fun of tourist-spotting.

We went through most of Bosnia and Herzegovina with bus and managed to visit 2 cities in just a little bit more than a day, but I could definitely spend some more time here!

The view in Mostar

The view in Mostar

The famous bridge in Mostar

The famous bridge in Mostar

The view from the "yellow fort" in Sarajevo

The view from the “yellow fort” in Sarajevo (the white pointe things is the cemetary)

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you are ice cream
After thorough observation Martin and I have come to the conclusion that all people in Croatia exclusively live of ice cream. If you had to buy one ice cream at every place it was possible on the Croatian coast, there would be a distance of approximately the width of 3 British tourists. Both Split and Zadar definitely attracted tourists in a way, that we had not experienced a lot in the former places we had visited. Especially Split was fully packed with British tourists and kids who wanted to party even though their age should have been a limit to their drinking.

We had almost three full days on the Croatian coast, and the rides were at least as beautiful as the destinations. Here we did not rush around with a map and a tight schedule but strolled around on the piers with a ice cream in our hands. The weather was perfect, and it is really easy to understand, why many people go on vacation on these locations. In Zadar they even have a perfect spot to watch the sunset, so of course we also grabbed that chance… together with 200 other people who had the same idea.
I know these cities have a lot of remains from old times, and we did also have time to visit these sights, but I would always prefer a capital and full city experience over a sun vacation with beaches and sea.

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Martin enjoying the sunset, probably thinking of Anton

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Castles and dragons but the knights stay in chess
How do you approach a city, when you know you only have half a day to see it? No idea, you just panic and walk around in circles. Due to easter we had some minor changes in our plans and realized we had to leave for Vienna in quite a hurry. Luckily Ljubljana is not the biggest city, and we at least had time for a few stops like the opera, the castle and a walk on the bridge with dragon statues! I would recommend something to see, but since I barely saw anything, it would not be a qualified recommendation. The city felt somewhat like a hidden gem, and I could definitely see myself coming back to explore further!

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Dragons are cool

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The opera

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But it’s just the price I pay, destiny is calling me
Mr.Brightside is playing of the speakers, and I am singing with no regard for the 3 other persons on the bus:

  • Martin: “This is probably the first song you like, that is not aggressive”
  • Me: “My music is not aggressive, it just prepares me to figtht”
  • Martin: “Fight? Good, then you can protect me when I continue to listen to Beyonce”

I have tried to argue that my music is not aggressive, but Martin refuses to listen just because my playlist is called “rock when you don’t give a fuck” and contains two songs from a band called the “Foo fighters”. The word ‘fighters’ is too scary when you are used to songtitles like “Let your heart hold fast” and have routines that take more than 45 minutes in the morning.
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Will be continued…

Fake news and broken pyramids

We are sitting on the bus between Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, where we are enjoying an amazing view of the black and white mountains surrounding a deep blue lake. Most of the road on this busride is like taken from a fairytale and the setting could have been appropriate for any Lord of the Rings movie. The last 6 days we have been in Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro and this time it has mainly been the breathtaking parts of nature, that have been in the highlights.

“Look, look this is me!”
We had just arrived in Skopje with bus from Pristina, and were now considering what our next move should be. I had heard rumours about a chess tournament being played in Skopje, and for me the only option was to visit. Martin, who is of course as exited about chess that I am, agreed to go and visit Karpos Open, just for a couple of hours. Every time we arrive to a new country I ask the same question:

  • Ellen: “Who is the best player in this country”
  • Martin: “Ehhh, Nikoladic. He had about 2650 but in the later years when the alcohol took over his elo fell to about 2500 something”
  • Ellen: “You only change the name and tell the same story, be more creative if you want me to believe it”
  • Martin: “The story fits for about 75% of all chess players, so I think it is very realistic”

If you have not already figured it out, we do not know much about chess, but you can be a great chessgroupie and supporter anyway! At least I hope that is what Martin Percivaldi, Jonas Bjerre and Filip Boe thought, when I came to support them in Skopje after also having visited them in Jurmala. Some would call me a true fan! As always there were not a lot about the chess Martin and I found interesting, instead we found the chess shop, were I bought a pink “I love chess” pen (which I am going to force Nils to use when we play Reykjavik Open) and we talked to the owner about the various books. The highlight was, when I found an old edition of the Danish chess magasine with a picture of me and eagerly waved it in both Martin and the sellers face. This was after we had already found the bar.

