Other bridges have names, which is crucial if you want to get from one side to the other, you sometimes need to tell the cabbie the name of the specific bridge you want to cross. Otherwise he gets to choose and it can be costly. Also, if you are ever stuck on traffic on one of the bridges, and you want to tell someone you’re gonna be late, it’s good to know the name of the bridge to accurately point out where you’re stuck. If you are sailing by boat on Sava or Danube, it’s nice to know under which bridge you are passing and to refer to that fact by saying “Oh, look, we are passing beneath the Gazela”, or “Branko’s bridge” instead of saying something vague like “Oh, look, we are passing underneath a bridge.”

Photo by luca_ontheweb

So naming things is important. But have you noticed how naming stuff has changed? It used to be decided by an unknown group of people who came up with the idea for a new street, square, or a bridge, after what I like to imagine as a solid, lengthy brainstorming session studying the history of a place, finding symbolism between a place and a person and finally, just presenting their idea to the people after it was already decided. And no one seemed to complain.

It’s not like that anymore. Now we have the Internet, and the people were invited to add their own suggestions. And the suggestions ranged from imaginative, like “The Giraffe” (to accompany the Gazelle, of course) over boring ones, like the “Zoran Djindjic bridge” or “Patriarch Pavle bridge,” to the outright insane ones, like “Novak Djokovic bridge.” The guy is still alive, for Christ sake.

So the day came when the decision had to be made, and the new name is (drumroll) – wait for it – The Bridge over Ada! It was so obvious, yet catchy. And of course, the people were left feeling unhappy, because it was not how they imagined democracy to be in the age of the internet. But if you look at how many streets, squares and bridges actually changed name in Belgrade in past hundred years alone, it seems that this generic name is guaranteed not to upset any new government in the future so much that they would want to change it into something more “appropriate.”

But if you look closely, the whole fuss surrounding the bridge, the grand opening for the pedestrians, the naming, the debate and everything else is just artificially created so that we might never make an inquiry into following things: 1. why did the bridge cost so much to make, and 2. did we really need a bridge that expensive right now?

The idea of opening one such place in Belgrade is not new, but so far there wasn’t enough enthusiasm, will or organization good enough that could pull it off. (disclaimer: at least I haven’t heard of one such space in Belgrade yet, but if you know of something similar, let me know.)

But this is all about to change, judging by the latest news on Branko’s blog (in Serbian). A group of enthusiasts, supported by the Ministry of telecommunications and information society together with the city of Belgrade, is preparing a plan to set up one such shared office on the fifth floor of Beogradjanka building in downtown Belgrade. The unofficial name of the project so far is Cvoriste101 (“cvoriste” is loose Serbian translation for “hub” – pronounced as tchWAR-eesh-teh).

The details are still being discussed and plans are in development, but so far, the idea is to make a break-even project when it comes to financial part of it all so that the price could be around 50EUR/month for a desk and good wireless connection. If you’re interested in project’s progress, or want to join in the conversation and help out, please leave a comment here on Belgraded, on twitter with cvoriste101 hashtag or the Facebook group.

Only this year some 50 thousand people moved from various towns and villages in Serbia to Belgrade looking for a better life. The strange this is that, while Belgraders brag about their traditional hospitality, this migration trend is frowned upon – usually because of the notion that the newcomers will change the city in a way that the indigenous peoples won’t like. It has been like this for ever since I remember, and the newcomers were always the ones to blame for everything, from bringing turbo folk from the countryside to the city, over dirty streets that were clean before they got here, all the way to public transportation that became too crowded and too smelly because of the “dirty peasants”. The truth is, all cities in the world change. Turbo folk wouldn’t be here if the “real belgraders” hadn’t started listening to it, and the streets and public transport depend mostly on economy, which is in a lousy shape right now.

This resentment towards incomers goes only for Serbs who moved from other parts of Serbia, while for some reason the foreigners who moved from abroad are indeed always welcomed with great hospitality. Number of foreigners who moved and stayed in Belgrade is although greater every year, still pretty small and Belgrade is still pretty homogeneous nation-wise.

Do you consider yourself a newcomer to Belgrade, or are you one of the “old Belgraders”?

See more great photos at: attawayjl

Walking around in Belgrade

One thing about the people of Serbia and citizens of Belgrade in general: they are friendly and will help those of you who turn their head while trying to turn the map up-side-down with a confused look on your face. Most young people speak English or some other foreign language. Older folks will surprise you with their knowledge of German or perhaps Russian. Belgrade’s turbulent history implies a whole lot of changes in street names. So, while some buildings in Belgrade lack street names, others will have a large sign with a list of old names in chronological order, the last being the current one. If you wish to avoid all the fuss, you’ll have to try to get your hands on the newest edition of the map of Belgrade, but even with older maps, getting around wont be that difficult.

