 |
| Deva by Night, Diva by Day It was really cold, Ann has her jeans on |
Deva was a very industrial area, it was just one of two stopovers for us on our way from Brasov in Romania, to Belgrade the capital city of Serbia, our ultimate goal (a total of 460 miles). However, approx 15 km just outside Deva, a place called Hunedoara, we were recommended to go and see Corvin Castle, and as it was on our route we decided to give it a go. The whole area carried the scars of the old communist regime, for at one period in its history Hunedoara had the reputation of being the biggest steel-producing factory in Romania and even the Balkans. The old steel works was spread over a vast area, it must have been massive in its heyday, it seemed to go on for miles, in fact right up to Corvin castle which was mercifully left in tact.
 |
| Corvin castle |
 |
| A mediaeval street scene as it might have been |
We found the castle and rode the bike virtually up to the drawbridge, - doing a Daniel Rogojan. I have to say whilst it was not the size of The Royal Peles castle in Brasov, it was still a very impressive building It stands on a rock around which flows the river Zlasti, it has an impressive draw bridge countless towers, a number of interior courts, and two large halls, "Knight Hall" and "Diet Hall".
 |
| One of the many extra's, even he was feeling the heat |
There was a whole lot of activity going on, lots of big vans and people walking around in mediaeval garb, for a while I thought it was a typical tourist attraction, a sort of market or street fair. We parked the bike and shed some of our heavy kit and proceeded to walk over the draw bridge and on reaching the castle entrance we were told it was closed to the public for three days, due to filming. Well you can imagine our reaction, we had travelled over six thousand miles to come see this castle (well that’s what we told them), we were not going to be put off by some film company producing a Tv commercial.
 |
| Looking for a quiet place to remove our kit!!! |
The weather had improved quite substantially from the day before and with temperatures hovering around 32 degrees we needed to get going on the bike before we started to melt, our next stopover was in the small spa town of Baile Herculane about 115 miles away due south..
 |
| Our Hotel in Baile Herculane |
 |
| I'm sure they were on the bikes when we took this photo.... |
Wednesday 15th; After breakfast we spent some time sourcing accommodation over the internet in Belgrade and finally settled on the Hotel Belgrade, very centrally located and convenient to the numerous places of interest. We left Baile Herculane around 11.45 and made the border by mid-day. I’m pleased to say It was a trouble free crossing, interesting in that you had to cross the River Danube,- Romania one side, Serbia the other! Once again, the border guards came out to view our Bike with great interest, I can never be really sure whether it’s the bike or just the fascination at seeing two prats in full motorbike kit with helmets, sweating buckets in sweltering temperatures of 30 degrees and more. But hey, if it’s the latter, we have the last laugh cos they’re working and we’re enjoying the time of our lives.
 |
| The Danube |
We travelled through some of the most beautiful scenery, Up, down and around, the road hugged the mountain, we were also following the colossal river Danube. The second longest European river (after the Volga), it rises in Germany’s Black Forest and flows about 1,770 mi (2,850 km) to the Black Sea, passing along or through Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, and Moldova. Our progress was slow, the satnav went AWOL, temperatures were increasing, (in more ways than one) as we travelled in a westerly direction.
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. The city lies at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. It has an urban population of 1.2 million, while the metropolitan area has more than 1.7 million people, making it one of the largest cities of Southeast Europe. Its name in English translates to White city. We eventually arrived into Belgrade around 6 ish a little hot and bothered, and managed to find the hotel with help from you know who. We unloaded the bike and made our way up three flights of stairs with all our kit, a three star hotel with no chuffin lift, unheard of - I wasn’t best pleased, but Ann remained cool, calm and collected and kept me in check!.
 |
| Who cares what sort of prat you look like after the 3rd litre |
 |
| Ann jugging them down, but still looking cool |
The following morning we had a brush with the LAW, a little bit of an unpleasent experience, but one you learn from quite quickly. We left the hotel to find the T Info office which was across the other side of the busy main road, instead of using the official means of crossing the road (by the traffic lights), we chose to play dodge the traffic and were stopped by the police when we got to the other side. Apparently this is considered to be ‘J’ walking and is an offence and carries a fine of 50 euro. They were doing a purge and several other people had been stopped for doing likewise, and were in the process of being booked and fined on the spot. We were asked for our passports, or some form of id, so I gave them my driving licence. The guy disappeared into the back seat of his patrol car with my license; At this point I knew we’d done something wrong but not entirely sure what, or what the implications were thereof. I could tell from the general body language and the facial expression of the other people around me, they were not best pleased with whatever the police were doing. After a while I got to speak to one of the other ‘Offenders’ who informed me of the situation and the fine it carried. Several options crossed my mind, one of which was to snatch my license back from the cop and do a runner, I felt pretty confident they’d not bother to run after us in the intense heat. However, on reflection and noting they carried guns on their hips, I dismissed the idea as proper gungho and began to wonder what the next best option was.
 |
| St Sava Temple, can receive 10,000 people at any one time |
Well Papa was looking down on us, the police officer called me over to his car and started to wag his finger at me admonishing me for what we’d done, the traffic lights were the proper place to cross the road. He said all this in his native Serbian tongue, and I fully understood everything he said. The next thing he hands me back my license and waves me away, we were out of there like the proverbial s- - t off a shovel, I didn’t even look back at the poor geezer who told me about the fine, he was still arguing the toss, but the cop was always going to book him, cos he could speak the language and should’ve understood the rules!!.
 |
| Serbian National Assembly |
We walked and we caught trams as we spent three full days, exploring the delights of this vibrant city. There was so much to see and do in Belgrade, and we even discovered that Amy Winehouse was performing a one night concert just in the shadow of Kalemegdan, the old citadel and castle. We thought we might get to see the show free of charge on the Saturday evening from a position in the elevated old castle. Alas we were sadly mistaken, we, along with many others, were disappointed to find the whole area had been cordoned off and the normally open public area was closed for that evening, C’est la vie, we wouldn’t want to go upsetting Amy now, would we, you never know what she might do.
 |
| One of the Ministry buildings, opposite the war damaged building |
One of the added benefits of a city is the profusion of laundry premises, and Anns priority was to get all our clothes washed and smelling fresh and clean. We’d done all the usual tricks, turned them inside out, back to front , you name, it we done it...... only joking. We found a good launderette very close to our hotel and got all our stuff washed fresh and clean for about £14, Ann was proper over the moon, lovely fresh smellin clothes - I no longer had to put up with crispy, sweat smelling pants, uuuggghhh!!!!
We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Belgrade, the weather had been magnificent and, as in previously visited cities, we had our eyes opened. We even surprised ourselves at how similar life is to that of our own in the UK and perhaps more astonishingly, how quickly and with relative ease we settled in and embraced this European city and its culture. So watch out kids (Lisa Ciaran & Katherine), we might not be back after all!!
 |
| A stark reminder of the past |
Sunday arrived before we knew it and it was time to leave Belgrade. We were ready to move on to our next destination, the capital city of Sarajevo in Bosnia & Herzegovina........
Till next time, luv and kisses to all, well all the girls really.
The easy Riders
hey Hungarians - how ya doin'? xx
ReplyDelete