Belgrade is the way that i dreamt eastern europe should be. Cia and I arrived early in the morning yesterday to fog and drizzle. In my imagination eastern europe is naturally dark and stormy. There are no blocks here (what i think of as the concrete misery of Bucharest). The buildings instead are a random assortment of 18th century, art noveau, and very modern steel and blue glass. From the train you are welcomed into the city by a great fortress built into the hillside. Rain streaked down from badly faded facades. Cobble stone streets turned into tiny urban streams and everything was wet smelling of cement. (God how I love the smell of wet cement!)
Today the sun poked through the clouds and all of Belgrade's mystery dissappeared. Unfortunatley it's sunday and the world is closed. (there are the best shoes I've ever seen in Belgrade) Instead Cia, Jackie and I snuck into the Hyatt Regency and went swimming. We did the whole shebang; swimming, sauna, jacuzzi and steam room. Jackie actually ended up swimming in her bra and underwear because she forgot her bathing suit. I love swimming! We ate sandwiches at this sidewalk cafe and the clouds rolled ever so slowly back over the city. I winked at the cute sandwich cafe waiter. He smiled back. Serbian boys are cute. Plus everyone here wears the most adorable shoes. Is that a strange reason to like a city? I could definitely live here.