First off - we’re still alive! And that is obviously a very big plus - just been a bit pre-occupied with other things, not to mention another country. But here we are, finally, our farewell to Serbia. One of the things that has been keeping us occupied is becoming acclimated to heat once more. Eastern Europe is experiencing a heatwave with no signs of stopping and April is seeing temperatures not usually seen until the end of May. There and we thought we’d...

We are so lucky to have a decent whack of time here in Belgrade - it means we can revisit and wander about places we enjoy at our own speed. On Tuesday (3 April) we returned to Kalemegdan Park and Belgrade Fortress. It’s one of those great places where you can spend your cash if you’re determined to but it also has swathes of things to explore and enjoy gratis. We took our lunch with us and ate in the sun - spring flowers, tulips and daffodils are explodin...

We’ve learned a couple of things during our first week in Old Belgrade. First off - Belgrade means White City. Secondly, New Belgrade, where we spent our first week was once nothing more than the dormitory for Belgrade proper - massive communist apartment blocks placed on a drained swamp in a part of Serbia across the Sava river that was originally in the Austro-Hungarian empire. It’s much better now of course - though still got the eyesore flats - but also ...

The tears! The consternation! The chasing the bags down the stairs! The attempt to get in a hand bag and come too... ‘Twas one of the most difficult departures we’ve ever had with one of our foster-furballs - and that was just for us. Poor little Smokey was aware something was going on (that much luggage is never a good sign) and we felt utterly criminal by the time we were on the road to Belgrade, Serbia. Driving vs. Flying was a fairly lucky decision as it...