On to Pirot, Serbia

 

We set out for Serbia this afternoon.  Instead of having 13 minutes to haul our luggage off one train, make our way to another platform and load our luggage on another train, we opted for a taxi.  It cost about $5.  Well worth the E ticket ride we got flying through the mountain to the train station.  We made it safe and sound and boarded our train, which sat there for 35 minutes, because, from the best of my understanding of Bulgarian, the engine broke and we had to get another one.  Well we got the new one and headed off to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria now. 

We had heard about the bombing of the Israeli tourists in eastern Bulgaria on the news.  Did that make US news?  We boarded another train headed for Serbia.  When we crossed the border the train was boarded by security police.  They walked the inside and the outside of the train with flashlights, checking…..  Then, right afterwards, on the Serbian side, we were boarded again and everything was rechecked.

I felt conflicted.  On one hand I felt safe because someone was looking out for me and checking things out and on the other hand it scared me because they needed to do that.  In any case we made it safely to Pirot at about 11pm instead of the 9:30 listed on the schedule.  Our room booking said the hotel was just 600 meters from the train station, so we started walking.  We asked directions, as we often do, and each time we were pointed in the same direction and told to keep going, implying it was a long way.  After walking who knows how long, Duane asked a lady on a bike, and she spoke a little English (no one else spoke any) and she told us to call a taxi.  She called one for us and explained that there was a second train station, but it was not called Pirot, like the stop we got off at and the town we are in, but by some other name.  So finally we got to the hotel with no local money to pay the taxi.  The hotel man paid the taxi and charged us double what he paid, but it was worth it   (double was an extra $2)

So now we are in Pirot, a small town in Serbia where we have found no one who speaks English much (except for the bike lady) and where prices are very cheap, so we are staying here for 3 days to catch up on blogging and then get some rest…..read, stroll a part and not take pictures.  We might even say hello to each other.  I know that sounds silly, but we have been traveling since May 6th and when we “take a break” it means we do blogging, laundry or shopping for essentials.  Real rest is needed and being taken.

So long for now.