Hellgrade to Bellgrade

I’m standing in a business class hotel tub in Belgrade that lacks any truly flat spots. The whole thing is entirely curved in some way. I keep losing my balance as I desperately shower off the smoke poison of the day- courtesy our train ride. This tub is just the tip of the iceberg for what I hope will have been our hardest day the entire honeymoon. All day long on our “non-smoking” section of the a traincar, I was not able to engage anyone with a smile—not the old woman sitting next to us nor the Hungarian version of Bill Clinton sitting a few seats down.

These are hardened people with nothing but empty stares for me. They talk with each other but even then, the apparent unspoken ban on smiling is evidence of the nation’s communist rule hangover.

Budapest heat (makes my temper short) and a growing unfriendliness of the natives make me desperate to get to the end of our 7-hour ride out of Hungary and into Serbia. I cannot believe the Hungarian people and government continue to leave the train doors open and not work more actively on curbing tobacco consumption. The lands are primarily agricultural, with lots of wheat, corn and animals being raised. There is also a fair amount of industry and what appears not to be the best waste management practices near some waterways.

In Kelebia, Serbia, our passports get checked as we approach the Hungarian border. We soon learn the modern passport controls leave many residents are unable to travel out of Serbia.

In the buffet car, I gradually move further and further away from the lascivious waiter as he and three other young thugs with cigarettes laugh at my discomfort with their secondhand smoke. If you don’t learn the language, you become an open target. Would it be rude to shove that burning cigarette down the waiter’s throat? He’d get all the same benefits. As I head back to our seat, he stops me asking for another 200 euros (a cost not specified on the English version of the menu). Dave did the first food run- and for sure didn’t get this treatment. Just another wonderful day with T&A.

The hotel isn’t so bad, except they only have a New Testament in the drawer—heathens. This painful day ended with yummy veggies and kind waiters for a late Saturday night meal.