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It wasn't that I looked in to a crystal ball and said, "Yes, I believe that July would be a good time to visit, Serbia. I see unrest in the future." No, it's just that I happened to be there when I was there, last July. Turns out that might have been a good time to make my first trip. The US and a large slew of other Western countries aren't so welcome right now due to the whole Kosovo issue.       On the one hand, I can understand the frustration of the Serbs. This is an unprecedented event and it has the potential to fuel other movements around the world that want to secede from their parent countries. Then again, maybe it doesn't. Who knows. Whatever the case, I don't think that burning the US embassy really does all the much to help the Serbian cause and I'm quite happy that I'm not there right now. It's not so much that I fear I would be in danger (even though my Serbian ain't that great), it's more that I wouldn't want to be representative of my country during this time and regardless of what people think, if you are a foreigner in another country, you are always representing your country. Just remember that the next time you vomit in to a canal in Venice or take a piss in the middle of Las Ramblas.

Damn you Balkan buses. You are all out to get me and I know it. Maybe it's not a conspiracy, but it sure seems like it. First, in 2004, you explode on me. Fine, okay, I can accept this. It was in Croatia and just bad luck. I'm able to walk away from a bad situation with a good story and my life. That's okay. But then, you stupid bastard bus from Belgrade to Sarajevo, you go and screw me as well.       It all started with accepting the fact that there is no train from Belgrade to Sarajevo. Well, there is one. Somewhat. Technically. You just have to get off in Croatia, in Slavonia and then transfer with a wait of countless hours. Not easy. So, we decided to take the bus, which is something like a seven hour long ride in theory. This is not fun because for a good few hours of that, you're in the very flat lands of Serbia, going through small towns and picking up guys who like to listen to MP3's on their cellphone MP3 players on the bus, just to have some noise. Once again, I don't do this all the time, so I could live with it.       Then there's the stop just before the border so that the drivers can have lunch. Great, nearly killing us with passing other cars and tractors for the last three hours so that we can sit at some craptastic roadside cafe and watch the same cars and tractors pass us up again. I don't get this, but these musings are for another article.       So, we move on and then it's the border crossing. This is rather funny in a sad way as you see that you're entering the 'Republika Srpska' which is one of the halves of Bosnia Herzegovina and is crap because you're really entering Bosnia Herzegovina. They act like they're some other country with this sign, which they really aren't. Okay, fine, that's their problem. Let's move on because we sat at the border for almost an hour. There were about 15 people on the bus and ultimately none of us was a problem. Sure, they might have to search the bus for the possibility that Serbian kajmak is being smuggled in, but come on...       Okay, so we got pass the border and head on in to Bosnia Herzegovina "proper", but the bus drivers seem alarmed. "Oh crap", I start thinking, "I've seen that look before and the bus exploded in a ball of flame shortly after the drivers looked like that in Croatia in 2004." Sure enough, we pull in to the next station and the drivers run out to put more water in the radiator to find that one of the radiator hoses is shot on this ancient bus.       So, not understanding what was said, we sit on the bus and head in to a small service garage and wait. Thankfully the mechanic was able to prav some random hose in to place, otherwise, we would have been really screwed. After an hour, we head out, pick up the people who were smart enough to wait at the station and head on.       Thankfully, nothing else really went wrong from here. It just took a long time because the roads in this part of Bosnia Herzegovina are in pretty bad shape. After some time, we pulled in to Sarajevo, but not the center where most buses would go. Oh no, we pull in to Istočno Sarajevo or Eastern Sarajevo (formerly known as Srpsko Sarajevo) which is the Serbian chunk of Sarajevo that's more than a half hour taxi ride from the real Sarajevo.       We shrugged this off because after what ended up being a ten and a half hour ride, we just paid the 5 Euros to the first taxi that was there to get on to where we were staying for a shower and a sleep.

The Balkans have had a tough history being that they're at the crossroads of East and West, land and sea, and many an empire. That being the case, they've had a lot of regime changes. And, what's the first thing a new regime does? Okay, what's the next thing a regime does as killing a but of people from the previous regime? Yes, they rename things.       I've seen this in varying forms in Zagreb, Sarajevo and other Balkan cities, but Belgrade is the only one where I saw signs that listed all the names that the street previously had. Given how often they change names, this is very useful to the tourist. Of course, given that the streets are generally in Serbian Cyrillic and the Serbian language, your chances of understanding are still a little hit and miss.       That aside, I've posted an example below, which is Ulica Dečanska in the center of town. I'll do what I can to translate it, and please excuse any mistakes I make as this is not only a second language to me, but a second alphabet:              1872-1896 Dva Jelena (Two Deers)       1896-1949 Dečanska (not really sure here, but it is probably named after that region in Kosovo)       1949-1953 Kardeljeva (again, not sure, but probably named after a spot that is in Slovenia)       1953-1957 Dečanska (again, isn't this fun?)       1957-1997 Moše Pijade (person, read his article)       1997-____ Dečanska (fun!)              Perhaps my native speaker friends can help me out with some of these translations in to English, but you can see that the Belgraders even have something of a black sense of humor about it, leaving that space for change in the last one.

