Serbia to Bosnia

Josip, on BMW 1200gs doesn't waste much time.. as soon as I arrived Belgrade, got my bike and myself clean at the hotel, he says we are going out to meet his friend Dane (pronounced Da - nay), on Honda Africa Twin for a little tour around.  I was really exhausted and just wanted to stop for the day. However, we only have 4 days to get through 3 countries with Josip's short time schedule off work. Don't sit down yet, Sherri Jo! Gotta keep going so I don't miss anything!!

We first ride around the city, and then up to this really large fortress.  I did not expect to see this, but it makes sense.  Serbia has had so much war history in the recent years still fresh in my mind, I hadn't learned of or considered it's more ancient times. Kalemegdan Fortress is right in the center of Belgrade on the banks of two rivers that meet, the Danube and Sava.

With history here dating back as far as 3rd century BC, this location at different times has been ruled by Romans, Hungarians, Austrians, and most notably the Turks from the Ottoman Empire.  It's in a key position at the two rivers for protection and/or battle.  Actually, the name Kalemegdan derives from two Turkish words, kale (fortress) and meydan (battleground) (literally, "battlefield fortress").

Would the Turks have liked seeing 3 motorcycles at the gate, rather than 3 horses??  And would they have let us in?  1 Serbian, 1 Croatian, and 1 Aussie/American..? ;-)

Never ceases to entertain my imagination to walk through these relics of ancient history, even though I've been doing it non-stop for months now..

Inside the fortress is basically a large park for the city.. It used to "be" the city, as everyone lived on the inside.!

And from here is a spectacular view of the rivers meeting.

It's a beautiful day in Belgrade (granted I've only been in the city about 2 hours) and the locals take in the sunset river views.

One last snap before we head out the gate back to the bikes.

Back on the bikes we follow Dane as he shows us more of Belgrade..

Yikes!  Looks like this building has seen better days..

We stop on a sidewalk in Belgrade and a woman comes up to me and asks (in Serbian, thank goodness for Dane to answer on my behalf!) if she can take a photo of her son on my bike.. Heck, there were 3 bikes there, the BMW, Africa Twin, and mine and she picked mine..good taste, lady! ;-)

 Dane is doing a heck of a job showing us ALL of Belgrade in one short evening!

We even made a trip to his garage, where he and Josip together tucked in to fixing my mirror.. great guys, I am, and my bike is..  so lucky to meet them both.

It was really fun and great to see Belgrade, Serbia. Especaially since early in the morning we are heading to Bosnia, leaving Serbia far far far too soon for me! ;-(

On the road in the morning, Josip (pronounce Yo-sip), is uncomfortable on that super size BMW 1200gs.  So he gets an idea when we pass this road side stand selling dried beans.  There is a bag that sits on the seat right behind him that he fills right up with many bags of these beans, making his seat and back rest much more comfortable.. (Hey, Josip, you should try to ride my bike for a bit, hey!??? ;-))  If anything, it's good for the economy of this lovely old Serbian man.. he can take the rest of the day off!

Back on the road, and Josip gets comfortable... I mean, REALLY comfortable. The beans must have done the trick, because on top of his back rest, check out the use of those front pegs!

I know I totally shouldn't admit this, but it makes me chuckle.. and I can't help it. When I see people using those front pegs, a visual comes to mind and it involves a surgical procedure.. ha!)

Along the road I see some cool Serbian kids...

Not long after we ride into Bosnia.. and a bit of a weather change..

The rain starts a-fallin' pretty good and Josip pulls over yet again to add a rain suit.. Luckily the riding suit I have from my sponsors Innotesco and Rukka is gore-tex so I don't have to do this!  And the look of this suit got me to chuckling again..  Don't worry, I'm not laughing behind his back.  He is aware that I'm having fun with this while I take a photo.. and he gets a photo of me here too.. (just not sure I shared the visual of the front pegs mentioned earlier..  sorry Josip! ;-)

Well that'll do with this blog post of Serbia to Bosnia..  I will add more to it soon.. see ya!

