Today we wake up to glorious sunshine and within minutes we're all complaining about the heat 🔥😂

We've decided to have a lazy morning as we need to do some washing and given how late we arrived we didn't have a chance to do it overnight.

It means a slight change to our plans but we decide we'll just stay late in Belgrade and enjoy an evening meal in the city.

Compared to the rest of the capital cities I've ever been to trying to find things to do was a lot harder.

One place that kept coming up time and time again was Kalemegden park. It was quite a trek in the heat and we were once again cursed by Monday closures so we couldn't enter any of the buildings. We were still able to walk around the remains and get some good views.

We did find a beautiful little church half way up the hill which is apparently built on top of a sacred spring.

Back at the van we decide to park right in the centre of the city to save the little legs, it was rather tricky trying to find somewhere to park as many of the garages are underground and our van is too high. Turns out the kids were too hot, sweaty and tired so we found them both having a cheeky power nap 😴

It did the job as they were full of energy again and the temperature was starting to drop.

Walking to the centre we decided to get out some of the local currency since the further we travel the less often people want to accept cards even in restaurants, plus the kids think the foreign money is very exciting and we must be rich because it's such a big number (this was about £38).

I had read about Belgrade's best ice cream shop so we went to hunt it down. En route it was strange to see such ugly buildings even around the nicer ones and so much graffiti, although not all bad.

Saying that I was concerned about what it might say since we did see some anti NATO graffiti.

Before getting to the ice cream the kids spotted a park, of course we had to let them have 10 minutes. It was a bit of a throwback to parks in the 80s which we'd likely think of deathtraps these days. Despite the heat and the fact we won't get to our next stop until after dark I took the opportunity to jog a slow lap in case I don't get a chance to log a proper run.

Finally we reached the ice cream shop and I have to agree it's some the best ice cream we've had with very unique flavours.

Next we needed to pick up a couple of souvenirs which was a tricky task, unlike the other places it was really hard to find a souvenir shop. Finally we managed it and just as we were about to leave the shop the heavens opened and a huge thunderstorm commenced.

I had found a Mexican restaurant for us to have food which was a 5 minute walk away.

We had no idea how long the storm was going to last so decided just to brave it. By the time we got there we were soaked to the bone and I was in desperate need of one of their authentic margaritas.

The restaurant is owned by a Mexican who sources all the spices from Mexico and the food was delicious. Robert is great at trying new foods, Liliya is more apprehensive so nachos were crisps, quesadillas con queso were cheese pancakes and churros were long donuts. This approach worked well and the only item she wouldn't have was the freshly squeezed orange because it had random bits inside it 🙄.

By the time we'd eaten the storm had passed and there were two other notable things listed to visit in the centre.

The first was a church and it wasn't like any I had seen before, I'm not sure if it was new, or being repaired but it was very stark inside on the main walls but with a huge and impressive fresco on the front altar. They were raising money to complete the church which is why I wondered if it was new.

Next was a memory of the war in the late 90s, and is the only non military building that was bombed by NATO and left as a memory from that time. It's devastating to see the effects of war but also to see how things are perceived from the other side, as this memorial to the children who lost their lives mentions NATO as the aggressive party.

Unlike the other cities, and especially Budapest, I can't see a reason to return to Belgrade but I'm glad we added it to our itinerary.

We're staying in Ovcar Banja this evening (in some random car park) before heading to Zlatibor in the morning so it will be interesting to see the more rural side to Serbia.