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I finished up some practical stuff before heading out at around 11. Took a different way and walked all the way to town, probably around 4 km. On the way, I came across another market. I thought the entrance looked strikingly similar to the one I had passed the day before, but when I looked at my map, and even without it, I told myself it could impossibly be the same one. In addition, the market the day before had been about to close, but now it was still morning and it was bustling with people, so I went inside.
By the entrance, they had the most beautiful flowers and flower decorations. Then I looked through the clothing stalls with cheap underwear, bras, pyjamases, not too many shoes though… Then I reached the food stalls where they sold vegetables and fruit. Lots of pumpkins at this time of year. Really huge cauliflower heads for almost no money at all (I love cauliflower). I also passed a stall where they sold dried peppers. I remember last year, when I wanted to try to make this Macedonian bean dish back in Denmark which is based on/contains dried peppers and I thought to myself; where on Earth can I get hold of that? I couldn't exactly wait another month drying them myself (or I could but didn't really have the place nor string to dry it and I just really wanted the dish that evening). So trust me when I say that I was so tempted to buy those peppers. That same stall also has "Leskovac ajvar", which I could make out in Cyrillic. My friends had told me that their home town was famous for two things: pljeskavica and ajvar. Ajvar, because apparently they have really good conditions for growing peppers, so their peppers, and hence ajvar, is better than other ajvar. I was quite happy they had told me that, because it meant that, when I saw "Leskovac ajvar", I understood the "implications" of that, so to speak; I understood why it was marketed like that - and I so wanted to buy it. Other stalls had freshly baked dough for making burek. I only recognized it because when I was staying in an Airbnb in Niš last year, the host showed me and this other Swiss guy how to make it. Otherwise I wouldn't have known what it was or what it looked like when bought ready to make, a bit like you can buy pizza dough that's already been rolled out but you fill it yourself.
This entire time, and at many other times during my trip, perhaps most notably when or right after having endeavoured one of those amazing bureks, I asked myself why I don't live in the Balkans. Like wow; the cheap and great food, I quite appreciate the language, I have lots of friends in the region, it's fairly warm for most of the year (though this is partially due to global warming; it's been much warmer than usual in autumn and spring for example), and I could actually see myself there for a while. Not forever, but a bit more than the time I spent there last year. It's strange how you come to appreciate things so much only after having had an ex from Serbia or after having lived in Macedonia for 5 months already. Though I did enjoy all my travelling while I was there but so many other things I only appreciated upon my return to the Balkans this year.
I wanted to buy so many food items at the market (including more plazma), and I really had to refrain myself from doing so. Why? Because I'm currently in Oslo where I'll be for the next week. I was home for one day where I barely had the time to unpack, do laundry, then repack. Once I get back from Oslo, I'm also just staying one night, then I'm off to my next big adventure: volunteering in Greece. So basically, I won't be cooking until I don't even know when. And I currently don't really live anywhere…so shopping of any kind, except new running shoes perhaps (and the three deodorants I got at DM), would be unpractical in every sense. But oh, I wanted those peppers or trying the Leskovac ajvar!
But all good (trips) come to an end, and I continued towards the city centre after having explored all the market's temptations. I wandered around a bit, without any real destination or goal except just seeing more of the city. At one point, I stopped by a tiny corner shop to buy an apple, as I was starting to get slightly hungry. It was no ordinary corner shop though, at least not to me. In the tiny space inside, they had freezers with whole (i.e. unpackaged and non-processed) fish; I recognized mackerel from having worked in the fish factory. They had dried fruits and nuts in loose weight. All kinds of other frozen things you would only find in big grocery stores back home. I also saw this small black seed pastry in a vacuum bag that I bought as well. I had seen some bigger ones at the market, and wanted to try it with the intention of seeing if it was any good, in which case I could maybe buy one and bring to ny last day at work. Of course I figured, since it was vacuum packed, that it wouldn't be as good as the ones freshly baked at the market, but it was still okay. I preferred the black seed paste over the bread surrounding it, and it reminded me of these "glutenous rice balls" that my Chinese flatmate taught me to make in Edinburgh. I've never known what the filling was but now I'm pretty sure it's that actually; black seed paste.
