Upcoming Events
2010-03-20
Rammstein in Belgrade Arena
2010-04-01
50 Cent
2010-06-03
Elton John
2010-06-06
Bob Dylan in Belgrade Arena
2010-06-09
Eric Clapton
Linking stream
One of Belgrade's off-landmarks, the fast-food stand Loki was forced to shut down it's operation two days ago. David Dowse posts a fitting farewell to this charming fast food joint. I must say that I can't really feel sorry for Loki's demise, because the owner could have prevented it if he really tried. Not to worry, I'm sure another Loki will eventually pop out somewhere soon. Until then, here's a 360 panorama to remind you how Loki looked like. (comment on Loki is no more)
Couple of years ago we reported about a book in production called "Subjective atlas of Serbia" - The book is now out and it looks great, with witty pictures and commentary. You can check out the pdf edition, but I recommend that you try and buy the book if you can. [via @Vukasin] (comment on Subjective atlas of Serbia)
Girl from the West gives all of you ladies out there six reasons to marry a guy from the Balkans. Great article, and the discussion continues in the comments. (found via @PeckoPivo) (comment on Reasons for marrying a Balkan man)
Chinese market in New Belgrade's blok 70 is already an interesting place, but from 1st of February it will become even more so. Art organization Anonymous said decided to turn this shopping mall into an open art exhibition with works of several Serbian contemporary artists. The Chinatown Market is open everyday except Tuesday from 10-17h, and the exhibition will be there through the entire February, so please drop by. (comment on Art exhibit in Belgrade's Chinatown)
Say you want to visit some place and you want to experience it like locals do. Who do you contact then? You contact the locals willing to show you how they live - and that is what Belgrade Alternative guide provides. They claim on their website that "the time you spend in Belgrade, you will spend living as a real Belgrader" - hopefully there will be an option like this for every major town in the world soon. (comment on Alternative Belgrade Guide)
Have you ever wondered about why there are so many towns called Belgrade in the USA? I'm sure you did. The same question was obviously on director Miodrag Kolaric's mind too, when he decided to visit all five Belgrades in the states. You can find out more about this interesting project if you listen to his interview which he gave to NPR if you go over here and hit that audio link. UPDATE: here's how the story unfolds at Boston.com. (comment on Finding Belgrades)
Find out what dishes and guests were Tito's favorites. [via Dnevnik Eklektika] (comment on Dinner with Tito)
Visual Sound Generation, or VSG for short is a new online magazine specialized in Serbian DJs and local clubbing. Handy if you want to see what's the latest event coming up, and what clubs are currently worth visiting. (comment on Online mag about Serbian club scene)
In this new photoblog, launched just a couple of hours ago, six photo-guys want to let you know how they see Belgrade through their [mostly analog] cameras: Belgrade Raw. Check it out. (comment on Oooh baby I like it raw)
After Sunday Times enlisted Belgrade in it's top five world party cities couple of years ago, this time it's the Lonely Planet with their top ten world party cities, and this time, Belgrade takes the first place. This is maybe nice opportunity to discuss you favorite party places in the city, so feel free to suggest some in the comments or on twitter with the hashtag #belgradeparty. (comment on At the top of the "party cities" list)
Communist sites
If you have strong sympathies about the guys who had basically good idea, but on the wrong planet, then welcome to Belgrade, Comrade. Even if you are just curious about it, or you don’t care at all, you are welcome.
The remains of past times little mentioned today are in any case all around you, saying : we didn’t built these buildings to be nice, but to last. And it seems that they will, too. There were actually some attempts to tear some of them down, with little or no result at all. Famous for doing all things differently from the rest of the world, Serbs did the same with communism – towards the end of all things, when things began to fall apart, they added a touch of pure capitalism. That’s why it lasted longer here then in any other country, save China, Cuba and few more, who obviously knew some other secret ingredients. And so, as others watched and followed in anticipation, comrade Stalin among them, former Yugoslavia managed to live in some sort of surreal happy-happy virtual country. More recent civil wars and enormous foreign debt showed that this came at a great price. Now all we have left are buildings and monuments from this period to remind us of how it was, and that we should maybe learn something from it. The problem is, a great part of population who remembers these times claim that it was actually better in the «red» period, while others strongly disagree. See for yourself who is right, and if you don’t have a standpoint, better get one.
Since the bigger part of New Belgrade was built on a drained swamp ground in the period between the end of the WW2 and the beginning of the 80’s, this well may be one of the biggest areas with big, gray and ugly buildings in Europe. Of course, none of the Belgraders and not so many tourist guides will know what are the best sites with these fine examples of mans idealistic victory over mind, matter and nature all at once, and that’s why you’ll need this commie sense guide here. The reasons for non-existence of similar guides are many: people too lazy to make one, people willing to forget those times, people just being ignorant in that particular direction, people too young or too old to remember, and most of all, the chronically short-term memory-loss of the entire nation.
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