17 july 2005

Typical morning... slept in, crashed a Serb wedding at the biggest Orthodox church in the world, visited the deserted mauseleum of the former dictator of the former Yugoslavia, and am now sipping ice coffee at the Plato Cafe.

Last night I went strolling along Skdarska, alledged heart of the Bohemian district of Belgrade, but in reality just a row of romantic restaurants with gypsy bands. When I asked for a table, the waiter said, Really? A table just for one? Which made me feel kind of lonely. Kind of really lonely. So I left. All the way to the take-out pancake stand I brooded about how hard it is to meet people here. Then I met the pancake guy, Bane. We hung out for five hours. This was really good, because it made me remember why I like traveling alone. When you're traveling with other people you rarely meet the pancake guy.

Bane is originally from Bosnia; his mom lives in Toronto, his brother is not really his brother, and further questions were met with the response It's a long story. A lot of people here have long stories.