Weekend in Belgrade - Friday

Spent the weekend in Belgrade with friends John and Stephen. Here's a brief rundown of events:

Friday - arrive at Hotel Splendid (functional, but at 20 euros a night who's complaining?) Wander the city centre, avoiding the water dripping from the old aircon units (temperature is close to 40 degrees Celsius!) Stand on the steps outside the parliament building, imagining the crowds applauding Milosevic, or later calling for his head. After a drink break in Trg Republike, we stroll along Kneza Mihaila, the (pedestrianized) main shopping street. It could be any European conurbation. Reach the park that contains Kalemegdan fortress. Great views of the city and the confluence of the Sava river and the Danube (no wonder succesive rulers stationed garrisons here). Visit the Roman Well (an impressive 60 m deep, even if nothing to do with the Romans). "We have four rats," promised the ticket vendors; we didn't see one - no great loss. Watch the sunset from the Oh! Cinema! Belgrade Fun Club Cafe, the wonderfully named bar at the fortress. A beautiful moment. Return to our hotel, where the surly afternoon receptionist has been replaced by a much friendlier fellow, like some kind of 'good cop, bad cop' routine. Head out to dinner in Skadarlija, the city's 'bohemian' district. Actually, this cobbled street filled with restaurants where folk musicians entertain the diners, as well as a host of bars, is actually much nicer than its Brussels equivalent, the Rue des Petit Bouchers. Settling on a restaurant, we find our waiter's English to be almost as bad as our Serbian. Eventually I manage to order a Karadorde Escalope, named after the leader of the first Serbian Rebellion against the Turks. This is a veal escalope stuffed with Kajmak (Serbian curd cheese), rolled, soaked in beaten eggs, breaded and deep fried. It comes with tartar sauce and is enormous, easily enough for two. An enjoyable meal, slightly spoiled by our decision to sit outside, since that meant that street kids hassled us for scraps of food (a sign that Belgrade is still a pretty poor place) and that we were in earshot of two competing groups of musicians, creating what the Dutch call 'een wanklank' (a discordant noise). We head down the hill to one of Skadarlija's pubs, before sitting outside one of the numerous bars on Obilicev Venac, off Trg Republike. On the way back to our hotel at 1.30 am we stumble past a movie set just outside. Danny Huston is filming a new flick called 'Fade to Black' (also starring Christopher Walken) and we are mistaken for members of the crew. Cut!