The Big Balkan Trip. Kosovo

Kosovo was a place, where we didn't plan to go in the beginning. But after hearing "Don't go there, there's nothing to see/it's boring/it's dangerous" for the twentieth time, as an answer to our question "Is it good idea to go to Kosovo?".. we had to go. Just to be sure.

Hitch hiking was average, buses cheap, food surprisingly more expensive than in Serbia and totally vegan - unfriendly (including weird, egg-whey smelling bread). The land is beautiful, but amount of unfinished houses, car washes, NATO-wire in most unexpected places (like for example LKW parking lot), Bill Clinton cult (they even have his monument in Prishtina) and construction sites was surprising.

And melons. No surprise.

Prishtina, the capitol city was a one big construction site as well. Prizren with beautiful river and all kinds of temples, with houses streaming down from the mountains looked stunning at night and a bit sad in burning daylight.
Although Serbian empire still didn't recognize Kosovo as independent, the feeling of self content about having their own country you can feel on every corner.

The Big Balkan Trip. Belgrade and more of Serbia

Belgrade welcomed us with enormous, grey blocks on it's outskirts. It was about to stay overwhelming and fascinating grey, dusty and hot during the daytime. Excep that it's noisy, crowded and busy, with millions of tiny streets going in different directions, huge buildings full of air conditioning boxes sticking out and an impression of being in Metropolis, a science-fiction movie from 1927.
At night it looked different, more friendly and way more peaceful, the viewpoint from the fortress on Danube and moon-rise was a good ending of a day.
One other amazing thing was the Bigz building, an impossibly huge, 10 floored, mostly empty. Once owned by a publishing house, after fall of Yugoslavia abandoned, but then reclaimed and now still rented for small businesses, clubs and initiatives.
One vegetarian bar with a piano hanging out from the ceiling.
No flying cars or other weird vehicles.

And then came the way down south with nice drivers we spoke *Slavic* with, through little towns, one could pass through in half an hour, seeing obituaries hanging on a bus stop and empty grassy plateaus we wished to camp at. But then we caught a ride and left Serbia for Kosovo we were so much adviced against, to not be able to come back this direction because of the Serbian-Kosovo border policy.

The Big Balkan Trip. Novi Sad, Serbia

The Trip began quite unexpectedly, because we caught a ride from some forgotten gas station near Brno straight to the Serbian border. We crossed a border on foot, watched a sunrise and had a coffee on the back of the gas station and watched huge Muslim family having huge breakfast.

In few hours we were already in Novi Sad and watched all the wonders of ex Yugoslavia for the first time.
From cars with old, Yugo-plates, whole streets full of old, falling apart buildings just a few meters away from new and shiny buildings, dozens of cats, Cyrillic writings in this lovely, funny language, we somehow more or less understood.

Through discovering new, local vegan food, accidentally finding a wonderful bike-cafe and getting to know lovely people. And the impression of microcosm hidden in the little, pastel-co loured, calm streets as well as the conscience of going through the hometown of a friend of mine, knowing it only from her stories.
And the first contact with the heat, which was still pretty mild as it was supposed to turn out.
Lots of positive energy and a long train ride to Belgrade.

Jealousy vs. The Black Queen aka down.with.love.

And now for something completely different. Sorry, it will get personal again.

You all, even those who weren't yet born before Freddie had died (how, for the hell's sake, is that possible by the way!) surely know the band called Queen.
It's been one of the first bands in my music education and I would call it the most important one in creating my choosy music taste for melodies and out of the ordinary solutions and I've loved them since I was 6. I love them still, for the ideas, for the form, for the music and.. for the lyrics.

Countless times the music in general saved me from being totally down and wreck. In last days I had to have a lot of music therapy.

"Oh how wrong can you be?
Oh to fall in love was my very first mistake
How was I to know I was far too much in love to see?
Oh jealousy look at me now
Jealousy you got me somehow.."

Oh, yes, I promise myself never, ever be jealous of anyone ever again. I felt it was the most annoying feeling I could emit and the one that made me feel the most pathetic in my own eyes.

But falling in love never again seems like not so bad idea as well...
I know, that *love is revolution* whatsoever, but I slowly start to have an impression, that maybe it's not the actually the best thing for me.

There are so many beautiful things about being in love and sharing it and projecting it on others and teaching it to others and even living and feeling it with others.
But for me the bad part in it is falling out of myself and becoming weak, brainless, dependent, mediocre, pretty boring and passive person.

It happened to me already 3 times. One time I remained myself, because I was in a distance relationship. The other times I failed.
At the moment I'm on a best way to become my-real-self again, strong, independent, fascinating, alive to the bone, with all the malice, sharp tongue, sharp mind, lust for life, passion, impulsiveness, amazement, and energy..
And the love, of course, in endless resources, but this one I still need to learn how to manage and dose it really wisely.
Before that happens, I'll care a bit less, expect little or nothing, go rather for patience and acceptance of what comes and fight when there's a threat and a deep need.

"Walking true to style
She's vulgar 'buse and vile
Fie-fo the black queen tattoos all her pies
She boils and she bakes and she never dots her "I's"

Forget your singalongs and your lullabies
Surrender to the city of the fireflies
Dance with the devil in beat with the band
To hell with all of you hand in hand
But now it's time to be gone - forever"

I'm not going to dot my "I's" neither. And take a good care of my fireflies.
So take it as it is, with all the good and the bad sides, with no regrets.

Balkan Street Art

When i started to sort out the pictures from the Big Balkan Trip I realized that I've seen so many great pieces of street art that they deserve a separate post.
There you go then, chronologically.

Novi Sad, Serbia

First city on our Balkan map, first big surprises.

"BIGZ" Belgrade, Serbia

Amazing place, lots of good works.

Prokuplje, Serbia

Some little town in north Serbia we just passed through on a hitch hike roam towards Kosovo and not as impressing as surprising pieces.

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovina

Mostar, Bosnia and Hercegovina

The most amazing piece of art I've seen. 1 m wide, hand made owl (no copy!), placed on a fence surrounding ruins of a building.
Respect.

"MEDIKA" Squat, Zagreb, Croatia

Not especially hospitable place, but with a great potential and lovely art.