INITIAL THOUGHTS
SERBIA
- Serbia is a poor country, much poorer than I expected for being in Central Europe rather than Eastern. Croatia felt a lot richer. It truly feels more Eastern European like Ukraine/Russia.
- Serbian language is pretty damn close to Russian. If you know Russian, you'll be able to read 80% but won't communicate. It's probably one of the closest Slavic languages to Russian.
- Lots of history here. It was ruled by the Turks (Ottoman Empire) for over 500 years and there's still influence (Serbs drink Turkish coffee, etc).
- Kosovo is obviously a touchy issue but Serbs have no problem talking about it if you believe Kosovo belongs to them
BELGRADE
- Belgrade is not the prettiest city. It's uglier than any Western European capital and uglier than the big Central European capitals: Vienna, Budapest, Prague, etc. It’s similar to Vilnius and Riga, although I'd venture to say the Baltic capitals are nicer. It's not as ugly as Bucharest, but close. Even Kiev, being an ex-communist city, is a bit easier on the eye. Having said that, it has a certain charm to it, which I like.
- Belgrade, like the rest of Serbia, was heavily bombed in 1999 by NATO, and there's a couple of buildings in the middle of the city which weren't even repaired.
FOOD
- Lots of grilled meats. So if you're vegetarian, good luck. You can have a huge Serbian burger for $2.50, so it's dirt-cheap. My 3-course dinners were around $10-12.
PEOPLE
- Serbs are darker than other Slavs, as most men and women have dark features (hair, eyes, etc). If you have blonde hair and blue eyes you will stand out.
- The men are tall, but not exceptionally tall like Scandinavians and Lithuanians. While it's more common to see a Serb who's 6'4 than someone who’s 5’7, I’d guess the average height is somewhere in the 5'10-5'11 range. (In Lithuania and Denmark ~80% of the population is >= 6 feet.) Women are anywhere from 5’6 to 5’11.
- The women are a nice mix of Slavic and Mediterranean genes. It's not often you see a stunner (>= 8) on the street, but it can happen. They're tall, skinny, and like to wear their hair long. Very feminine. I still consider them to be a bit less attractive than Ukrainian and Russians, whom I consider to be the hottest Slavic women.
- I didn't feel the Serbs being overly macho at all. I'm a Slav myself and Serbs behave exactly as other Slavs. Sure, if you step to someone else’s girlfriend, they might tell you aggressively to back off but that would happen in any Slavic country (as well as Latin America).
- They love Russians, whom they consider their brothers. I've had several situations where, when asked where I'm from, they would immediately let out a smile as soon as I told them I'm Russian. I don't think it matters much either way though.
I’ve been casually day gaming around town but will be hitting the town hard this weekend.
Serbian culture, like all Balkan countries, is primarily a dating culture.
I got a couple of promising prospects developing: two from a street approach (although one doesn't seem to speak English well, so let's see how it goes), and this Russian girl I met. When the dust settles I'll probably do a complete write-up on my blog.
Oh, and can someone explain what this “Balkan Power” is? I still don’t get it.