Day 62 - Velika Plana to Jagodina

51.3 km - Total so far 3,426.10 km - Route pedalled.      Relive Video (with pictures)

Video of the day: Europe Day 62                        1,047 Left to pedal

We are safe and secure in Jagodina, Serbia, on the 6th floor with a view.

When I got up this morning, I just did not have it in me to look forward to today’s ride on that busy road again.  Turns out that Hélène felt the same way.  Had we not had a deadline to meet, we just would have had another rest day.  

We knew that after about 2 kilometres, we would make a turn on a quieter road for about 8 kilometres. What we did not realize is that once we got to the highway overpass, most of the vehicles on the road took to the highway. It got pretty quiet on the road.

That road took us through many villages and it was a lot more satisfying to see homes and people without the constant buzzing of cars and trucks. We had a tail wind so we got from one village to another fairly quickly. We even got to stop for apricots.

We had one big hill to climb. I managed to get to the top without walking by taking rest breaks so my fitness is getting better. Hélène’s fitness is also getting better so she now has longer waits for me at the top. 

We had a speedy descent to Jagodina. We were really impressed by the place from the get go. Few of those horrible Soviet era buildings, colourful older construction and some nice looking modern buildings.

We found a nice spot in the commercial district for lunch and I got into a pretty long hand waiving and smiling session with a guy who spoke no English. He left with a smile so it was all good.

We got to our apartment at about 2:15 pm and that gave us a chance to relax a bit. We went shopping for fruits at the tiny neighbourhood stores that you find everywhere in Serbia. This was followed by a visit to the nearest supermarket to find the elusive ‘powdered dairy creamer’ for our coffee. We had been looking for a while and we found success.

Very modern, could be in Ottawa

We are very happy with our well appointed accommodations for the night. It’s like a big hotel room with A/C, kettle and fridge. It’s on the sixth floor of an apartment building and we have a terrific view of the surrounding hills. What’s incredible is our cost for tonight is $23.98 CAD. You can’t get a campsite for that price anywhere in Canada.

View from our room

We had planned to go for dinner at a slightly upscale restaurant recommended by a gentleman from Paris who now lives here. The place was closed. We ended up stopping at a tiny little place with outside seating called “Food Corner”. On the advice of the husband and wife owners, we had sendviči (sandwich) beef for Daniel and sausages for Hélène on homemade buns, a side order of wedge fries and a free homemade dessert. A really cheap ($16.27 CAD) and tasty meal that was very good.

Food Corner, where we got supper