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a, Balkan Turmoil, SerbiaLeave a comment

Belgrade, NATO Bombing Sites.

Rich McClear

This is from an October 2000 letter from Belgrade, on my first visit to the city after Milosevic lost power– and my first visit since the NATO bombing.   When someone asks “do you want to see the sights” he really means “sites,” the places hit during the NATO bombing.  Like in Pristina, the tour points out how accurate the bombing really was.  People mark time “before bombing, after bombing” always pronouncing the second “b” in bombing.  And when people ask “how has Belgrade changed” they expect me to cite the most visible of the sites, the tall building next … Continue reading Belgrade, NATO Bombing Sites.

a, SerbiaLeave a comment

Belgrade, Hotel Moskva

Rich McClear

These paragraphs are from a 2012 letter.  We returned to the Moskva Hotel, where we had stayed so many nights in the 1990s.  When we came back we stayed where we started, at the Moskva.  The deskman knew us after a decade of absence from the hotel.  The Moskva is one of my top three emotional picks for hotels in the world.  We spent hundreds of nights here in the 1990s and early 2000s, sometimes staying for a month at a time.  I watched the massive demonstrations against Milosevic from the Moskva’s windows. In 1997 Ljiljana chose the Moskva for … Continue reading Belgrade, Hotel Moskva

a, SerbiaLeave a comment

Belgrade, Kalemegdan: Where the Danube and Sava Rivers Meet.

Rich McClear

Kalemegdan is where the Danube and Sava Rivers meet.  It is a fortified site that has been held by the Celts, Romans, Byzantines, Serbs, Turks, Austrians, Germans, Yugoslavs and the Serbs again.  It is a park, fort, and the place where Belgrade spends weekend afternoons.  The pictures are from Kalemegdan and other places mentioned in the letter.  These are excerpts from an March 2009 letter.   On Sunday in Belgrade the parks came alive.  Today Belgrade’s walking street was full of strollers eating ice cream and popcorn, stopping for an iced coffee at one of the cafes and strolling on … Continue reading Belgrade, Kalemegdan: Where the Danube and Sava Rivers Meet.