The playing hall at Karpos Open

The playing hall at Karpos Open

Ellen the great
“This is the truth and nothing but the truth.”
The first impression of Skopje is, that it is stunning. They have these great “marble” buildings with huge pillars and gold this and light that and sculptures everywhere. But this is fake news. Or at least everything is new and stolen from the rest of the world – The Brandenburger Tor, the Wall Street bull and last but not least, the Parthenon in Athens! They even have a huge sculpture of Alexander the Great and “claim” that he comes from their country “Macedonia”, but this is a lie. I come from the Macedonian area in Greece and I am a direct descendent of Alexander the great… my father says. Things you have to see:

  1. The city center square is the place to find the huge sculpture of Alexander the Great placed in the middle of a fountain with lights and music. From here you can also see the 666 year old bridge and many ancient greek inspired buildings. This is the place to enjoy a cold beer in the evening.
  2. The old fort on top of the hill. I recommend this purely based on the view. Even though they actually have some history connected to this place.
  3. Go to Ohrid! Ohrid is a town placed at the great lake between Macedonia and Albania. Here you really get to enjoy the best part of those countries, with more than 1100 year old churches, fresh caught fish, viewpoints from the mountains and cemetarys with free walking peacocks. I must warn though, that the cab drivers do not stay away from the beer or rakia, just because he is driving in the mountains.

Things you should avoid:

  1. Do not believe everything you are told. There are many parts to this story. Even Bulgaria claims that Alexander is from their area. Since the body was never found, who knows. I just find it funny that the guide immediately assumed that we were going to have an argument because I was half greek. We had, but for different reasons.
Fake Parthenon, with light

Fake Parthenon, with light

One out of many amazing pictures from Ohrid

One out of many amazing pictures from Ohrid

The devils bridge (666 years old)

The devils bridge (666 years old)

And then we went to Albania…
Untill now we have only been pleasantly surprised. This time Tirana really made sure, that we had to search every corner to find something slightly decent. It all started at the bus station where the cab drivers were basically blocking the exit from the bus screaming “TAXI, TAXI to OHRID”. Yeah thanks I just arrived from there, let me out. Then we had decided to by our ticket to Podgorica in advance to save time, but the woman we talked to in 1 of the 25 ticketoffices claimed, that there were no busses to Podgorica ever, however she could arrange a cab for 90 euro. No thank you. Instead we decided to go to the hostel and ask them, and of course they told us that ticket office number 6 is selling the buss tickets, and the people just do not want to help because of dirty competition. Not the best start.
We got a map of the city, and were ready for a long day with sightseeing, when we discovered, that they almost did not have anything to offer. The top thing to see was a pyramid that was broken… nevertheless we found a quite nice park at an artificial lake and we bought some cake at the biggest pastry shop I have experienced. A true bite of heaven. Even though the prices were so low that I twice in a row started crying from laughter, when we had to pay, I was glad that we were going to leave in the morning.
After having “donated” the rest of our Albanian papermoney to some random person, we found the bus for Podgorica.

  • Bus driver: “It cost two euro to put the bag in the trunk”
  • Me: “I want my bag with me inside of the bus”
  • Bus driver: “No , you have to put it here”
  • Me: “I am not going to pay to put my bag in a place I do not want it”
  • Martin: “Ellen, please just give him the money”
  • Me: “No, I refuse”.

At this point Martin was kind of scared that the Albanian man would not let us on the bus, nevertheless I had already had a full breakfast and coffee and therefore stuck to my principles. The bus driver’s face was kind of red, when he finally gave up arguing. Nobody can fool me. I am not going back to Tirana. Ever. And apparently Martin do not want to bring me to North Korea, when he plans on going there.

The very "nice" pyramid

The very “nice” pyramid

In Albania they do not play chess, they play domino

In Albania they do not play chess, they play domino

The view from the park is pretty acceptable

The view from the park is pretty acceptable

The great escape from Albania
When we arrived in Podgorica the rain was pouring down. For the third time in a row we had forgot to download the map to the hostel and we were now very confused on which way we had to go. As the great leader that I am, I said “no worry” and started walking. Since the rain decided to increase, we had to find a restaurant and get some shelter. Martin could then appropriately get something to eat, and I could connect to the wifi and check the road. Once again we had no problems with guessing the wifi password (usually you just put 123 after the name of the place) and I could confidently inform that he hostel were placed about a 100 meters from the bus station… and that we only had walked about 2 kilometers past it. But hey, at least I tried, and this only contributed to keeping our walking average at about 15 km a day. Things you have to see:

  1. The Montenegrean “Niagara” falls is located about a 15 minutes drive outside of Podgorica and is an immense waterfall surrounded by the beautiful nature of Montenegro. As opposed to the Niagara falls in USA, you can here enjoy the sight without all the tourist and have the possibility to jump from rock to rock and see the waterfall from different angles.
  2. The old bridge and leftovers from 15th century was a perfect place to take a small walk. The stairs from the hill leading down to the river is a lovely climb despite of the crap that is thrown here by careless people. The car tire in the river and plactic bags hanging from the trees really ruined a lot of pictures.
  3. The 10th century church and the spooky overgrown graveyard was really a different church experience. We were both stunned by how well preserved one of the wall paintings was, and agreed that our/this church number 23 on this trip was the best.