I walked all the way back to the Airbnb, again taking a different route. I was going to get pljeskavica or cevapi at a place my host had recommended near her house, but I couldn't find it, so after having picked up my bag, I got a cheese burek at the closest bakery instead to eat on the bus. Now, remember that first day when I accidentally bought two bureks? The cheese one was…okay, but the meat one had been so good. So I had started getting meaty ones because I thought they were generally better. However, I felt more like having cheese on this particular day, even though it was maybe not as good, so I went with that - and wow, no regrets! It was insanely good. That makes two really brilliant bureks in Serbia and two decent ones in Tuzla. I thought perhaps Serbian bureks were better, but the next day I got my last one in Belgrade, and it was also only "good" - so now I've come up with my own theory that Novi Sad has the best bureks in the world. They were just pure heaven. I miss it already!
I got off at the Central station, and entered what I had thought was the bus station and got a ticket for only 300 dinars. This confused me, as the ticket to Novi Sad had been 750. He pointed me to the "peron", as it's called in Serbian, even when it's for the bus, and as I got upstairs, I realized I was at the train station. I, of course, remember from Macedonia that trains are cheaper (and slower) than buses. That's why it had only been 300 dinars. I tried to find the train time on my ticket but couldn't find it. I couldn't be bothered to wait there without knowing when the train would arrive nor how long it would take to get back to Belgrade. Plus, I had set a time to meet with some other acquaintances around 6 so I didn't have endless time. So I headed back downstairs to the guy who had sold me the ticket. He seemed quite annoyed that I hadn't realized I was at the train station and not the bus station, but I didn't even have to argue with him for him to take my ticket and give me my money back. Then I headed outside and to the right, where the building was which apparently was the bus station. Got another ticket, now at a more 'normal' price.
It would of course have been preferable to take the bus straight to Tuzla - and the next day, so I didn't have to spend another day in Tuzla where I had explored pretty much everything. However, after having double checked with my host, it seemed clear that there was no way of getting straight to Tuzla; hence I was going back to Belgrade for a night, then I would take the bus to Tuzla at 9AM in the morning, which was early enough for me to go to the airport. My friends back in Belgrade also suggested I could stay another night in Novi Sad, since there are so many connections between Novi Sad and Belgrade, but then I would have needed to take the bus to Novi Sad at like 7 AM, stress around in case traffic was bad to catch the bus to Tuzla and 9 AM (and the next bus to Tuzla wasn't until in the afternoon, so if I'd miss the 9 o'clock one I would have been more than screwed), and then have my flight at 6PM; be home around 10PM. That would have been 16 hours of travelling - and work the next day. Just no way.
The bus was very punctual, both arriving just on time, leaving on time, and then getting to the bus stop in Belgrade. I had booked some cheap Airbnb that was really close to the main station, so that I could easily get to and from there early the next morning. I wanted to get my bus ticket to Tuzla, but time was running scarce, so I headed straight to the room so I could leave my bag and potentially message the people I was meeting up with. Old Belgrade, around the main station, is quite dirty, and, as the name implies, old. Most streets give the same feeling as the most dodgy streets of London, in terms of dirt and light, but they're not actually that dodgy. At least I didn't experience that as I found my way to the Airbnb; one of the streets was under construction or renovation, so the entire street was rough gravel, with holes and uncovered/only partially covered street drainage, but lots of bakeries and delicious looking street food.
The Airbnb was certainly the best located place imaginable, but the place itself was rather terrible. I was basically happy that I was only staying for the night, and that I had showered the day before. After having messaged my friends, and deciding to meet by some clock at the main square, I headed out; the main square was only an 8 minutes' walk away. Everything was bustling with life, even though it was just Tuesday night.
