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Srbija 2020

Belgrade: Off the Map, Off the Charts

city scapecity scape Belgrade - the White City, the “gateway between East and West,” the capital of the Serbia - for all its epithets, is just not a tourist destination. Every time I offer a friend back home a place to stay if they ever make it out here for a visit, I get the same response that goes something like: “Well, I’ve heard Vienna’s nice. Maybe we could meet there instead.”

The lack of readily available information about the city does not help much either. Until last year Belgrade was routinely left out of any Guide to Eastern Europe, from Lonely Planet to Rick Steves’, and current web-based info is not much better. The Belgrade Tourist Organization’s introductory English webpage, the first page listed when you google “Belgrade, tourism,” depicts the city as a blurry, blue-tinted skyline of low-lying, non-descript buildings (http://www.tob.co.yu/english/index.html).

I realize that Serbia’s recent past and the shadow it cast on perceptions abroad is a great contributor to this shortage of foreigners roaming the streets, map in one hand, camera in the other, but I think something else is at work too. Most potential foreign tourist don’t know why Belgrade would be a desirable destination. While London has its Westminster Abbey, world-class theater, and Big Ben; Paris its Eiffel Tower, French cuisine, and the Louvre; and Madrid its Royal Palace, bullfighting, and the Prado, what does Belgrade offer? The lineup of Kalemegdan, burek, and St. Sava’s Temple just doesn’t quite compete. But that’s part of Belgrade’s appeal - it’s unconventionality. What Belgrade lacks in roped off tourist attractions, it makes up for in an offbeat but intense energy.

When I first arrived, I was skeptical of this notion that Belgrade possessed some kind of energy or vibe that turns its visitors into life-long admirers. It sounded like a conveniently intangible substitute for beautiful architecture, world-class performances, or well-preserved historical landmarks (not to say that Belgrade has none of this, just none in abundance). Yet the longer I’ve been here, the more I’ve found the notion to hold true.

But what it is that sold me on Belgrade’s amorphous attraction, I am not quite sure. Perhaps it’s the unpredictability of the city and its people, rooted in a blend of Serbian culture and astounding worldliness. For instance, my friends here, who instantly absorbed me into their circle with an openness Serbs are known for possessing, can generally be found most evenings lounging around their apartment, drinking cheap beer and belting out every word to a myriad of Serbian/Yugoslavian tunes. And though to my untrained ear the music sounds like a balkanized version of 80s pop-rock spiced up by the occasional ballad, I am told again and again that, “if you understand this song, you’ll understand Serbs (or alternatively Vojvodina, Yugoslavia, life, love, etc.).” Yet against the background of whirling Serbian lyrics, one, a student of theoretical mathematics, routinely quotes the poetry of Blake and Yeats, another regularly argues with me in almost perfect English about the questionable validity of the free-market as a global system, and the third, well he just rants about being a Hungarian, so maybe he's not the best example.

And while it may be futile to generalize about a city of two million from a sampling of only a handful, Belgrade as a whole bears a similarly strange blend of domestic and cosmopolitan sights and sound. Where else can you find both Radical Party protesters and a well-attended international film festival on the same street?

I am certainly not alone in my reaction to the city. I’ve yet to meet a foreigner here who didn’t love it, but I’ve also never met one who could quite articulate its appeal.

Perhaps it’s the indefinable quality of Belgrade’s lure that makes it such a hard tourist sell. How do you take a picture of a city’s energy? One fellow expat offered up Belgrade's beautiful women as a potential selling point for the city, and went so far as to suggest that they be featured in its next self-promotional tourism push. Besides the fact that the idea is only a few steps removed from the Russian mail-order-bride idea, I’m not sure it quite conveys the entirety of Belgrade’s draw.

Last year the New York Times featured the Serbian capital on the front page of its weekend Travel section. Writer Seth Sherwood sketched the city’s atmosphere through a description of its history, markets, bohemian district, and unmatched nightlife. Though he seemed to capture much of Belgrade’s multifaceted appeal to a foreign visitor, it took him over three full newspaper pages to do so.

But the very complexity that makes Belgrade’s appeal hard to reduce into bite-sized tourism slogans and postcard images, is exactly what makes Belgrade Belgrade. And though it may be selfish, I rather like being a token foreigner rather than one of the map-waving, camera-toting hordes found in Prague or Paris.


questionable validity of the free-market?

