Sremski Karlovci to Belgrade - by other means: 40 mile per hour headwinds and rain...
We awoke to the sounds of a howling wind rattling the metal blinds of our room and looked out to a terrific storm. The wind was raging and the rain was pelting down. After riding along the Danube for over 1500 km, we have never seen it look like this - the stormy, white caps look more like ocean than the river we have gotten to know. After breakfast and a quick look outside, we decided that riding the 89 km to Belgrade against a 70 km/hr headwind on narrow roads with heavy traffic was a bad idea. So, we went to the local train station to see if our bike could go on a train. The local crew were happy to help and with little shared common language and much gesturing, they considered our problem and decided that it was worth a try - but only on the train this evening. This is because it is the only train of the day that has double doors on one of the train cars. The trains here are very old and most cars have a narrow door with steep steps. We bought our tickets and hope that it will work. We've paid an extra "day rate" for our hotel room and are hanging out in our hotel until the train leaves later today.
Serbian chips (Tzatsiki - delicious!) and Serbian beer (also good)
We saw no signage yesterday - this morning we were surprised to see this sign on a trail in front of our hotel. Note the quote on the bottom - a Serbian touch for a EV6 sign.
These three boys followed us to the train station and were most intrigued by us and our bike. They spoke no English but had many questions about the parts of our bike. They were proud to have cell phones and took pictures of our bike as well.
On a cold November day we can only imagine what it must be like on a summer day. It's a bit surreal and ghostly as they come to life and play music as we walk by.
Our hotel on the Danube, Hotel Dunav. Their brochure explained that earlier in the century bohemians and intellectuals gathered at this hotel. This ambience today has a sleepy air with a small number of tourists and a casino/sports bar in the lower level. We seemed to be the only guests who stayed overnight - others seemed to be on an "hourly" basis.
Sremski Karlovci, a remarkably preserved town with a baroque style centre with buildings dating back to the early 18th c. Note the Four Lions fountain in the foreground - legend has it that if you drink from this fountain, you will return...
Eurovelo signs in Sremski Karlovci - we came upon these as we were walking around town. No sign of these on the route or how we would have gotten to this point. Serbian signage has philosophical quotes on the bottom of each sign.
This tiny shop was crammed with every possible item you could want, including a wooden spiral staircase up the centre of the room to living quarters. The clerk was eager to help and proudly explained that her English skills came from 3 years of instruction at school. Refrigerated units selling drinks, etc. are outside on the street as there is no room inside. It is on an honour system that you will come in and pay.
It was such a good decision to come to the station earlier in the day to assess the possibilities. The Serbian Railway website states that no bikes are allowed on board unless they are boxed. The local crew at the train station (all 5 of them) relished the challenge of helping us and making it work. They took our situation very personally and told us which one of them would be on duty to assist us for each of the possible train times. We love Serbia and its people!
Barry and the Railway worker successfully wedged our bike onto the landing between cars. The length of our bike was a bit more than the width of the car, so it is on a bit of an angle.
Due to the precarious position of our bike, Barry had to stand the whole way. Crew and passengers, who needed to pass through to the next car, or get off the train, had to step over and around our bike. All took it in stride and were not bothered by the inconvenience.
While Barry was standing on the landing, Mary Ellen got to sit down and look after our bags. Vuk, a man from Belgrade, sat with her the whole way and shared his knowledge of and love for his city. He also helped us off the train and gave us a clear route to take to reach our Guesthouse. Vuk reaffirms the wonderful impression we have of Serbian people and their friendly hospitality.