See more great photos at: Miss ing

recorded with Nokia N900

If you don’t speak Serbian and still want to perform, it’s not a problem, everyone’s allowed to read their stuff in their own language. The winner gets hers/his poetry collection published in a small booklet, which is then given free of charge to all visitors at the next event. Here’s the official website of Poetrying, so go ahead and apply if you have something to show (how to apply: send two of your poems and a little bit about yourself to pesnicenje@gmail.com)

In one of the longest streets in Europe, Bulevar Revolucije (aka Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra) a row of some 500 platanus trees (plane trees) were planted somewhere in the 1920s, at the very beginnings of serious urban planning in Belgrade. Most of them somehow survived World War II and every major reconstruction of the boulevard in the past 80+ years. Inevitably, in that period, a number of them got sick and began to rot from the inside. Surprisingly, new city authorities decided, after one study by the Belgrade’s Forestry Faculty to cut down almost 329 (three hundred and twenty nine) plane trees and in their place plant young new trees. Many claim that it’s not possible for 329 trees to have gotten sick, and that even those that were could have been cured. The reason for this hugely unpopular move by the city authorities remains unknown, there are many theories and most of them include corruption, incompetence and general neglect towards ecology, as poor as it might be in some Belgrade’s parts.

This is what remained after the trees were cut down. Let it serve as a warning – it can happen in your city as well. Hopefully you’ll be better prepared and organized to stop it.

This is the last platanus remaining in the naked part of the boulevard now. It was saved by a fellow who put a fence around it and defended the tree around the clock:

photo: Vucko @ Beobuild

If you’ve been to Belgrade, or live there, you’ve probably passed the Terazije monument to the five Belgraders who were hanged at that spot for joining in the resistance against the Nazi in 1941. But it’s most likely that you don’t even know about it, even though it’s right there on one of the busier intersections, on the corner of Terazije and Nikola Pasic square:

Again, I can’t find a better picture on the net, and because I’m not in Belgrade I can’t take one myself. If you’re going through Terazije often, I’m sure you recognize it now nevertheless.

First, an abstract city portrait by M-City in Durmitorska street 16:

photo by Vandalog. See more detailed photo’s on M-City’s own website.

Than another one by Blu [artist most famous for this incredible work] in Pop Lukina street 6:

photo by 1984 productions and you can see how the work progressed on Vandalog.

The third one by Valerio Berruti, which I can’t find on the net, and I’m not in Belgrade right now to take a photo of it. It’s in Resavska street 61 (School Kralja Petra building) so if you’re nearby, remember to take a look [or snap a photo of it]. In the meantime, here’s a small picture of it on Emportal.

“a party held for a bachelor [or bachelorette] shortly before he [or she] enters marriage, to make the most of his [or hers] final opportunity to engage in activities a new partner might not approve of, or merely to spend time bonding with his [or hers] male [or female] friends”

These sort of parties are also becoming interesting in terms of tourism, because party-doers recently started having these “pissups” abroad, and lately increasingly in Eastern Europe countries because of the cheep booze and other things necessary for such a party. Guys or girls choose a country, sit on a low-cost plane, get pissed, party and then head home the next day or the day after that.

So since Belgrade is pretty cheap and generally a party city, where are all those stags and hens roaming the Belgrade streets and passing out drunk on them?

There’s just one problem – there are not many cheap flights to Belgrade. Since Serbia still hasn’t ratified The Open Skies agreement, fares are still pretty high from most European cities. It is argued that the unwillingness to sign the agreement comes from the intention to protect the uncompetitive national Air operator, JAT, which would definitely had to shut down in presence of much more competitive prices from the likes of Ryan air and similar no-frills companies. With the recent unsuccessful attempt to sell JAT, it seems to me that the ratification of the agreement is near.

And that means the new branch in local tourism is about to flourish in near future – hen and stag tourism – these are visitors who stay for a short time, and usually don’t get to see any tourist sights, but spend more money than a regular tourist.

Of course, low cost flights would have much more meaning combined with the abolition of visa regime for the citizens of Serbia, which is hopefully also very near. I’m being overly optimistic maybe, but it looks to me as if some exciting times are ahead.

From today’s perspective working for food and no money seems like an odd thing to do, but you must remember that the communist franzy was still fresh after the WWII and the spirits of victory over fascism and the country rebuilding were still high. Still, what essentially was a good idea turned ugly at the end and we got stuck with New Belgrade, like with some strange experiment in architecture, city planning and human interaction. That’s why many say upon their first encounter with New Belgrade that it reminds them of some strange cyberpunk, Bladerunner-like landscape.

photo by jim screech

Today, many regard New Belgrade as a giant sleeping dorm – with over half a million people living there, it is the biggest municipality in Serbia. In comparison to all these people living here, it has always suffered with cultural offer – not enough cinemas, theaters, restaurants, Belgrade cafes, not enough anything – save buildings.

But it is sometimes buildings that are interesting enough for an occasional tourist that wanders in these areas. Flickr is a great resource for all kinds of photos, take a look for example at these made by Robert Haynes of Shooterama

photo by charlie

The concrete must have influenced the musicians coming from New Belgrade – some of the best new hiphop and punkrock bands are exactly coming from or are inspired by living in the projects of New Belgrade. No soft or wimpy pop stuff there.

Euforia – Blokovi

Sajsi – 7 9 11

Happy birthday, NBG!

See more great photos at: St Stev