QUESTIONABLE VALIDITY OF THE FREE-MARKET? geez!!!

there is nothing questionable about the validity of the free-market, for anyone who knows anything about economics, lucy, baby.....


geez!!!

that sounded just like john wayne...


thanks,

for the compliment :))


no problem,

anytime ;)


u apparently dont know anything

about monoploly
free market sucks


Dobrodosli

This problem of how to sell Belgrade dates back to the 80s. Belgrade was never a tourist destination. Even in the best of days when it was wheeling in 100s of busines and academic conventions per year, they couldn't quite sell it to 'pure' tourists.
NYTimes article had that hook of 'nightlife' everyone mentions now. Belgrade certainly doesn't have the best nightlife in Europe - but I can testify that it does have the best nightlife for the PRICE you pay. Belgrade is the only European Capitol with over 1 Million people that is considered 'Inexpensive' in the west.
The key to turning Belgrade into a 'Prauge' (lets say) is Cheap Airfare, a cohesive Hotel network and MARKETING. And I agree, the BG tourist board has not been doing so well.


just like

belgrade does not have the best girls, just the best ones for that price?
i doubt


well lucy

U r right about everything u said. We do not perceive Belgrade as a possible tourist destination in its conventional form. But that should not be the case. just like Rome has its half destroyed Colloseo we have our ruins from the latest war in Europe. there u go if you want the monuments of the glorious history. Belgrade is a place where west meet east, where city becomes country side and vice versa.
we wont be able to create super good looking pamphlets with panorama of Belgrade that will drag millions of tourists to biggest disappointment of their lives. This is why we should utilize referral marketing to promote Belgrade as a place that ur ought to see, just like u do and just like that guy who wrote that famous ‘Belgrade rocks’ article does. Picture can’t capture the vibe. They said that picture tells more than hundred words but a word of recommendation is more powerful than thousands of pictures.


yes, lucy,

just how hard did you try to convice those friends?


yeah lucy

how hard did u try?
not hard enough obviously


who

says we dont have attractions


lucy just did.

pay attention!


daj bre

brukline ti si skolovan covek
kako slike da posaljem sledim instrukcije al djavola
vidis da nista ne izlazi


ajde daj link

...


dakle,

desni klik misom na sliku, pa copy image location


bravo majstore zeleni

sad cu da natrpam blog
ko zna cim
;)
dodjem ti jedan bruklin lager


brooklyn lager

sure....


jebi ga matori

ne ide mi
"probao sam sve
al mi ne ideeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..."


ijasaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaoj matori


by the way

who is paying you lucy?
CIA or/il' BIA?


dakle

bas sam retardiran


ovako

[img]copy-paste[/img ]


izvalio sam matori

hvala u svakjom slucaju. evo na moj racun


belgrade girls..

belgrade girls are not for sale! piss off


cuti bre budalo

bolje gledaj sta ja umem


decooooooo

Zategoste do Bukuresta, pocepaste mi tapete na desnom zidu:0)





P.S. Gagonjoooooooooo, sve radis kako ti je objasnila brooklyn, samo dodas u prvu zagradu iza img a ispred ] ovoooo =300x240, npr. To su ti horizontalna i vertikalna dimenzija slike. Nije nista strasnooooo sto je slika manja,ko hoce da vidi vecu, samo klikne desnim pa na View Image. Nije sto je lepseeee, nego mozes se igras sa dimenzijama sve dok ti se ne svidi.Probaaaaaj.
P.P.S.Sad su momci otisli da spaaaaavaju, ali ne da ne vole kad im rasirimo stranu na desnooooo sa slikama nego nemas pojma.


hvala blaise

uocio sam tu opciju ali se trudim da keep it simple
ja strasno sporo kucam a i gresim strasno mnogo dok strasno sporo kucAM.
elem nisam zano da je bruklin zensko. jel to proverena informacija ili..?
ja mu/joj obecao pivo
ako je zenka moze i cosmo


ko su

"momci"?


Brooklyn

Devojcicaaaaaaaaa i to slatka kao seceeeeeer.
"Momci" se potpisuju sa m.
moderatori, isto slatki kao secer, ali imaju pune ruke posla pa im nije do prepravljanja slicica..


devojcica kazes a?

hmm...
to sto su momci slatki ko secer na tome im svaka cast.
a poruci im da ne moraju slike da prepravljaju uopste.

evo za trecu smenu na racun kuce


Svevideci

E i od mene imaju gajbu nemachkog, po izboru, kad budem dolazila u Bg, ako nesto doradeeeeee.

A i nema sta ja da im porucujem, vide oni sve ;0)


belgrade rocks


sada i monserat


moze da bude sexy


haska dijeta


Trolovanje

Gagonjo,
ne troluj, drzi se teme. Naljutices domacicu. Beograd je svet i tooooooo.


otkad

je devijacija od teme nepozeljna na ovim blogovima?
ja bas citam nesto ove ostale i kako god da pocne tema na dvanaestom ovom responseu neki srdjan kusovac sa nekim zoksterom i ostalom ekipom prica o politickim desavanjima kako aktuelnim tako i proslim a i buducim. dakle ni jedna tema ne dogura dalje od tog 12og reply-a. ali naravno, cim ja ubacim sekija da demonstriram svoje nove vestine editovanja fotografije odma drvlje i kamenje na mene i upozorenja.
eto kakvi ste vi.\nek' vam je na obraz
:)


Ga

Gaches gagonjoooo,
nisam ni videla Sekija kad sam pisala post, tek sada, ovako na prazan stomak :)
Htela sam reci, nije lepooooo zbog domacice trolovati.To je sve.

