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As it turned out getting to Belgrade wasn’t as simple as “direct train” would have you believe, but we felt a little of the old fashioned romance of train travel as we pulled out of Istanbul. We left from the same station that the Orient Express used back in the day. Our carriage was hooked on to a train that had different cars heading off in various directions along the way, but when we got to Sofia, Bulgaria, we were told that our little orphan carriage had missed the train we were meant to be joining on to. We had to wait until evening (another 10 hours) for the next train to Belgrade. Brett and I explored the station area, bought some supplies, then wandered around the sidings looking for our mobile home. We eventually found it and killed some more time before being bounced around like a ping pong ball by an engine driver who was obviously in need of shunting practice.

Eventually we arrived in Belgrade, at 5:30am, and once checked in (at 9am) we headed out to explore Belgrade. The city doesn’t really have all that many sights but the weather was beautiful and we joined the locals in making the most of it. Outdoor cafes and the beautiful park at the old citadel were great places to hang out and people watch. The young people are very fashion conscious and in certain areas you’d be forgiven for believing that nobody over the age of 35 lived in Belgrade. Apparently the nightlife is pretty lively on any night of the week but we weren’t really in the mood to head out drinking, though we did visit one eclectic little bar which gave us some inspiration for how we’re going to arrange our own strange collection of travel artefacts once we have a house. One sightseeing thing that we did do was the ethnographic museum which has an incredible collection of traditional costumes. We were also told that there was an area where you could still see some of the buildings bombed by NATO in 1999. It’s a strange thing to go and see when you think about it logically, but it had to be seen. Maybe its morbid fascination but I prefer to think of it as seeing traces of recent history that you usually only read about in the newspapers. As far as I can tell the buildings we saw used to be the Yugoslav Army Headquarters and the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs and they’ve been left as a reminder of the past.

A few days later we hopped on the train to Munich, where we are now. It’s a pity that we didn’t get out into the Serbian countryside but it was only a quick stop to break up the Istanbul to Munich train journey. Travelling through Slovenia the scenery was beautiful so we’ll definitely be back in this part of the world at some stage. It was surprisingly easy to get train tickets to Germany despite the fact that the ash cloud from the Icelandic volcano has cancelled all flights to Europe. It really seems to be wreaking havoc, and as we got closer to shut-down air zones we picked up more and more people, refugees from cancelled flights. It’s amazing to people like us, whose last train was 11 hours late, how impatient people are. I guess a lot of it comes with the fact that they have jobs to get back to and we don’t. They weren’t really picking up on that “train travel is romantically old fashioned” vibe that I love.

To their relief we finally pulled in to Munich, and we headed out to look for a place to sleep. Places were more full and expensive than expected because there is a massive trade fair going on. There are also some football finals and a mini October fest. Talk about bad timing! (though we do hope to make the most of the mini October fest tomorrow). It was kind of strange to arrive in a place we’ve already decided to live, though thankfully I like what I’ve seen. Brett has been here twice before so he knew what to expect. We spent today wandering around English Garden, popped into a beautiful church and generally soaked up the atmosphere as crowds of football fans sung their chants in the beer gardens of Marienplatz. For lunch we had some of the solid, meaty, heart attackingly delicious food that I always associate with Germany and which, for me, tastes like home. And of course some beer, which comes in bicep building 1L portions unless you’re a girl and go for “just” 500ml. I’m really looking forward to exploring more of the city in the next few days and hopefully seeing a bit more of Germany while Brett’s at work. I also want to work on my language skills, which are pretty rusty. Unfortunately, I also have a list of other places I want to visit in Europe. As is always the case I have a massive list of things I want to do and not enough time, no surprises there!

Tags: Belgrade, Istanbul, Munich, train travel