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Hello Everyone,
I'll start off by apologising for the photo on this blog and the next few it is actually in Albania but this site has no other photos of this part of the world to upload so until we get round to adding some of our own it will have to do.
So last time we promised to update you on Belgrade which now seems like a life time ago as we have been quite busy since (Montenegro and Dubrovnik blogs coming in the next few mins). Belgrade the capital of Serbia (and formerly the capital of Yugoslavia) was not a beautiful city by any stretch but we actually really liked it. Its grey, very grey, and still shows the scars of being bombed by Nato in 2001. Just 200 metres from our hotel were two buildings that had been destroyed, one a former military school the other hospital. Walking past it looks like it happened yesterday as despite being in the middle on one of the main streets they have been left untouched with shattered glass still sat in the windows.
What we have found staggering here is the recency of it all. This is one of the few wars that is within our memories yet here we are walking down high streets with all the usual shops and through a Bohemian Quarter with more nice restaurants than anyone could ever need. The Military Museum housed inside the old citadel was excellent as Serbia seems to have been at war with some great empire or another since early history. The final room focused on recent events and contained things like the uniform of a captured american and parts of a NATO cluster bomb, presented with the same degree of subjectivity as an ancient sword.
Aside from this museum we didn't have much luck with museums in Belgrade as although there are plenty every single one of them was closed when we arrived for some reason or another so we managed to go to the cinema twice (aliens in Indiana Jones- whatever next??). Apparently tourism has fallen again in the last year as people think Serbia is too dangerous (something our three minutes of planning hadn't brought to light) but it didn't feel it and the people here were incredibly friendly so we really enjoyed our time here.
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