More of Belgrade
I cannot get enough of this town!!!!!! There are several aspects of this trip to Belgrade that were extremely different from my last trip. Maybe you can only claim to know a place if you see it multiple times, always with considerable intervals in between.
It was a very hot few days. On Saturday, it was a huge relief when temps went below 30 C (86 F). Thursday it had gotten up to 37 C (that's body temp, mothafuckas). Hot weather in Serbia means the women feel justified in donning their best dental floss and parading down Knez Mihalova to show off. I like to think that I'm pretty liberal and open-minded, but even I couldn't believe that it was possible to see that much beaver and not be in Canada.
Belgrade has a wonderful feel to it, something that has much to do with the Serbs themselves. When they hear you speaking English, they are immediately curious. Where are you from? What are you doing in Belgrade? How long are you in Serbia for? (Answer: Not long enough!) They're usually very willing to talk about the current political situation in Serbia, about Kosovo, even the war (which, as opposed to most of the rest of Europe, refers to the fighting in the 90s).
Of course I've been asked about politics in America, but, different from the way the Germans ask me, the Serbs are always very polite, their harsh judgements of our foreign policy never come across as a personal attack, at least not as I've experienced it. While most people there are not big supporters of our government, no one I've spoken to has had a bad thing to say about American people. My host, Maja, said she likes how smiley, friendly, and chatty we are.
However, the cynic in me says that my perception might be a bit skewed and that the Serbs are simply too polite to tell me what they really think. Additionally, Belgrade, Serbia isn't exactly the kind of place Steve and Nancy Lewis of Elkhart, IN would put at the top of their list for their 2-week pan-European vacation next August. It's mostly young, educated adventurers who visit there, and thankfully they give off a slightly different impression than many of the bus tour people.