retiredmartin

October 2023. Belgrade, Serbia.

Mrs RM had booked flights to/from Belgrade and Sarajevo at their cheapest (£20 ignoring cost to the planet), but we’d left it till the week before to even think about itineraries, hotels, transport, cash (no joy, closed currencies) and whether or not Baa Baa Toure would come with us.

I’d been given a list of instructions to download apps called Revolut and Airalo so I could a) pay on my phone, b) get WiFi (which I always confuse with internet).

I failed to do either, obviously, so had to fall on Mrs RM’s mercy again as we hit the streets of central Belgrade that Monday afternoon,

and tether to Mrs RM‘s WiFi pack. Which sounds fine, but tethering only works when two phones are nearby, so I found myself literally tethered to my wife, unable to walk ahead for fear of, well, whatever fate befalls you when you come off social media.

Belgrade’s architecture looks a bit plain, but it’s surprisingly blessed with foliage,

and there’s a wealth of outdoor seating.

That first week of October was a scorcher (26+), even by Balkan standards,

and although it’s no Malaga or Margate there were plenty of young folk in the outside tables.

But Belgrade still looks back as much as forward, with this statue of a local folk hero dominating cobbled Skadarska.

It may look like Jimmy Tarbuck, but this is Tomislav “Toma” Zdravković , whose video appropriately shows a bloke taking a drag.

https://youtu.be/uTn22wn65Sg

Smoking, trams, and outside drinking characterise the city,

but obviously it’s craft beer Mrs RM is looking for. I wanted to walk past the next bar, but as you’ve heard already I was tethered.

This place is even called Krafter,

though it’s the beret on the hook that’s the giveaway.

That and the oranges.

And the soundtrack;

Nice enough bar, the Port Street Beer House of the Balkans. RateBeer seem to like it; Pubs Galore hasn’t made it there yet.

Murk and stout from your old friends Crow and Tron and Hog and Salto.

Which probably means something if you read Belgrade’s version of Pellicle, anyway.

Anyway, Mrs RM is off up the hill, and if I don’t follow her I’ll lose WiFi and be unable to add my Untappd scores.