Jumped off the train and headed to the hostel with Jack and another guy we'd met getting off the train. Another sociable hostel and we were quickly invited on a night out. A group of around ten of us decided to head down to the river bank to try out one of the clubs down there. The one we plumped for was apparently an over 23s club but somehow the whole group of us got in on the authority of my expired matric card which suggests I'm 22 (and a half). Was the usual affair of over-crowding and offensively loud music but we persevered and pretended it was awesome.
At one stage, I decided I needed more alcohol to ensure I could have fun but on my way back from the bar I became disorientated and couldn't relocate the gang. I'd broken the cardinal rule of walking - never go off on your own - and now I had to pay the price for it. Following a long period of reconnaissance, I decided my task was destined to be a fruitless one and that I should cut my losses and head home. Which was also challenging.
The next day was an even bigger challenge. Splitting headache, jack looking unsure as to cry or vomit and 35 degrees being displayed by the mercury (or the app on my iPhone). Eventually, jack and I looked each other in the eye and knew we had to do something so we went to the Belgrade War Museum which was about as one sided as things can get. The display that was pride of place was the uniform and equipment of a US NATO pilot shot down in Serbia during the offensive there.
As one often finds after a trip to a museum, we were hungry. So we went to the oldest restaurant in the city (roughly 200 y.o.) called '?' which serves such delights as "young bulls sex gland" as well as more normal dishes.
Our waiter spoke very broken English so ordering was a long, drawn out ordeal and we sighed in relief as he walked away with our order only for him to turn around and try to recommend something totally different to us. We were hungover and couldn't be arsed so submitted and were very glad when he brought us a huge sharing platter of various grilled meats on top of a mound of fries with goats cheese siting on top. All for £7 each! Yum.
Returned to hostel to get sleep. Had to get up very early for a 23 hour train to Istanbul. At least this time we managed to book beds in a six bed compartment. However, all the water we had bought in advance was fizzy. Who in their right mind produces and sells 5 litre containers of fizzy water?! We now truly had scene it all.
As well as this we has squat toilets, seemingly the whole of France keen on singing all night and the joys of Turkish border control at 4 in the morning to contend with. Nonetheless, we reached our final destination in reasonably fine fettle.