Dodji kod nas na najlepsi od svih blogova Tanje Jakobi. Tamo je trolovanje takoreci obaveza..Ali nema politike, odmah da te upozorim..Pisemo iskljucivo u pesmama i alegorijama i slikama..

U bre kaki si..
Jesi se ti kad si bio mali u skoli ugledo na najbolju ili na najgoru decu???


kad sam bio mali u skoli

ugled'o sam jednu finu,
evo jos me drzi.


as i am warned

not to deviate from the topic i should say that ...
i feel very strange at this moment.
excuse me
yes belgrade is one of the greatest spots in the region.
hope u like! its nice!
i like!


eh beograd

Ta neosvojiva tvrdjava, Pa cak i za one rodjene u njemu. Kazu prvo uspesh u celom svetu pa tek onda u Beogradu. Zato je valjda i Tesla dobio aerodrom.


Belgrade is not a "tourist destination"?

Majority of cities, villages, places in the world are not.
Why would Belgrade be?
Is it a must?

Olga


Railway

The tragedy of Belgrade turist appeal is in the railway tracks limiting access to two (dirty) rivers. I only recently discovered that Danube is more accessible than I thought :-)

LP MMM iz Ljubljane, ex-Beogradski student


i liked you more

on MM's blog....


www.lunov.com

@ Lucy
You should visit the first page listed when you google
vibrant Belgrade.


Lucy, you finally starting to get it (Belgrade...that is)

Lucy,

I am from Belgrade, lived there first 25 years, Dorcol - than London, UK for 10, Tahiti, Paris and past 7 in USA (LA, Vegas and past 4 Oakland, CA)....so I been around few nice and ugly places.

Now I just want to tell you that you FINALLY feel it. Belgrade can be ugly and make you crazy and many from outside can't understand why you love it but there is something that fill your heart forever.
Now you can see that you are local.
Beogradjanka.
(Big compliment, that is.)
Even with name like Lucy :). Keep it up...

Dimitri Thompson


Replika

na pocetku bih zeleo da repliciram Lucy recima: ne obra se bostan dok sljive ne popadaju! naravno zelim i da razuverim sve ljude koji sumnjaju da gore navedena postoji i koji imaju dilemu da li ista radi za BIA-u ili za CIA-u. dakle, naravno da postoji i
naravno da radi za obe obavestajne agencije. zeleo bi sada da objasnim fenomen ovolike posecenosti blogu. o cemu se radi? u svim, ili manje vise svim, komentarima vidimo fashisticheke klice u srba. svi pripadnici ove cudne rase zele da se izdvoje i da naglase svoju posebnost, naravno kako je vecini kultivisanih ljudi poznato, konstrukt "nebeskog naroda" je neslavno propao, ali i dalje se suvise vaznosti pridaje promiskuitetnim srpskim svecima, nasim domacinskim epitetima, pa nadelje i nasem "belom gradu" koji ne moze biti crnji sto zbog nebrige ljudi sto zbog cudnovate neofashistichke strukture istih(ajte molim vas pa 50% je umalo izglasalo Vuchica koji je nudio hleb za tri dinara, a pre njega i njegovih to je ucinio Musolini- elem za sve koji su pitali jadnu Lucy da li je spijun otuda i rec fashista zbog jeftinog hleba). dakle, da ne duzim, posto mi madjari disu za vratom(koji su se sklonili od BIA-e), hteo bih samo da potsetim Lucy da kad bude dolazila do stana da kupi pivo ali ne MB(koje smrdi) nego Apatinsko od 2l, takodje ako bude pravila cookies da mora da ponese da se koshta.
p.s. ako ste pomislili da je Beograd sranje, setite se Basare: kvalitet ljudi odredjuje kvalitet zivota!


Belgrade ON the NEW MAP!

Belgrade Witty Map will be presented in the OZON gallery, Tuesday, December 26, at 6pm.

Unlike typical maps, the Belgrade Witty Map brings a unique combination of Belgrade city map and a guide to the best places in town and events not to be missed. It is this mixture of elements that gives a completely new touch to the map, providing quick and easy access to all relevant information for both visitors and locals. For the first time, you can spare yourself of annoying search through often confusing table of contents with a bunch of needless information. The Belgrade Witty Map offers easy-to-find illustrations that communicate with the reader in quick and funny manner.

Apart from the official information, the map also offers additional suggestions, made especially for visitors who only make a short stay in town, so they don’t have much time to get to feel its spirit. One of the first impressions that you get when you look at the map is its clever and jolly layout, which serves to cheer up people and make them set out to the city in a positive mood.

However, what makes this map so special and attractive is its charming and funny modern design, adapted to the needs of today’s tourists and travelers. The map is filled with attractive illustrations, all of which are unique creations, made in cheerful and lively colors. The authors wanted to bury the image of the city as gray and dirty once and for all, and instead to present a new, fresh and refined visual identity of Belgrade.

We made a first step, come and join us!

Welcome!