Where The Streets Have No Names
I cannot tell you how refreshing it is to walk around a city without a Starbucks, KFCor McDonalds on every corner. One or two is OK but, coming from a country raped by major brands, Serbia is uplifting. To enjoy shopping in markets or at small to medium sized local chains where the joy of discovery can still be found on the shelves, where browsing remains a pleasure and not a robotic chore, is a rare treat.
That Serbia remains a place of homegrown brands and independent traders is something that should be cherished and protected, else it goes the way of their EU neighbours, where many national retailers have been swallowed by the big boys. Anyone who has travelled has seen how countries brutally sacrifice many of their traders in favour of the glossy global giants. Now it is happening closer to home.
Belgrade Pride To End A Week Of Activity To Highlight LGBT Rights
Thousands are expected to take to the parks and streets for the Belgrade Pride Parade on Sunday 2 October. The march through the city centre, which has been so controversial in the past, will mark the close to a week of events, showcases and discussions that aim to turn the spotlight on improving the rights and encouraging greater acceptance for LGBT people in Serbia.
For many months, organisers, police and state bodies have been working flat out to deliver a safe and enjoyable Pride 2011 that does not repeat the events of previous attempts to march in peace. Even now, the route and timing for the march is a closely held secret, for security reasons. This year’s parade will mark the tenth anniversary of the city’s calamitous first Pride march, when violence shocked the world.
Embrace The Night
Experiencing a city at night can reveal a side to its character that is masked by the hustle of the day. Belgrade is a case in point. While the city is rightly recognised for the vibrant café culture, riverside bars and vibrant buzz of an international capital, Belgrade after-dark sees it take on a unique character as party central. However, it has another side, with an appeal that is less well known, when Belgrade is at rest in the new born hours of a day.
There is something inherently special about walking the streets alone at night, something I have often done in Belgrade. The city is exposed, allowing a glimpse of its deepest secrets. You see beneath the fancy veneer of the day to experience the essence of what makes the city great, a kind of unadulterated purity hidden during the business of the day.
In The Bend of The River: Book Review
In The Bend of the River is the colourful and often amusing account of a British couple who took the unusual decision to up sticks and settle in the small ethnic-Hungarian village of Stara Moravica in Vojvodina. In almost equal parts memoir, travelogue and nature guide, this is the diary of their life less ordinary, clearly told with affection by two people who learned to live alongside unfamiliar people in a strange and foreign land.
In this book, Robert MacCurrach, a former soldier turned forester, photographer and avid nature lover, recalls his exposure to one of the lesser-known corners of Europe, after he and his wife Tricia settled in northern Serbia. Through their recollections and vivid descriptions of the ups and downs of a new life, we learn about the couple’s experiences and how they got to know, and be accepted by, the people they met there.
