Adventuring Abroad: Lazy Summer Days

Lovely Fountain

Belgrade has been, how shall we say this, a bit warm the past few days and getting warmer, today being no exception. It’s our full day off since we arrive so we decided to take it easy. Everyone slept as much as they could before venturing out. Professor Sullivan gave us a scavenger hunt of Belgrade and the surrounding areas to do while we’re here so we decided to take a stab at it this afternoon. We ventured out in the sweltering heat to Tasmaidan park only a few blocks from our hotel to get started. Here we found statues of Heydar Aliyev (soviet era president of Azerbaijan) right next to a writer, Milorad Pavic (we think, it’s hard when you don’t read Cyrillic). The two present an interesting juxtaposition between force and words, regardless of what they actually stood for. Nearby was a monument to children killed during the NATO bombings in the 1990s. Even though it wasn’t on the scavenger hunt, the most exciting part of the park of us might have been the cascading fountain. After venturing to a nearby bakery, we brought the corn flatbread and lazy apple pie back to the fountain to eat. It was so cool near its spray and we couldn’t resist putting our feet in. We figured it was ok, since there were children playing in it in swimsuits but that turned out not to be the case so after relaxing in the shade, we went to St. Mark’s church at the edge of the park before heading off to find the Belgrade Zoo. The zoo is down past the pedestrian walkway we are oh so familiar with now (in a good way, it’s nice to feel like you’re actually learning a city, even if it’s just a small part of it) by Kalamegeden. On the way back we got a little turned around but managed to find a little grill with AC!!!! which was amazing since it was oh so hot out. An added bonus was the giant, delicious kabeb which I’m fairly certain will count for dinner tonight. Now I’m back at McDonalds for the free wi-fi and AC and I think I’m signing off for the night. Tomorrow we’ll be in Novi Sad daytriping and then Sunday we’ll hit up a local lake made of the Sava to beat the heat.