Saturday, February 18, 2006

First City

I'm feeling a bit guilty because I haven't posted any insightful yet witty commentary on life in Serbia lately; I just haven't spent a lot of time here in the past two months.

Yesterday I flew back to Serbia from Vienna. One of the major triumphs of my trip was getting from the bus station to the Belgrade airport and vice versa without any help. This was a huge accomplishment for me, because Dan, being the language guy, does most of the communicating for us. The return trip was particularly satisfying because when you come out of customs at the airport, taxi drivers (SCAMMERS!) start following you around, sweet talking you, trying to get you to ride with them and then they'll charge you an outrageous fee. Knowing their schemes, I ignored them all and took the cheap-o bus to the city center provided by JAT (pronounced yacht), the Serbian airline.

Vienna was absolutely stunning, as expected. I had two days of conference and two days of tourism. The best part of the conference was being in a work-like enviornment again. I haven't had a full work day since I left B&N back in August. I gave a kick-ass presentation and made friends with all sorts of people. The other best part of the conference was that all my expenses were covered by the US government. Your tax dollars at work...

Tourism was also great, and somehow special because Vienna is the first international city I traveled to, way back in 1994. I was on a high-school trip with 39 other students and various chaperones and we made the grand tour of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. That trip was unquestionably how I became hooked on international travel, and so must be partly responsible for this year in Serbia.

The major sights I visited were the Prater ferris wheel - I'm sure you all remember the famous speech Orson Welles gives in The Third Man. In case you've forgotten, here's the text:
Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.
I also had the tour of the famous Opera House (WOW!) and saw the morning practice of the Lipizzan horses at the Spanish Riding School. And I ate a lot of strudel. My overall impression of Vienna was that they should still have a king. They have so much tradition and opulence (next Thursday is the annual Opera Ball) and it seems a bit wasted without a monarch to appreciate it all.

I am staying put in Serbia for the next month, when my mom comes to visit and we travel to Budapest. So I promise more cultural commentary is forthcoming.

1 comment:

rachel said...

well done getting to the airport. FYI for next time: there's a city bus that will take you there for 40 dinars. (there's a 10 minute uphill walk involved, though.)