Taxi drivers are bastards. They are born from pure evil and are bound to try and rip you off, while trying to make small talk about the weather and act like your friend. Sure, there is that 2% of them that are decent guys (or also girls) who are making a living and just doing their job. But, there is that other 98% that will try and screw you over on the fare if they get the chance. I've seen this in San Francisco when I've had to take a taxi on the extremely rare occasion. They'll act all nonchalant as they take the much longer way to go somewhere until you call them out on it. But, this is nothing compared to when you are in a foreign country and they can obviously tell that you aren't from around their neck of the woods. They smell fresh meat and pounce.       While in Belgrade, I found the need to take taxis on a couple of occasions because the buses stop running at the ridiculously early hour of 11PM. Undoubtedly this is some decision influenced by the Taxi Mafia there because your only other alternative is to take home a damnable cab. Our general fares were from the Centar near Trg Republika to Novi Beograd. This is no short distance as it's a 15-20 minute drive with no traffic, so in America, this would be a very expensive ride. Around Belgrade, this is a 500 dinar ride, which is about $8.50.       Out first taxi ended up costing us 800 dinar. This was crap and my cousin was outraged when he heard that we got scammed this badly. To us, it wasn't a big deal because it was a couple of extra dollars and the taxi driver assumed that we could handle a bit of scraping. But, it was rather annoying to be scammed this badly. So, how did he do it? The normal thought would be that he took some roundabout way to get there. In this case, no, he was very straightforward and went the direct route. The actual trick was that their meters run at different rates depending on where they are going and the time of night. There are three rates and we should have been at the second one, but he used the third instead, which is really just for the airport. Oh yeah, don't take a taxi from the airport...       So, if you happen to glance at the meter and see a 3 by the fare, mention it to the guy. He'll most likely make up some excuse that he just picked up someone from the airport or something and then maybe switch it to a 2 or a 1. But, you've got to watch him, because sometimes when they shift gears, they'll switch it back. Sucks to be a foreigner, huh?       Besides being observant, one of the best ways to avoid this is to use a better taxi group like Žuti (Yellow), Pink, or Plavi (Blue) Taxi. The one we used was Maxis and I'm not sure if they're all bad, but people frowned when I would mention their name, so use your best judgment. Also, if you can, have a local take care of the haggling. My cousins called, talked to the driver, and took care of everything so that the next time we took a taxi, we were charged exactly 500 dinar.

They're a major problem. They are clogging up the streets of a city that is one of the oldest in Europe and was never really designed to handle cars. Even the Communists didn't set up the place for a mass of two million people to be driving around on a daily basis. They are also polluting. It seems that the vast majority of cars come in to the Belgrade from the used markets of Europe. This does not translate in to great prices though as a car that should be $1,500 in the US, is about $3,000 there. So, a great many cars there are really beat, driving around and a great many of these are not in such good running order. The worst polluting car offenders seem to be the taxi drivers, but they are another article.       So, you end up with all this pollution belching out from all these cars and really smothering what is actually quite a nice city under all of this. Then you toss in the fact that it gets quite hot during the summer. In the Bay Area, we'd call a "Spare the Air Day" but here, this doesn't happen. I think that it's largely in part to their public transportation system is still being rebuilt after the series of bombings they experienced through the 1990's and there is no Metro, just a lot of buses (that also pollute) and some trams. So, when the weather gets hot, you see this black cloud descend on the hapless city.       Then there are the "Roma Wagons" as I call them. For those who don't know, the Roma are something of a nomadic people who don't really have a country of their own and are these sidelined minorities living on the outskirts of many European towns. They have no money and live in shanty villages. But, they still need to get around and have created these rather unique "cars" for themselves which are a small wagon with an engine bolted on to the front of what is just a simple frame with no body. I really wish I could have gotten a picture, but they come out of nowhere and fly around on these things, making them elusive. Dangerous as hell, I'm sure.       Lastly, there is the Yugo. I was asked if any of these are still around in Belgrade to which I laughed, because about every second car seems to be one. They are everywhere and are still being used in great numbers. A lot like Cuba where people are driving Chevy's from the 1950's due to trade sanctions, people in Serbia experienced heavy sanctions for about 10 years and so these silly Yugos are still floating around, being driven as screamingly fast as they can.

I've been in Belgrade, Serbia for a few days now and it's been an extremely interesting trip to visit the country of a people who were completely vilified in western media. To this day, you mention the name Serbia and people still cringe. Well, as I figured was going to be the case, the people here are incredible friendly and just like elsewhere in the Balkans, very hospitable and welcoming. It really is paradoxical to think of how the whole war in this area started until you realize that it just came down to a couple of guys that were power hungry trying to grab on to territory and more power, who had those under them go along with it. But, that's not a topic I want to really get in to more as it's a touchy one to ay the least.       Belgrade is far too large to cover in one post and so I thought that I would make a quick mention of Skadarlija Street in the center of Belgrade. The center of Belgrade is awash in completely different types of architecture that show it's varied past and the waves of other powers that have washed across its banks over the centuries. Obviously, the part that most people consider the ugliest comes from the Communist construction that dominated throughout most of the 20th century. I'm staying in an apartment that is a blaring salute to the building style of the Yugoslav government. But, we walked throughout the center of town, Elia and I came to a street which is actually more of a short alley that is called Skadarlija. It is something of the bohemian area of town and is a great respite from the Communist and Secessionist buildings that surround it. The buildings are small, cozy and inviting. It's much more of the old style European town. While just a small spot, the atmosphere of it bleeds out to the surrounding area and it has a feel akin to how Haight and Ashbury in San Francisco bleed out, but the rampant and cheesy commercialism is missing here.       There are scads of restaurants here and they all look great. The really cool thing is that unlike Las Ramblas in Barcelona where the locals have been chased away, you still see the Belgradians having a meal there or enjoying the latest soccer match. It's a lot of fun and cool to see before any kind of rampant tourism floods the area. If you find yourself in Belgrade (although I'm doubting much of my reading audience has any plans to visit the "white city" anytime soon) stop on by.