Just over two weeks into my trip and I am already behind schedule! In 3 days time I was due to arrive in Istanbul and now that looks like it won't be for at least another week or 10 days. How the time is passing quickly!

I woke up bright and early this morning despite not getting to bed till late last night. Alex, a German who I kept calling Dietmar until I realised it wasn't his name, was also up and we decided to head off to Skadarska, the Serbian equivalent of Montmartre in Paris on account of its cobbled streets, tree-lined avenues and numerous cafe's lining the streets. It is supposed to be the cultural part of Belgrade, though there wasn't too much evidence of activity as we walked around. Still it was a pleasantly quiet area near the busy town centre. We had originally wanted to find a crafts market somewhere nearby but sadly never quite find it despite walking around for a couple of hours. The closest we cam to a market was a few random sellers selling what looked to be a few items of rubbish cobbled together by clearing out their attic.

Unknowingly today was the eclipse, and whilst Serbia was not on the list of countries where it could be viewed at its best, the whole are began to darken and become more sombre. It was a strange feeling and I was wondering what was happening until I looked around the city Fortress to see several people wearing special glasses and poiting cameras up towards the sun. In the midst of this "excitement" my phone rang with an important call I had to return meaning that I had to cross the other side of town to the telephone centre.

By the time I had finished walking back to the Hostel it was nearly 6pm and certainly time for a beer. The guys back at the hostel agreed and along with the new arirvals we sat down to drink. I had promised Verity that, being a gentleman, I would buy her a drink. Sadly the supermarket only sold vodka in large bottles, but since the price was only 300 Dinars (just over 2 GBP) I obliged and bought the bottle. Maybe it was the wrong tone to set for the evening, but she'd asked for something clear and that seemed the best choice. I thought, in any case, I could take any left over with me. I should have realised that of course none would be left over and as the night set in, the drinking games set in more and more heavily till we ended up playing Ring of Fire with several sets of cards between about 5 of us. Needless to say that 3am came (and almost went) before we finished and I decided to head to bed.