Belgrade, Serbia

Belgrade is a cool city. Like, the kind of place I would love if I lived here- although, according to Aleks, my friend and tour guide, the weather would kill me. It's not a beautiful city, the entire thing is a palette of greys and more greys. But at street level and there are so many parks, the streets are lined with trees- the place has a lot of charm, in the end.

It's crammed with a hundred million cafes and bars walking around is easy, food is cheap, my hostel was quiet (something to do with having a six bed dorm to myself, I'm sure). Belgrade is stop 1 on what we've been calling part 3 of my big adventure. Part 1 being alone in France, part 2 with my parents and part 3 alone. I wrote this from a giant park, looking over the Danube and new city, eating a muffin made by a French-Canadian girl at my hostel.
The best thing about Belgrade has been having a guide. Aleks is the cousin of a good friend from home. I hadn't seen him in 6 years, since he was last in Tasmania, but spent the afternoon having him shuffle me from place to place in his car. Exploring neighbourhoods and heading down to the lake- admiring the emptiness of it before the summer crowds set in. I spent my days walking the city, exploring. It's a strange mix of the old and the new and hidden corners hold remnants of a war that seems long gone.

 On my third and last night, Aleks took me to a jazz bar with his friends. It was the first time in a while that I've just sat, had a drink and chatted with people my own age. It was a cool group and the music was awesome. The girls spent the set admiring the piano player and talking about work and uni and the summer and just life in general. We moved to a bar down by the water and met up with a bunch of people who are DJs and doctors and directors of music videos. It's another world there, the world of cooler people than I know.