The whole European Capital of Culture award means that it is absolutely jam-packed with people. Feels way more densely populated than Belgrade as a result. Thing is that among cultural events, there’s a bunch of comic book events (not cons) and a tiny fashion show that resulted in a museum I wanted to go to being shut down. That’s basically it for culture today.
The walking tour I went on was well worth it and enjoyable way to start the morning. However, the closed museum was just one museum I wanted to visit. The other I wanted to go to only allowed in organized group tours today. Adiós afternoon.
Restaurants I attempted to enter were booked or tourist traps. So I’m gonna leave early.
Overall take on Belgrade/Novi Sad? Novi Sad not worth more than a day trip and that’s mostly because it takes 36 minutes to get there by train from Belgrade.
Belgrade has a weird vibe. Definitely not your conventional vacation. To be honest, I think it can be better if the museums were updated and better planned out. The country has a fascinating history and the museums do little to draw you in. The walking tours are far better at that and give the city more character.
Nightlife is solid here and certainly the best in the Balkans and former Yugoslavia. Overall, people here are pretty friendly which was nice because I was expecting more of a Czech-like coldness. Food is good unless you’re vegan. Then it sucks. Prices were higher than expected. Locals told me that it’s related to the influx of Russians since Putin announced conscription for the invasion of Ukraine. Before that, prices were more what I expected. Now, it’s not that much cheaper than Prague.
Though there are many objectively better places to go in Europe, I’m happy I went because I enjoyed myself. Just that I’ve been to them already.
Next major vacay is in March (not counting America as a vacation since I’m seeing family). Probably gonna stick with the Balkans.
Lots of places experiencing a Russian bump in prices. Rental prices have been going crazy here in Tbilisi, Georgia. We live in a pretty nice 2-bedroom that would have gone for about $650 right before the invasion broke out. We got it for $1000. A Romanian neighbor that I talk to occasionally said they were also paying 1k, but their landlord recently requested that they pay $1300. So rentals have effectively doubled in price in less than a year. These prices are still good for a 2-bedroom w/jacuzzi in the nicest district, but I guess Georgia has moved from the “absurdly cheap” to “pretty cheap” category.
My friends want to visit Teotihuacan while in CDMX. Option 1 is just Uber there and explore alone or do an experience like the below for ease and a better understanding of what we see. Ever been @Fossilkid93 ?
It’s a great experience no matter how you do it. Budget option would be head to the Northern bus station in CDMX and head to Teotihuacán from there. I’ve done that twice, but it might be intimidating if there’s no Spanish speaker in the group. Uber obviously works also, and probably not that expensive.
If you wanna splurge, then the tour is a solid option as there is quite a bit of history to tell from this period and a good guide can explain what you’re looking at.
But you’ll still get a lot out of it even without a guide, just depends if you wanna spend the extra money or not.
Also, this place called La Gruta is pretty awesome for a meal after and right next to the ruins:
Do a hot air balloon ride. It’s way worth it and is only like $50 more than the tour you pointed out.
Also try to learn a bit about Teotihuacán’s history, which is fascinating for way bigger reasons than “wow spooky huge pyramids weird!” It’s arguably the biggest city to have ever existed with no evidence of economic elites, and drew immigrants from as far as the Yucatán.
I have a color coded Google maps of all the places I want to visit / have an interest in, but I can’t seem to share without my name attached to it. If I can figure that out I’ll post it.
That’s probably wise if you’re short on time. There’s a ton of stuff to see in CDMX. Judging by your avatar I’m assuming a lucha libre night is on the agenda?
Tuesday night when we get in. No way I am missing it. Arena Mexico specifically. We’ll probably just buy tickets at the gate instead of Ticketmaster. Seems easier?
You’ll end up getting back to CDMX a bit after lunch no matter what you do. The real downside of the hot air balloon is the forced 5:45AM departure. The hot air balloon ride itself happens well before the park even opens.
Yah, should be fine at the arena, although sometimes there are lines so maybe arrive a bit early. I used to have trouble with Ticketmaster b/c they’d only accept certain credit cards and then occasionally I’d have to pick up the tickets at a TM location or box office anyway. It was usually a hassle, not sure if it’s still the case with them.
Looks like Hanky Panky is a 9 minute walk. We’ll probably head there after the show. I read Arena Mexico isn’t exactly in the “safest” neighborhood after the shows let out, but I assume it’s fine enough to walk if we head out immediately after.
Yah, you won’t want to spend any more time in Doctores than you have to, but the Arena is pretty close to some safer streets. Just approach it from Av. Chapultepec or Cuauhtémoc (should be like 5 min. walk to Arena Mexico) and then when it ends, walk back to one of those 2 streets. Don’t wander the wrong direction further into Doctores.
I did a tour through the hotel I stayed at and it was great. Met a couple that was getting married in a few days and partied with them and their friends all night.
Yeah Teotihuacán is one of the examples I use to MAGA choads who say “multi-culturalism never works”. The city had a Maya quarter, a Zapotec quarter.
They did dominate their neighbors and install dynasties as far away as Tikal and Copan - which is one of the only sources of information about them since they didn’t write anything down.
Lots of stuff goes down in Montreal, but it’s pretty much all in the Summer (tons of music festivals, Just For Laughs, JazzFest, F1 race, etc). I’d say it’s prob one of the best cities in the world during Summer. Winters are brutal though and can last up to 5-6 months. During Winter, if it’s “only” -10 C and sunny, that’s considered a great day and everyone is happy and goes outside. It’s a great city otherwise, my favorite in USA/Canada, but I don’t think I could do the Winters long-term.
This is also one of the roughest things about Prague which to my surprise is 5 degrees further north than Montreal. In December, Prague has just 47 sunshine hours. November - February definitely fucks with me. I have to use my light box to avoid seasonal depression.
My least favorite day of the year is this week (turning off of DST). Why yes one more hour of daylight at 6am is much better than at 4pm. Fuck off, and fuck everything about that. The fact that there is no political will to fix this is insane
