I love Belgrade

It is never boring here- and I am always happy to get back home when I have been on the road. I love the people and there is always something going on (and often many somethings at the same time).

This weekend I was at a press conference which was being held at the same place as the events leading up to Eurovision 2008 (the official site does not illustrate what an amazing cheese fest this is, for better info check out what the guys at Belgrade 2.0 have on it)!! I have been bummed for months that I wasn't able to score tickets to this exciting event. It was fun to see half-naked people and men in make-up and news crews from around the world (well, Europe and Israel anyway).

This weekend was also the 5th annual Belgrade Museum night. I visited several interesting museums and exhibits (along with seemingly the entire population of Belgrade). While I didn't get to see everything on my agenda, I did have a good time. Last year, Museum Night was one of the first events I took part in in Belgrade, and Sanja won second place in the photo contest! She hasn't decided if she has anything to enter this year...

I also visited the town of Topola yesterday. About an hour from Belgrade, and the location of Oplenac (which houses the church and graves of the Serbian royal family), it makes for a lovely day trip especially when the weather is nice (more on that later). The church has amazing mozaics made from an estimated 6 bajillion pieces of tile (ok, I can't remember the exact number quoted, but there was a six and many zeros). There was also a very beautiful crypt which we were told one of the 10 most beautiful in the world (who decides this things?). I have only seen three crypts, and I can say it was the most beautiful (but not necessarily the most impressive) of those (seen here and here).

We got back into town moments after a freak hail storm. I dozed off in the car (don't worry, I wasn't driving) and woke up as we were approaching downtown Belgrade. There was water pouring over the bridges and overpasses and parts of trees were down all over the place. A decent amount of damage was done in less than half an hour. See? Never boring!