I'm outta Croatia

[vernon]

Once I've checked out of the hotel where I've had a one day break, I'm crossing the Danube into Serbia. Belgrade is two days away. I'm spending three days there and heading back to Budapest on the Serbian side of the Danube. I've spent too much time in bars and talking to folk to make the Black Sea a realistic prospect. Besides I'm on a holiday not an endurance event. I don't want to skimp on the culture at the expense of stacking up the kilometres. I spent half a day in Vukovar, the first European city to be flattened since WWII and listened to the young folks' frustrations and aspirations. I was shown images that made me retreat to the toilets to extract the dust from my eyes. What an insight I have gained. I wonder what tales I'll hear in Serbia.

 

[DCLane]

>
I'm outta Croatia

Thrown 'outta' or left of your own accord?

Enjoy the trip through Serbia.

 

[Globalti]

Look out for the ugly concrete former ministries in the middle of Belgrade with massive holes punched though them by NATO cruise missiles. The Serbs seem to lack any collective will to deal with these relics of the war and you are likely to find people quite reticent about it all. See if you can find the Aleksandar Club and ski slope on the wooded hill to the south of Belgrade, it has great views over the bridges and it's a nice place to relax with a beer; they do decent steaks as well. Look out for my Serbian agent Slobodan, a wiry fit man in his sixties with white hair, riding an old mountain bike; he goes there a lot. He tells me that very many Serbs are taking medication to help them deal with the memory of the war. If you get as far as Banja Luka in BiH I recommend the Hotel Vila Vrbas, opposite the citadel, as a decent budget family-run place with split AC in the rooms. Banja Luka is another great place to sit with a cold beer watching the locals. *cough*

 

[vernon]

>
I'm outta Croatia

Thrown 'outta' or left of your own accord?

Enjoy the trip through Serbia.

I have had my collar felt twice but nothing untoward has happened. Both the Serbs and Croats have been utterly charming. I've been treated to free drinks, free advice and once escaped from the advances made by a drunken female Hungarian sportswoman. I reckon that my tuxedo cycle shirt opens the doors to a lot of great conversations.

 

[vernon]

Look out for the ugly concrete former ministries in the middle of Belgrade with massive holes punched though them by NATO cruise missiles. The Serbs seem to lack any collective will to deal with these relics of the war and you are likely to find people quite reticent about it all. See if you can find the Aleksandar Club and ski slope on the wooded hill to the south of Belgrade, it has great views over the bridges and it's a nice place to relax with a beer; they do decent steaks as well. Look out for my Serbian agent Slobodan, a wiry fit man in his sixties with white hair, riding an old mountain bike; he goes there a lot. He tells me that very many Serbs are taking medication to help them deal with the memory of the war. If you get as far as Banja Luka in BiH I recommend the Hotel Vila Vrbas, opposite the citadel, as a decent budget family-run place with split AC in the rooms. Banja Luka is another great place to sit with a cold beer watching the locals. *cough*

 

[up hill struggle]

I reckon that my tuxedo cycle shirt opens the doors to a lot of great conversations.

that's cool, id like one of those, do they come in extra fat or just sizes that fit normal sized people?

 

[vernon]

Look out for the ugly concrete former ministries in the middle of Belgrade with massive holes punched though them by NATO cruise missiles. The Serbs seem to lack any collective will to deal with these relics of the war and you are likely to find people quite reticent about it. Look out for my Serbian agent Slobodan, a wiry fit man in his sixties with white hair, riding an old mountain bike; he goes there a lot. He tells me that very many Serbs are taking medication to help them deal with the memory of the war.

Belgrade had strategic targets hit by NATO unlike Vukovar which was flattened. Look at the images thrown up by a Google search for Vukovar 1991 and estimate the doses of antidepressants and anti psychotic dished out. I've spoken to Serbs and Croats and they have been far from reticent. There's been a full spectrum of views proffered with a whispered consensus that lessons have not been fully learned. Discrimination exists in both nations but bon homie is evident as in the case of the two pensioners that I met from the same village but fought on opposing sides but are the best of friends. I was shown pictures of them in military uniforms and in civvies from the war era. Many of the folk that I spoke to despair for what the future holds for the younger generation.

As for leaving damaged buildings standing - they might be intentionally left as beacons of the futility of war. A bit like the water tower at Vukovar

 

[vernon]

that's cool, id like one of those, do they come in extra fat or just sizes that fit normal sized people?

I'm not at liberty to say...

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

So c'mon then. How are the pies?

 

[vernon]

So c'mon then. How are the pies?

None eaten. I'd happily forsake pies if I was served Croatian food every day. I've stooped to the occasional kebab.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

None eaten. I'd happily forsake pies if I was served Croatian food every day. I've stooped to the occasional kebab.

Wow - you really are on holiday

 

[surfdude]

bugger. that's means you will be posting on here again after your holiday away . oh wait a minute