Things you should avoid:

  1. Nils informed me that this is the most criminal city of Europe. I really felt scared of the people(s)… English abilities in this town. That is definitely criminal. Otherwise it seemed pretty quiet.
Me and my new Macedonian haircut enjoying the "Niagara" waterfall

Me and my new Macedonian haircut enjoying the “Niagara” waterfall

The old area and bridge

The old area and bridge

The new church

The new church

Once again all the traditional meals consist mainly of meat and both Martin and I are considering to go vegetarian when we get home… Yeah right. I think that boat sailed for Martin when he ate a veal heart yesterday and said: “I feel superior to the animal”. Maybe you do, but you snore like a bear.

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Some very nice people, we meet in Ohrid!

Will be continued… 

 

When everybody goes left, we go right!

It is the 29th of Marts, my bags are packed, my 15-euro ticket with Wizzair is printed, my shoes are tied and my travel plans are pointed at Eastern Europe. Starting in Budapest and then heading for Beograd in Serbia and Pristina in Kosovo was the plan for the first 5 days out of my 20-day trip, together with Martin Lokander.

The sunset when I arrived in Budapest

The sunset when I arrived in Budapest

This is a party hostel!
Lokander and I had just arrived at the hostel in Budapest, that we had booked from home. It had been a recommendation from another backpacker I met in Estonia on my first trip, and Lokander and I agreed to book it for the first two nights. We were now standing in a broom closet with pictures of naked and drunk people hanging on the wall, while the manager tried to cover the hostel policies without his voice fading out from the cheers behind the door, where the rules to the “Drinking Olympics” were being explained.

Manager: “You should know this is a party hostel”
Lokander: Looking partly frightened and angry on me
Manager: “You live with 4 other people in your room”
Lokander: Looking a little released
Manager: “You should be okay with people coming home very late”
Me: “That is not a problem, then we can be late too”
Manger: “And people might have sex on your room”
Lokander: Stopped breathing

I personally overheard the last sentence but Lokander swears that was what he said. We got our keys and decided to take the stairs to avoid the guy vomiting like a volcano in the elevator at half past nine.

Me: “I saw there were a boat party tomorrow with champagne”
Lokander: “I am going to die on this trip”

Welcome to Hungary, where you get both Buda and Pest
We stayed in Budapest for 2 nights and that was enough to see the most important sights, and get a feeling for the nightlife. I have to mention that we walked more than 22 km, jumped on some trams from time to time and were out from 9 am to 2 pm to manage. Budapest is a city with a lot of charm both in cultural sights and the nightlife. Things you have to see:

  1. They have a lot of bridges crossing the Danube River and all of them are worth taking a stroll on, since they all are build in different styles and have amazing views to both sides of Budapest. I recommend walking both at day and at night to get the full experience.
  2. The castle and museum inside is a big time consumer, but I would say it is a must. The whole Pest side is really worth to see, and if you are being thorough it could take a couple of days to explore all the sights.
  3. The Skt. Stefan’s cathedral is stunning from the outside and inside. A little tip, the box in the entrance is for donations, it is free to enter the church.

Things you should avoid:

  1. Buying ice cream at night from the stands out on the streets. Even though it looks really good, the taste is synthetic and they will overcharge. It is a trap!

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The dome

The dome

The parliament

The Parliament

Tracksuits, gold chains, blond hair and Kafanas, this is Serbia!
We took the train from Budapest to Belgrade in Serbia, it took about 8 hours, but we got the chance to see the Serbian landscape, talk to 5 different conductors and the police from 2 different border controls. It was not very efficient but kind of cosy to get the question “why are you going to Belgrade”, when you have absolutely no idea. Different answers each time! When we arrived at the train station in Belgrade, we were actually discussing if it could be possible that we went back in time. I was more worried about the 5-euro hostel we had booked and what kind of standards we would be met by. Martin tried to convince me that for 5 euro he would sleep on a chair. We did not end up sleeping on a chair, but Hostel Capital was definitely a different experience. We stayed in an 8-bed room with two old men, 2 Germans and 2 Chinese girls who were buying, repacking and shipping different products from the hostel. The shower was really dirty and we were asked to move bed 2 times, but at least I overcome some boundaries. The staff also contributed to the rather weird atmosphere:

Me: “How much tax do you pay in Serbia?”
Hostel manager 1: “Tax, tax what?”
Hostel manager 2: “Can you hear that ehhhek sound?”
Hostel manager 1: “Did you smoke weed?”

