Yesterday I checked out of the Madness hostel (the hostel was booked for an additional night, and didn't have room for me to add another night) and into another hostel, The Hedonist Hostel. The Hedonist Hostel is not exactly what it sounds like-A sexy, naked 20 something hostess didn't greet me at the door with a welcome cocktail. To be a hedonist, according to the hostel, is simply to "live life using all senses", or to the fullest, and the inference is travelers adhere to this motto.
The Hedonist Hostel is quite clean and the staff is super friendly. There is a garden out back where one can relax as well.
The original plan was to go to the Nikola Tesla Museum in the morning but I dilly dallied, walked in and out of stores, and decided I didn't have time to go to the Tesla Museum and do the walking tour in the afternoon which I wanted to do.
in the afternoon, I went on a Communist walking tour. Although I went on communist tours in Budapest, Krakow, Warsaw, and Gdansk, I figured this would provide a different perspective, since Serbia wasn't under Russian rule, but had a different leader, Tito, and also since communism/socialism lasted until 1999 ( believe), 10 years later then the Russian-block countries. The tour was interesting, focusing on Tito, the leader who lead the communist state after World War 2. Unlike Stalin, many loved Tito, because there was always ample food, etc, and they felt he was a protector. Unfortunately, the tour didn't focus on what life was like under communism (in greater detail), which would have been interesting. I also saw some of the bombed buildings from the Nato bombing of 1999, which have yet to be repaired.
After the tour, I went back to the hostel to take a nap, and then went to Beerfest. Now when I originally checked into the Madness Hostel, I was asked if I was here for Beerfest-I had no idea what that was. Apparently, Beerfest is a once-a-year festival that occurs over several days on a nearby fairground. There are rides, DJ's, bands, and of course, many vendors serving beer. It's a state fair with beer as the theme. To buy a beer, you don't just go up to a vendor and give them money-you have to buy a card, like a debit card, and present that to the vendor.
I walked around, went to the middle of the field, where hundreds (if not thousands), we're watching a DJ on stage playing some thumping techno-mix with a laser light show, and the beat was infectious. Now that is one job that that has interested me over the last few years. Unlike a musician who seems to need a talent to play an instrument, all a celebrity DJ seems to need is an IMAC, and a pair of thick headphones. This guy also had a requisite mustache and a black t-shirt (a video screen zoomed in on him)-he was too far to see with the naked eye.
After Beerfest, I walked back across the bridge to the old town, where the Hedonist Hostel was, and went to bed.