I got to the main square, where I had met with my other friends on those two other occasions, but the problem was that I didn't see any clock. I had told my friends that they were reconstructing the main square, and I seemed to have been the only one who knew that. I was trying to find wifi, because one of my friends I had met during the weekend had misunderstood our meeting point, so I thought there was a risk the same might happen now. But there was no wifi around, at least not without a password, so I walked around a corner to check if there was a clock, keeping an eye on the wifi radar. Then thankfully, I hear someone say my name, and there stands my acquaintance, apparently also having been on her phone. She said our other friend would be a bit late, but she was on her way.
When we were in Macedonia, I had helped her a lot in the days leading up to her final exam in English. At the time, her level had been around or below A2 - but now she was speaking quicker and more confidently, and she very proudly explained that she had passed her B1 exam, and she is still taking English classes. I was so happy to hear that, and see how thrilled she was herself.
We didn't wait long for our other friend to come along, after which we entered the restaurant/café just on the corner. It was quite huge, on two floors, and we got a table upstairs, though many people were also sitting outside. We chatted a lot, got something to drink, and decided to share a big pizza. They had quite good ones, with good raw materials and thin crust. They told me about their families, lives, homes, work. Even though they're considerably older than me, it was really nice to see them again and we had lots to talk about.
When we had finished our pizza - and talked for probably around two hours, they needed to get back to their families. Since I also had a long day ahead, it was probably for the best anyway. I myself took a detour to the bus station, where I, to my horror, found that only the information guy was there; not the ticket guys. I walked around the terminal, as I knew by now that there were actually three places where you could buy tickets. I was sure some place had to be open because lots of people were coming with suitcases and I knew that buses were clearly still leaving; it wasn't that late yet. It was only when I had been around the entire terminal, at the last 'shop', that two ticket stalls were still open. I got a ticket to Tuzla and a coin that you need to use to enter the gates to the platforms.
Then I ended up taking a walk, got myself a small plazma shake, which I had been craving all day, which was also a great way to get rid of the last dinars I had, and my last chance to have one, then returned to my room.
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The bus ride to Serbia was relatively smooth. The border took unusually long though; we waited around half an hour. However, once the passport control finally boarded our bus to collect our ID, he had a stamp with him, so instead of taking all the ID with him, then returning, he just checked the documents, stamped my passport right there and then got off.
I wanted to leave my bag at the bus station so that I could wander around more easily and freely. The woman in the ticket booth didn't understand enough English to get what I wanted, but when I pointed at my bag, she understood. She nodded to me that I should follow her around to the door, which she opened for me, and then showed me into a small room which looked like an abandoned office.
'How much?' I asked in Serbian. She shrugged her shoulders, as if she didn't know and made up a price on the spot; 2 BAM (1€). I paid her, then she closed the door behind me.
I meant to go to the shopping centre my friend had talked about with all the sneakers on sale, maybe find something to eat on the way. However, once I got to the spot marked as 'shopping centre' on Google maps, there was just a huge 3-store store with everything from kitchenware to toys and food. Not exactly what I had in mind. So I took a different route back to the bus station where I thought I'd grab a bite instead and just wait for my friend to come pick me up. However, on the way, I passed by the real shopping centre, the one I assume my friend had been talking about, but the only thing marked on the map where I was, was 'Zara'. They didn't just have Zara though, they had lots of clothing stores, both that I had heard of and not, a café, restaurants on the top floor.
I decided to get a quick overview of the stores available before going for the sports store, but I ended up on the top floor by the restaurants and realized I only had about an hour left until I was meeting with my friend. After that, I would be going to the really tiny airport under reconstruction, and then not get to Scandinavia until it was too late to have dinner. So I ordered some cevapi with kajmak. I knew it wouldn't be as good as in the street (and I was right), but I wasn't sure I'd come across a cevapi place on my way to the bus station, so this was potentially the last chance for both cevapi and food. It took a bit longer than expected; 15-20 minutes. And since I'm a slow eater, I had to pretty much get going back to the bus station as soon as I had finished eating. I didn't have time to check out the sneakers.