Romania to Serbia - Danube River

After the great ride with Tibi and Ruxi, they turned to the main road back to Sibiu, and I had a plan to continue down the track to get to Baile Herculane.. a spa town named known for being a favorite relaxing spot of dear ol' Hercules.  It surprises me that I couldn't find any place to sleep in this town tonight.  Well I could have if I wanted to fork out big bucks, but I didn't. VERY long story short.. it took me until 11 pm and many towns later to find a place..  Either they were far too expensive or there simply was nothing available due to a Romanian holiday this weekend (which I knew nothing about.. again..!)  I was completely exhausted, no dinner, and just crashed for the night in a dreadful hotel in the middle of industry land and railroad tracks... 

As tired as I was, there is no time to sleep in the next day as I must get into Serbia to find my Croatian friend Josip (we met in Croatia last March). He is planning on meeting me in Belgrade to show me through Serbia and Bosnia.. He's offered to ride with me ages ago and has taken time off of work to do this, so I must keep going and not be late..

Well the next morning got my very dirty bag on to my very dirty bike, and found a really nice road!!

I follow the Danube River west toward Belgrade along the Romanian side. This turns out to be a great choice of road, a spectacular and beautiful ride.

While crossing a bridge I see this big head out of the corner of my eye! Gee whiz!  I stop and take a photo, but I know nothing about it until I showed my photo to someone later to explain what/who it is.

It's a sculpture of King Decebalus, the last king of the Dacians.. who was defeated by the Romans (hence the name Romania).  This king is believed to have committed suicide after the defeat. ;-(

Passing by the current locals..

I wonder where he's going, I wonder where he's been..

Again, another surprise, this upcoming building caught my eye..

I later learn it's called the Mraconia Monastery (mraconia meaning corner), placed in an area of the Iron Gate gorge where two boats could not pass simultaneously.. (Maybe the boat that had to stop and wait could pop in to the monastery and pray? )  Built in the 1400's, it has seen it's share of conflict and empire changes.. as well as being destroyed by the river itself a couple times..

On down the road, the skies get increasingly dark.. sort of adds to the ambience of the area?

With more surprises... I am taking the photo of my seriously dirty bike and happen to see a castle on the point over there on the Serbian side.. !! (I never have found out the story of that one..)

Eventually near Moldova Noua in Romania,  I cross the river and arrive into Serbia.  Another border crossing, another language, and new money.. of which I have none!!  And I am very low on fuel.  Part of the challenge, in this part of the world, using a credit card at the fuel pump is not an option in these small villages.. After asking at two fuel stations, I nervously roll into a somewhat larger town.  Luckily after slowly cruising the few streets, I see that very welcome little box on the outside wall of a bank.  And I must admit, nearly every ATM I have come across in the world asks which language I choose for my transaction, even way out here!  I like it in English, so easy for me.

Money and fuel complete, now for a snack.. not interested in lunch because it's quite late, just a snack.  This looks like it will do.

The store owner was thrilled to have an English speaking person in the shop.. he didn't speak, but he got his tiny daughter (shown below on the far right) to come in to see if she can say anything from what she is learning in school.  We didn't get too far on that one, she only knows numbers 1-10 and "hello".. What can I say, it's far more than I know in Serbian! ;-)  But she runs and gets some other kids to help.. nothing accomplished with language, but we enjoyed a little photo session regardless.

 

I eventually make my way through the Serbian countryside to the city of Belgrade where I am to meet Josip. 

He gives me the address for the hotel, and that gps is not going to cooperate~!  This is a big city and for the first time ever, with no mobile phone available, I hire a taxi to let me follow him.  My riding around in circles was going like... nowhere!

I go into the hotel and ask for Josip, when he finally comes out he is just laughing at me!!  I'm like, "What are you looking at Buster Brown?"  and he says, "You are so dirty..!"

And he insists on taking a photo of me..  Well?? What can I say, the day before I rode through the mountains of Romania with Tibi, today followed a rainy dirty track along the Danube, both of which I loved, but keeping clean is not my speciality! ;-)

First thing he has me do is take the bike into this very nice hotels garage and have the boys give it a wash.. no worries, happy to!!!  There is no way I wanted to carry my dirty bag into the fancy pants hotel, so the boys washed that off too.. thank you!!

 

And here he is... all shiny and new again!  Looks a bit weird actually!  Will be dirty again soon enough..

Quite a contrast of my last days through Romania and my rough accommodation choices to be here in a very unexpected surprise #10 for the day, nice clean hotel and garage... 

Now, one very tired and hungry Sherri Jo can now get clean herself.. See you! ;-)