The ride from Novi Sad to Belgrade is hell. If you aren’t hell-bent on cycling every mile then I recommend taking a train instead.
I tried to avoid this leg’s crushing hills via a detour but I must’ve missed a turn. I ended up on a longer route with bigger hills through the Serbian National Forest, which included a monster 8%, 10km long winding hill climb with heavy truck traffic.
During the climb I was more or less irate and mumbling angry things at myself and the signage (or lack thereof). But by the time I reached the top I felt a sincere sense of accomplishment. Just a couple weeks ago I was hopping off The Green Machine to walk up hills that were a fraction this climb and now I concurred it from the saddle. This alone was worth the climb but it is the descent through the forest is what makes this detour special.
The forest offered a moist crisp breeze after the hot traffic-filled climb. There’s no pleasure without pain, or something. Deep in the forest is an abandoned Soviet cable tower that was striking and strangely beautiful. There is a hotel nearby the tower too.
Farther along today’s route is another detour that the EuroVelo signage urges you to take. Ignore them! It’s for a “weekend village” with nice views of the Danube. I assure you that these views are no nicer than any of the hundreds of other times you’ve seen the river by this point. The detour’s signage is unclear, and, of course, the climb up out of the detour is not only steep and unpaved, it is also filled with bloodthirsty mosquitos!
There’s heavy traffic from this detour on until about 10km outside of Belgrade where the EV6 signs took me off onto a quiet side road that led to a river path into Belgrade. The maps told me to take a cyclist elevator from the bridge that crosses into Belgrade back down to the water. The elevator was out of order and regardless it looked like a death trap even if it had worked. So I rode straight into Belgrade city center from the bridge.
Once I made it into Belgrade, I found a park bench, kicked my feet up, and searched for a hostel. The Happy Home Hostel was nearby with good reviews and a price tag of 10eur. That’ll do!
There’s no designated bike parking at the hostel, which almost put me off of the place but the attendant offered a rarely used door to which I could affix my bicycle.
The host initially seemed short and just this side of rude. I convicted him of all sorts of crimes against hospitality. Then during his unwitting appeal, he informed me he’d just received terrible news and wouldn’t be able to give me the wifi info for a bit. The guy wasn’t being rude, he was suffering and trying to keep it together. A good reminder for not to ascribe malintent where another explanation would do.
After getting cleaned up it was onto the Happy Cow app, as always. Mandala Restaurant had the kind of reviews that only a masochist would ignore. And holy shit where they spot on. This is one of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to.
I sat down at the restaurant, which was quite literally out of a movie set. There were a cast and crew filming some soap opera just a couple of meters to my left.
A spicy Sazerac cocktail — this is my first cocktail of the trip somehow — and a carrot lox tartine to start. The tartine is large enough for two normal people or for one glutton, like me. You’d be an idiot not to order this dish.
Now, as a mushroom connoisseur, I’m used to a certain experience at restaurants: I order a dish named Mushroom X, only to find that despite being named as the lead, the mushrooms were in fact cast as extras. This is a form of fungicide that I simply can’t bear, and luckily for me, Mandala Restaurant agreed. I was treated to a heaping portion of grilled oyster mushrooms for the main course. They were slathered in a sweet BBQ sauce, with roasted potatoes, blistered cherry tomatoes, leeks, and you get the idea.
Then I ordered the chocolate berry for dessert. Another great call by me. Although I must admit to a sneaking suspicion that the success of my order had less to do with my prescience and more to do with the skill of Manadala’s chef and line cooks. Anyway, this dessert was gorgeous — a massive portion fit for three normal diners or, again, one glutton. Ganache, cherries, raspberry sorbet, and cookie crackers that if I’m honest would have been an addition via subtraction.
Mandala Restaurant is 10 out of 10!
After dinner, it was back to the Happy Home Hostel to play roommate roulette. Tomorrow I’ll take a rest day in Belgrade.
Today’s Miscellany