I quickly managed to buy some baklava for a friend of mine, and a really delicious piece of cake for dessert, and thereby using up my Bosnian marks. Then I hurried to the bus station where I retrieved my bag. I had originally decided on a different meeting point, so the fact that my friend wasn't there at 4 worried me quite a bit, but there was no wifi at the station. So I was quite relieved - and surprised - when I asked the staff at the station café if I could get the wifi password, and they happily told me it without asking me to buy anything. It was quite lucky indeed that I got connected, because she was waiting for me at the first place we had decided - which was actually still a different place from the one I thought I had decided; She had been at the shopping centre we had been the other day; I had thought we were to meet at the shopping centre I had just been. Very complicated. But now, she could come to the bus station, and then she, and her sister, drove me to the airport.
When I had looked at the forecast a week ago, this was supposed to be the coldest day with 5-7 degrees and cloudy. My friend said that it had even supposed to snow. However, it was about 17 degrees and the only thing that was 'snowing', were the leaves. It was literally snowing leaves - but mainly because we were driving through the forest.
It was even clearer now that the airport was under renovation; at home, you would still make use of the main airport, then just renovate/add some construction behind some walls where it says 'we are changing the airport' - or something like that. It wasn't like that here; we were in the middle of the entire construction. There were cardboard covering the floors, and the cardboard in turn was covered in dust. The walls were all temporary, and there were only two check-in counters with handwritten signs that read 'Malmö'. There was no conveyor belt, just men, to carry the checked-in bags to…behind the counter. I thanked my friend and her sister so much for having taken the time to drive me - and she thanked me for having got back in touch upon my return…even though we hadn't met or done anything else except driving to the airport.
There was just one belt for security check, but judging from the check-in counters, the only people currently there, were the people on my plane. I thought it was funny that there was a sign prohibiting photography; when it's such a temporary security check in the middle of reconstruction, I doubt photography is going to compromise the safety procedures… Either way, it was a pity, because I actually wanted to take a photo just to show how non-official it all looked.
On the other side of the security check, there was one single waiting hall with white, temporary-looking walls. Up against one wall, there were some shelves with a few duty-free items; cigarettes, alcohol, perfumes, sweets. One gate. Bathrooms. Waiting chairs. That's literally all there was. Good thing I had eaten.
The plane was delayed, but we didn't receive any explanation nor update about it. Usually, obviously, there is a screen telling you the new estimated time of departure. No such thing here. So when it was 6PM, when we were supposed to have left, I basically had no idea why nor when we would finally go. I think the final delay was about 45 minutes.
Taking the bus from Malmö airport to Copenhagen is a bit of a dodgy business; the bus company requires you to book your trip before noon on the day before your journey, after which you get a booking, but no confirmation, because you first need to transfer the money into an account or via paypal; you can't pay just online through their site. I've done it before, and so has my friend, so it's all valid, but it feels very unofficial and dodgy.
Anyway, in my case, this meant I needed to book almost 36h before arrival - and I had only remembered around 30h before, so basically, I was without a booking. I was sure there'd be a free space anyway, but when I got to the bus, he said it was fully booked. So I was forced to take the normal airport coach into Malmö city centre - then take the train to Denmark, costing me about twice as much as the direct bus would have cost. That wasn't too bad though, especially because I managed to get it reimbursed since I had been at the conference in Malmö the week before, but the most annoying thing was that the train was delayed. Usually, they go every 20 minutes, but the next one kept getting delayed until they eventually announced it was cancelled all together. The reason was that the police had closed the train tracks up in Lund because of trespassing. The next train also got delayed - but thankfully not cancelled (the train after mine, the third one, also got cancelled!) so after 40 or so minutes, I finally got onto a train.
I was home half an hour before midnight, very thankful for the fact that I had taken the bus from Novi Sad the day before, and not in the morning.
Now, I'm in Oslo at the Nordic Youth Council's annual session. I won't be reporting from here, but don't forget that I'll be back already in less than a week for one of my biggest adventures yet; volunteering with refugees in Greece. The trip starts on Friday with a flight to Istanbul, from where I'll take a bus to Cesme (the next day), and then a ferry to the Greek island of Chios (if everything goes according to plan at least). So thank you for following me on this adventure, and hope you will come back next week!