A short movie by Belgrade's best supermodel, Natasa Vojnovic and her photographer, Barnaby Roper. Some scenes contain nudity.
Euro sceptics and Euro believers, head for CZKD, Art bioskop or Dom Omladine today if you got time - there will be some interesting discussions. Sorry for not letting you know earlier, I somehow missed it.
I call this post "Saturday afternoon meat" in reference to Pengovsky's great "Monday morning meat" series.
In the same fashion, this one is not safe for work either. In addition it's not for the weak of heart, nor for vegetarians. Especially not for vegetarians!
David shows us how the Balkan people are preparing food for winter, (and here when I say food, I mean pig) - be warned though, pictures are very graphic. I remember when I was a kid at a countryside hanging around a pigslaughter, I didn't mind all that blood and guts, in fact it was very interesting to look at. Now I don't know if it would be so charming to observe... but I do still love a good pig roast.
The article from the Age is about the eternal mistery - the Belgrade apartment market situation. This line sums it up pretty good:
"I have no idea how people who work for 400 euros a month manage to buy apartments for half a million euros"
Zuko manages to understand Belgrade even despite of having read way too much Momo Kapor:
Winter is coming soon and it's a good time to see a preview of the snowy Serbian landscape - photos from Jérôme Giraud's last years journey through wintery Serbia show exactly that kind of imagery. Thanks for the link, Jerome!
+ gratuitous bonus link - a Yugo joke via miff.
NikolaT has really mastered the art of postprocessing good photos to near perfection. Take a look at what his dreamy version of Belgrade looks like in Belgrade Experience set, but please take your time to look at his other photos as well, it's a time well spent.
Filip Zrnzevic's photo gallery of Belgrade inline skaters doing their thing. Click, hit F11 and enjoy.
Want to follow adventures of a young foreigner in Belgrade showing the city's gritty and sometimes not so pretty side? Than check out Radovan's blog, and grab the feed.
Belgrade is usually a lively city, but not on Sunday mornings. Shtikla puts up four great photos of this "Sunday morning ghost town" feeling.
An old Serbian saying states that the JAT air hostesses are the only air hostesses in the world that die of natural causes. So don’t be surprised when you find out that, instead of young, slim, and beautiful babes (and guys) (you saw in videos, movies with a peculiar plot, or practically, every other air company you flew with), you will be served by ladies much, much older than the plane you are flying on. And our planes are quite old. Not to worry, the story also goes that pilots and crew are some of the best in the world, and you will arrive to or leave Belgrade safe and sound.
The Airport is small, but rarely crowded, so you shouldn’t have any problems getting around. The airport is nevertheless, at safe distance from the city center, and most people will find it difficult to walk 20km to reach Belgrade. That’s why we recommend taxi or bus or (mini) bus shuttle service.
Be careful when catching a cab, most cab drivers will try to exploit the unsuspecting and naive passenger such as yourself, so remember never to accept a ride that will cost you more than 10 euros and that the number of people and the size of your luggage don’t affect the price of the ride. The Cab ride lasts about 20-45 min, depending on the traffic, and riding the bus will take about 30-50 minutes of your time, making one stop at (in, on) New Belgrade. Still, the best, fastest and cheapest way is, of course, to have a friend come pick you up. If you don’t have friends in Belgrade, make some.
Good news: Germanwings just announced that it will launch a new low budget route Cologne/Bonn – Belgrade in September 2006. Prices go as low as 19 EUR for one way ticket! You can already book your tickets on their site. From 2nd September you will be able to fly three times weekly to Belgrade (and back maybe). Hopefully this will be only the first in a series of “no frills” and discount airlines to make Belgrade its regular destination.
Assumption is that tourists’ interest for Belgrade is still pretty low. But also the fact that Serbs need visa for almost every country in the world represents a problem when it comes to last minute deals and offers that these companies rely on.
Still, there are also other ways to fly cheap in vicinity of Belgrade. Wizz Air recently connected London and Zagreb, Croatia which is not that far from Belgrade. Train ride lasts for 6 hrs, and there are 5 departures daily, plus you get a chance to visit Zagreb, also a great city. Many other European low budget airlines fly to Sofia, Bulgaria and almost all of them fly to Budapest, Hungary. Both Budapest and Sofia are approximately at the same distance from Belgrade as Zagreb, but trains run very slowly, so I suggest a bus ride. One more city in Croatia is on the map for low cost companies, Dubrovnik, certainly worth a visit. More info about these and other cities in the region on Belgrade daytrips page