Capitals Beginning with B
Trip Start
Aug 31, 2007
1
66
90
Trip End
Apr 19, 2008
Belgrade,
Serbia and Montenegro
Monday, December 10, 2007
The first day, of course, was filled with the sights, the most important being the Kalemegdan Citadel at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers. Over its 2300 year history, the site has witnessed 115 battles and been razed no fewer than 44 times. Today, the citadel makes for a nice stroll overlooking the rivers but was rather less exciting to explore than a fort
Citadel Entrance
. I like forts. I also visited the Military Museum, which was full of old swords and explanations in Serbian. It was disappointing, but slightly improved by by the final display on the NATO incursion in 1999. On display were successful "catches," including pieces of a stealth fighter they shot down and a US military uniform. There was also a discussion of apparently illegal cluster bombs that killed 26 people and outrage that NATO used them. Clearly, I don't know the background of the weapons, ad I'm sorry the people died, but seriously, Serbia was trying to ethnically cleanse 2 million! The night before, I had passed the bombed out remains of the former Serbian military headquarters and was quite impressed at the precision modern weapons can achieve. Later in the day, I met a British embassy worker and was discussing Serbia's EU prospects. Most of the countries I have visited are moving at some rate towards EU membership. She pointed out, though, that a general pre-requisite of this is NATO membership, a group Serbia seems unlikely to join in light of continuing resentment of the 1999 bombings.As an update, the deadline for independence talks between Kosovo and Serbia is tomorrow, with Kosovars rejecting autonomy in favor of independence and a high level Serbian official saying something along the lines of "war can be used as a form of diplomacy." I am feeling increasingly glad that I left Kosovo two weeks ago, and I'll be happy to leave Serbia tomorrow, as well
Citadel-ness
.But back to sightseeing. Returning from the citadel, I stopped in at the Nikola Tesla Museum. I had the honor of being the only visitor and was treated to personal demonstrations of his many discoveries, perhaps the most important of which was a use for alternating current electricity, allowing power to be transported long distances through high voltage lines. He also developed a remote control boat whose demonstration was so spectacular that spectators claimed he was using his mind to move it, not the remote. I very much enjoyed the museum and doing something scientific for a change. I must admit, though, that a good deal of Tesla went over my head, and it was necessary for me to call my electrical engineering father when I returned to the hostel for his explanation of the more complex inventions.
In Belgrade, I spent six nights at the Chilton Hostel, which makes up for its lackluster location with an incredible staff and a great, hang out atmosphere. The real reason you come to Belgrade is to eat and party, and the staff were forthcoming with endless recommendations for restaurants, cafes, bars, clubs, and concerts to suit every taste. I went to a lovely pub with the surprising name of "Idiot" and spent the remainder of my Friday night at a club called "Plastic." Originally, the bouncer hadn't wanted to let us in, lacking an invitation. Eastern European clubs can be so snotty. However, cute little Claire, the most inebriated member of our group, managed to talk our way in.
There was some big to do at the club, involving bone-thin girls getting their hair cut in awful styles with fluorescent streaks of color through it. Everyone was gathered round to watch, but we couldn't really be bothered. Eastern European style refuses to grow on me. The place got going around 1, and we tried our best to dance, but the Euro-techno-trance DJ-ing was not particularly conducive to this endeavor. I don't care if the DJ was imported from New Zealand. After 15 minutes or so, we gave up and headed home. Thursday night, two of the hostel staff were DJ-ing at a pub, which was quite enjoyable, and another night, several people went to see a Slovene punk band. However, needing to catch the 6 am bus to the airport, I stayed home.
