It was July 4th, when we went to Serbia. We flew Turkish Airlines from Skopje and we had a few hours layover in Istanbul. As is always the case every time we are in an international airport with a few hours to spare, we again went to the Star Alliance Club Lounge to eat our free time away.

The flight was pretty uneventful. I have to say, Turkish Airlines is a very good airline. They provided us passengers with meals even on a very short haul flight. US carriers offer nothing on short haul flights. Once we arrived in Belgrade, we cleared immigration right away. I do remember immediately after landing, there were a few men who checked everyone's passports and flipped through their pages looking for something. As to what it was I have no idea.

After we collected our suitcases, we went to the front of the airport where the buses to the city center stopped to pick up passengers. I remember the buses taking a while to arrive. I in fact went back inside the airport and asked a lady at a booth for directions. There were two ways to get to the city center from the airport. We could take either the A1 bus which mostly tourists take or Bus 72 which the locals take and which charged a cheaper fare. We originally planned on taking the A1 Bus. We saw one arrive but it turned out to be just a mini van with a very limited number of seats.

When we tried to place our big suitcases in the rear of the mini van, a gypsy family cut in line and placed their numerous bags in front of all passengers' belongings. It seemed they too wanted to board the A1 bus. For some weird reason they did not board and there was a mad scramble for seats on the small van among other tourists heading to the city center. We didn't get lucky. The driver advised us to take the next A1 bus as there were no longer any seats on his van nor space for our cases.

When our other option, Bus 72, to the city center arrived, I suggested we take it since we had been waiting a long time. I had no idea when the next A1 service was going to arrive. Once again the gypsy family cut in line and wanted to board the bus we had decided to board. The bus driver told them something in Serbian and they left with their tons of belongings. When we tried to pay the fare with our credit card, the gadget on board didn't take our payment. One middle aged local told us not to worry and advised us to just stay on board. We did although we were a bit worried that fare inspectors would board and find out we hadn't paid. Not because we didn't want to but we just couldn't.

The entire ride from the airport to the bus terminal in Belgrade took an hour. The bus didn't exactly take a scenic route. Every so often, I would ask my partner if we were indeed on the right track. My partner used the google maps which he fortunately downloaded before we boarded the bus in the airport. So we watched the little blue dot to assure ourselves that we were indeed traveling in the right direction towards Belgrade's city center.

When we reached what seemed to be the last stop, I asked the few remaining on board if we all had to get off there and they all answered yes in English.

Once off the bus, we walked for around twenty minutes to reach our hotel, the Mercure. The walked seemed like an eternity with our heavy suitcases. Anyway, we did reach our hotel safe and sound. We were tired but totally relieved.