We decided to not ask any further questions and went out on a bar instead.
A very typical discussion on this trip has been how neither Martin nor me fit the typical gender descriptions. When we are on a bar I want a cold beer and listen to “Living on a Prayer” or “Highway to Hell”, Martin prefers a sweet drink and the soundtrack from the musical “Lala Land”. He tried to make me order for him and I did:

Bartender: “What would you like”
Me: “Something sweet”
Bartender: “I suggest the ‘Sex with the bartender’”
Me: “Nice, one of those for him and I will take a Mojito”

He makes the orders now. The music did not fit any our preferations. In Serbia you only listen to Serbian music. At this bar they had a keyboard and two singers live. The keyboarder liked smashing his face on the keyboard and both singers paused their singing when they needed a hive of filtered air from their cigarette. It is not very often you feel so much pain and joy on the same time.

To be Serbian is a lifestyle
We were in Belgrade for one night and almost a full day. It was nothing like I imagined. We took a long stroll around one side of the city when we arrived, and were met by impressive buildings, parks, statues and people. I did not feel unsafe once, and could easily imagine myself going back on a longer vacation to enjoy the low prices and the beauty in the park and view around the old fort. Things you have to see:

  1. The free walking tour is an absolute must! It took 2.5 hours and it could easily have lasted longer. The guide was funny and gave a lot of information without being boring. She even brought homemade Rakia so that we could taste their traditional alcohol at 11 am… Here you also got a full explanation of “the Serbian lifestyle” which is basically sitting at Kafanas (café/bars/restaurants) and drinking all day every day. The earlier headline was a description of how the mafia dressed after the war and some bonus info, also from this tour.
  2. The old fort you also walk around on the guided tour, but I could definitely spend more than 1 whole day here. The fort contains a very long history that started in 5.000 bc and involves e.g. the Romans, Ottomans and 115 different wars. The place is amazing with a big and lovely park and the best view to the city and rivers.

Things you should avoid:

  1. Rakia. It is horrible. It taste like those bottles of Alkogel smell.
  2. Booking the cheapest hostel. The 2 euros extra to get a clean shower, I will pay without hesitation the next time.
The fort

The fort

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Avoid Kosovo they said. It will be horrible, they said…
Everybody told us to avoid Kosovo and Pristina, so of course we had to go there. The bus from Belgrade took about 6 hours and only 4 of them were in complete darkness in the middle of nowhere. When we arrived the bus station was completely empty. I had talked to a man from Kosovo on the bus and told him about our trip and where we ere going to stay and I now realised that he was either: a) really nice and helpful or b) going to rob us. I was very suspicious and scared in the beginning but actually the people in Kosovo are really helpful. Every time we looked lost people approached us and helped us in the right direction, even though they did not speak a word English. The hostel and the people on the hostel was also by far the nicest. Overall we kind of had the wrong impression.
There is one big problem though… It took approximately 4 hours to see all of Pristina, and not only because everything is closed at Sundays. We saw everything that was mentioned in the brochures and still we could not fill out a whole day with activities. On the other hand, we both consider retiring here, since you can eat a full meal with a beer for 3 euros. I would not recommend this place for a longer trip, but it is worth passing by, at least to get your prejudices altered.

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New Born sign

NEWBORN sign

The ugliest building in the world, we were told!

The ugliest building in the world, we were told!

The most asked question
Some of you would probably ask, why we are going to Kosovo or why we thought Eastern Europe would be interesting or anything else related to our trip, and those are good questions. The most asked question is a stupid question: “How does Nils feel about you travelling with another man”. This also occurred when I travelled with Rasmus, so here is a short answer. Men and woman CAN be friends (we are living in the 21. -century come on people).

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I understand when my 91-year-old great grandmother asks me this question, but otherwise the perception of a regular friendship with a male and a female should not be difficult. Since I was 6 years old and played Fifa every Wednesday with my best friends at that time, Anders, I have always had more male friends than female. For me it is very natural and I think the gender of one person’s friends should not matter, when you consider, whom you like to hang out with. Furthermore many would consider it more practical to travel with a man in the more suspicious parts of Eastern Europe… and yet again I would probably be the one taking the fight if anything happened. To sum it up, maybe those gender-neutral and feministic things going on in Sweden is not that bad, since your gender is only really defining how many X-chromosomes you have in your body and not how good a friend you will be or your capacity in a street fight. Last but not least Nils and I trust each other, and that is probably what you call a healthy relationship 🙂

Maybe the next stop should be the moon?

Maybe the next stop should be the moon?

Will be continued…