Belgrade
is one
of the oldest cities in Europe.
Because of its position on the intersection of
roads, on the place where civilisations clashed,
it was completely demolished 40 times, like
no other capital. The name of Belgrade means
“White City”. It was also called “the mount for
thinking”, “the house of wars” and “sin city”.
Besides Constantinople, Belgrade is the only
city dedicated to the Most Holy Virgin.
Belgrade is the capital of Serbia and has about
2 million inhabitants. It is situated in south-
eastern Europe, on the Balkan penninsula, at
the crossroads of routes that connect Western
and Central Europe with the Aegean and Black
Sea, Turkey and the Near East. Time zone is
Central European – CET (GMT+1 hour).
Climate
is mildly continental. Official language is Serbian, Cyrillic script,
although Latin script is equally used. Political system is a parlamentary
democracy. Main
religion is Christian - Orthodox. Serbian Orthodox Church
has been autocephalous since 1219.
The face of Belgrade is marked with scars from past wars. The city was
completely destroyed many times and that is why you will not see a
building more than 250 years old.
Still, here and there, you can find some beautiful houses which miracu-
lously managed to avoid fire, bombs and man’s stupidity. They keep the
memories and the smells of the past in their hallways.
Belgrade is built on the banks of two international rivers – the
Danube
and the Sava. Down the Danube and the channel Rhine-Main-Danube you
can get to Belgrade by ship from the North or Black sea. Even 588km of
international waterway on the Danube run through Serbia.
Belgraders
are very warm and friendly. They do not have prejudices against
foreign citizens (no matter where they come from) or other races. You can
make acquaintances or friends (yes, true friends) even on the first day of
your stay. Everyone will be glad to help you with the directions in the
city,
and it is not unusual for someone to invite you for a coffee or lunch at
their
home.
Being
late is a usual thing. If you are fifteen minutes late, it means
that
you are on time. Almost no film or theatre premiere, exhibition opening or
concert starts on time. The visitors use the opportunity to say hello to
their
friends and gossip about their enemies, so they ignore the bell calling
for
entrance for a long time. Rock concerts are usually more than one hour
late.
The
bill in the inn is not shared. The one who invites you to have a
drink or
lunch pays the bill. If there was a chance meeting that ended in the inn,
friends are known to start a fight about who will pick the tab (everybody
insists on treating the others). Swearing is a usual means of
communication
and there is a great variety of swear words (they often consist of a
couple
of complex sentences). Even friends swear each other. Only in intonation
and the look will you see whether someone is swearing because they are
threatening you or they are glad to see you.
