.......a long time ago! Our previous blog post from Lebanon......
At the end of February, after our time in Lebanon, we moved on to visit family in the UK, blissfully ignorant of what was to come in the following months. Our train trip to Scotland was rather less grand than
last time. It was brilliant to see Rich's family, but Sal was left wondering why she had suggested coming in February! The scenery from the train was stunning, with snow all around in the mountainous areas, but the reality of actually being out there in it was less than enthralling! One particular rural walk had us taking shelter from a snow blizzard in a disused phone box- Sal fuming, Rich just enjoying the day!
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| Flying back from Lebanon to Britain |
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| Aberdeenshire scenery |
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| Coos, Scotland |
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| Unprepared and freezing, Dingwall, Scotland |
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| Train through the Cairngorms, Scotland |
A long awaited visit to see old travel buddies saw us crossing the Irish Sea to County Clare, Ireland. After spending a few days reminiscing and catching up, eating and watching the constant rain, we decided on an early exit from the Emerald Isle, mainly due to unfolding global events.
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| The Fairy Forest, Clare, Ireland |
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| Reflected winter beauty, Clare, Ireland |
The ensuing months in Cambridge were a struggle, with little to anticipate except when we could begin to travel again.
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| Around Cambridge town, UK |
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| River Cam, Cambridge, UK |
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| Empty streets, Cambridge, UK |
After what felt like an eternity, in June we found a travel life-line in Serbia- one of the first countries to open to outsiders, and one that would accept both of us (we have different passports). There were apparently no entry requirements such a health check, and we could (just!) afford the cost of travel there. As we'd been interested in visiting the Balkans for some time, we tentatively booked a ticket from London, and kept a very close eye on the situation with flights and updates every day for the couple of weeks leading up to our departure.
Even as the day arrived, we were not convinced we would reach our destination. With circumstances changing daily, and often with no notice, we were half expecting not to be allowed onto the plane, or to be refused entry on arrival into Belgrade. Thanks to the Travel Gods, the trip went smoothly, with the immigration officer at Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport not even giving us a cursory glance, let alone an interrogation.
After such a tense time during the previous few months, we were in a strange frame of mind, and were extremely lucky to find ourselves in one of the best hostels we have ever stayed in. After such a long time with mainly only each other for company and conversation, we were both chomping at the bit to get back to our usual routine of exploring new places and chatting with fellow travellers and interesting locals. Because of the current global situation, there were very few fellow guests at the hostel, but the small number of people there and the wonderful staff and their friends made us feel extremely welcome, and seemed just as keen for some new conversation as we were! We spent most afternoons or evenings learning about Belgrade and Serbia, exchanging stories and planning what we would do whilst in the country. We ended up spending longer in Belgrade than we expected, just calming down and feeling like we could breathe again.
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| Hostel garden, Belgrade |
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| Our hostel room, Belgrade |
Having rather a lot on our minds leading up to going to Serbia, we had done very little research about the background of the country. And what a lot to catch up on! Reading the history of how Serbia became an independent country is complicated and full of unfamiliar names, rulers and changing borders. Belgrade has been governed by the Franks, Bulgarians, Byzantines and Hungarians amongst others over the past 2000 years, but it was the Ottoman Empire who arrived in the 14 and 15th centuries who ruled over the area for centuries. There seemed very little cultural evidence left from this era in Belgrade. The Habsburgs and Austro-Hungarian Empires who came later appeared to have made a more lasting contribution, especially in architecture. Of course, Belgrade tragically lost much of it's physical history during more recent years.
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| Richard in the city, Belgrade |
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| View of Belgrade from the bridge |
The first thing we noticed was how "European" Belgrade was. We had preconceived ideas that it might be similar to the Caucasus countries or Central Asia, and were surprised with the feeling of a familiar culture. Such things as building designs, social structure, people's dress, and the way we were treated (ie. just like anyone else) were recognizable from the UK or Western Europe. There's approximately 1.4 million residents, predominantly Slavic, and roughly 90% of them are Christian or Catholic. Except for the Romas, not much ethnic diversity was evident on the city centre streets. Despite the situation, people were busy going about their business, drinking in bars and cafes, going to the beach, using public transport, eating fast food.....it all felt "normal", in a lovely, familiar way.
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| Roma kid busking, Belgrade |
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| Cobblestone cafe street, Belgrade |
One typical stereotype of Eastern European culture is that the people are not friendly. We found that while we occasionally came across a grumpy service person or attendant, mostly people were simply no nonsense and kindly helped us when they could, just without any fuss.
Those empty streets offer interesting street photographic opportunities. So to wait for a subject to complete the scene, or the abstract shadows, playing on pavement, and lining up objects too, have been a favorite in these more quite urban times.
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