After my wife’s wallet and passport were stolen in Belgrade a few days ago, the rest of our trip was completely derailed. I finished the remainder of my work trip and, instead of going to Albania as originally planned, bought tickets to fly back to Serbia so we could sort out the paperwork required for her to fly back home to India.
I reached Barcelona airport early in the morning for my flight back to Belgrade. After clearing security, I visited the Sala VIP Pau Casals lounge with my Priority Pass for a quick breakfast.
We boarded the aircraft by bus, which was a little tricky given the rainy morning in Barcelona. The flight was comfortable, and the service included water and a chocolate commemorating 100 years of flying for Lufthansa.
After landing, I exited to the departures area and accessed the landside LuxxLounge with my Priority Pass.
The lounge was not a single open space, but had multiple seating areas along with a decent selection of food and drinks on offer.
I had plenty of time on my hands, so I was able to relax at the lounge and enjoy both the breakfast and lunch menus.
I had to clear security and passport control for my flight to Belgrade since Serbia is not part of the Schengen Area. Along the way, Lufthansa’s new Business Class and Premium Economy seats were on display.
Walking to my gate, I spotted a Lufthansa Boeing 747-8 in a special 100th-anniversary “Super Crane” blue livery celebrating the airline’s 1926–2026 centennial. The flight to Belgrade was smooth and comfortable.
After landing in Belgrade, I took Bus 72 from the airport to the city center. It was evening by the time I reached the hotel and met my wife.
While I was completing my work trip in Spain over the previous few days, my wife had been stuck in Belgrade. In response to her email, a consular officer from the Indian Embassy called her via WhatsApp on Monday morning to check in and see if she needed any immediate assistance. After filing a police complaint with the help of the hotel manager, she went to the Indian Embassy to fill out an application for an Emergency Certificate. The Emergency Certificate would allow her to travel back and enter India once within 30 days of issuance.
On Tuesday evening, the consular officer messaged her saying someone had dropped off a debit card, a credit card, and her Aadhaar card that had been found in a park. This gave us hope that the passport might turn up in a day or two. As a result, we decided to wait until Thursday before having the Emergency Certificate issued; once it was issued, her original passport would be invalidated, making it useless even if recovered later. However, we received no further news throughout the day, and we didn’t want to delay the issuance of the Emergency Certificate any longer, so we decided to proceed with it tomorrow as planned.
After relaxing for a while, we stepped out to visit the Belgrade Waterfront. The St. Regis Belgrade building looked impressive, and it was great to see the bridges illuminated at night.
We went to Zavičaj Balkanska for dinner (after our failed attempt a few days ago). This time we arrived early enough and enjoyed a nice meal before heading back to the hotel to retire for the night.
🍽️ Sala VIP Pau Casals
✈️ Lufthansa 1137
🍽️ LuxxLounge
✈️ Lufthansa 1412
🚍 Bus 72 from Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport to Zeleni Venac
🍽️ Zavičaj Balkanska
🛏️ Villa Terazije