Belgrade

We have arrived in the Serbian capital. Everything here is bigger, faster and more dynamic than in the rest of the country, as is the case with most capital cities. At every new location we go through the same repetition, so nothing different in Belgrade. It is great to be able to set up camp here for a few days. The first night at the Sava Center parking lot was fine but a bit rough: no shower, bathroom, running water or shade. So when we get the offer by phone to move to the ‘best spot of the city’, we are very quick to take it.

Within fifteen minutes the tow bar equipped car that we arranged appears. The driver doesn’t speak English or German, but happily takes us out of town, to an area on a large lake. We disconnect our mobile home and thank the driver. Weather is bad, with thunder and rain. For the first time we pull the Esja rain coat from the caravan closet. A little lost we walk around the terrain in the dark, not knowing exactly where we are. But looking at the kiosks, fitness centers, bowling alleys, outside showers and restaurants we quickly get an idea. There is also a bike rental service, which strangely enough is open around the clock. This actually comes in very handy, when arriving late at night. A friendly waiter explains that we are at a recreation and sports facility, called ‘Ada Cijangala’. Normally it is not allowed to spend the night at ‘Ada’, but our Novi Sad guardian angel Biljana’s powers reach far! Good for us, this is the best spot imaginable!

The next morning we find the bike path to city center flooded by the high tide in the Danube River. So we are forced to take the – much longer – highway into town. This route is not without danger. An unmarked open man hole, pot holes in the road, busy and loud traffic unaware of bicycles and exhaust fumes all around. We have a full program ahead of us. A visit to the Dutch Embassy, newspaper and TV interviews at the caravan. But first we have a radio interview at the Radio Belgrade studio. Our host Katarina Epstain welcomes us to the communist-looking building. We then spend over an hour with Katarina and the organiser of the Summertime Festival. I sing my latest song ‘Unterwegs’ live on Serbian radio, and we have a very nice conversation. A very special experience indeed!

It is even more special to be able to watch THE soccer world cup match of the moment: Serbia versus Germany. There are large screen TV’s everywhere and all bars and terraces are stuffed with soccer fans. The atmosphere is tense and excited. When Serbia scores 1 to 0 in the first half, the entire city cheers. When Germany subsequently misses a penalty shot, the city cheers even louder. When Serbia finally wins the match 1 to 0 a cheering thunder rolls through the streets of Belgrade. Cars with people waiving the Serbian flag drive through town, blowing their horns. Everybody congratulates everybody in the street. Funny enough Peter and I are picked from the crowd by a TV crew to give our opinion on the outcome. That night we appear in the Serbian evening news.

Through Twitter we have met Darko Stanimirovic, a Belgrade photographer. He invites us to join him and his girlfriend Ana for dinner, which – yes, again – turns out to be a Balkan Grill. He takes us to Grad, a new and popular cultural center, partially established by Felix Merits from Amsterdam. There is a good DJ that evening, but more important for our journey, there is functioning wireless internet. So we have a new experience: writing a blog wearing ear plugs, with the beat pounding through my body.

Then, when we ride back to the caravan over the highway, after a long day of interviews, carrying our laptop bags and guitar case, I spot four large dogs in the central lane divider of the road. When they suddenly all jump up and start chasing us I realize these are wild stray dogs. We are lucky that there is a lot of traffic, they cannot get accross the road because of all the cars between us and the middle lane. So this is what it must feel like to be attacked by hungry wolves. Fortunately Dachs is not in my bicycle basket – so kindly supplied by Joep, but he is safely at home in the caravan. So Belgrade may be bigger, faster and more dynamic than the rest of Serbia, for Dachs, the hitchhiking dog, it is just another place to eat her dog food. Let’s keep going south!