We most recently spent two days in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Entering Serbia by train, we immediately saw a large open landfill, directly besides which were crop fields littered with trash. You can imagine our first impression of the country. Fortunately, however, our first impression of Serbia was not the impression we left with as we borded our overnight train last night. Serbia appears poorer than Hungary; however, is the wealthiest country in the region we have just entered, the Balkans (generally these are the Southeast european countries of Bosnia, Macedonia, Croatia, Kosovo, Romania, etc.).
The first day in Belgrade we spent enjoying the fortress that overlooks the joining of the Danube and Sava rivers, probably the most interesting fortress we have seen to date. They have added some public art as well as displayed many of the canons and tanks that had been used at the fortress in past wars. It was amazing to see the damage that had been made during the 1999 NATO bombing of Belgrade, which was evident by whole parts of the fortress being destroyed. There were still sections of the fortress that laid in ruins and people were warned not to walk in those areas. Geoff and I did a bit of research on the internet yesterday to find out a bit more about what happened in the 90s in this area.
The Social Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, a federation of slavic nations, was founded in 1943 by Josip Tito. His authoritarian government was socialist but was not aligned with the Americans or Russians during the cold war period. In the 80's, however, near the time of the fall of communism elsewhere, rising nationalism amongst the six republics within Yugoslavia led to individual regions seeking independence from the central Yugoslav government in Belgrade, which itself had become focused on strengthening centralist power and developing a "greater Serbia". In the end, hundred of thousands died as a result of the various wars that ensued and heinous war crimes were committed, genocide included (Kosovo). While at McGill in my post-socialist societies course, I watched a very good film about this war called 'No Man's Land', if anyone is interested in a more human side of the story (full movie here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I7kj_oz3KU&feature=youtube_gdata_player). There is also a lot more information on the topic on the web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslav_Wars
Anyways, overall it has been interesting to learn more about it by actually being here; however, there doesn't seem to be much public information/memorials about it, similar to what you see in Western Europe with regards to WW1 and 2. Wounds may still be a bit too fresh...
Other than that, the Serbian people were amongst the friendliest people we have met yet. In our Lonely Planet it says "Serbians are not known for their warmth, but they should be", which from our experience, rang very true. After the fortress, we spent the rest of afternoon visitng the Ethnographic museum and National museum, both which were quite small and under construction, but interesting nonetheless. They had a beautiful cobblestone street called, Skardilija, where Serbian bohemians, artists and writers used to hang out. We ate at a nice little restaurant with an exterior covered in yellow flowers where we ate like royalty. A full three course meal for two with a beer will cost you in the $25 dollar range, including tip and tax, so we have indulged. Last night we happened to eat at a restaurant voted #1 by Trip Advisor in 2012 against 257 other restaurants, so were spoiled with some very good food.
Yesterday, we had initially planned to rent bikes and ride along the river while we waited for our night train but it ended up snow-raining very hard the entire day! I knew I was going to jinx us by mentioning that we hadn't had rain in over 3 weeks!
Anyways it turned out to be a verrrry long day as we wasted the whole day lingering in smoky cafes, spending the rest of our dinars (serbian money). Geoff is not a fan of the overnight trains but I had managed to twist his arm into doing one last night. It was probably the oldest, ricketiest train we have been on yet and were crammed in a 6 person room (even though we were told it would be a 4 person when we bought it) with about a foot of clearance while laying down between you and the bunk on top of you. Luckily, we had it all to ourselves. From what I had read online though, I wasn't expecting much as the trains in the east aren't known for their comfort or modernity.
Anyways, we made it finally to Sofia, Bulgaria where I am writing this blog post. Before coming here, we found out that there had been large protests in the streets in Sofia just two days ago, over primarily high heating costs, which eventually led to general protests over the poor standards of living for the Bulgarians (Bulgaria being the most impoverished country in Europe - the average Bulgarian earns $550 USD a month). The president had offered his resignation as a result of some bloody protests, and just yesterday at noon was this resignation accepted by the governing bodies, meaning an interim government is being established until elections are held in April. I know some of you may be thinking... why would you go there then amongst all this?! The british travel advisory warnings indicated it was safe to come and so far we have seen no evidence of any upheaval. So... So far so good :). Plus what is a little travel without some socio-political excitement? Kidding... :)
Ok, will write more about it tomorrow. Post a comment, would love to hear more about things are in Van! Will include some photos from our days in Belgrade...
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