Summer in Serbia does not exactly sound like paradise but it was a great experience. It’s been a political hotbed for decades; they have a penchant for overthrowing governments and it was the command centre for the Yugoslav war. I expected an austere militaristic vibe in Belgrade, but I found a relaxed café culture and live-and-let-live atmosphere.
I loved the relics of the war, the bombed out carcasses. I’m a student of war and its consequences, and I don’t recall ever getting up close to site where bombs dropped in my life time. The allies (mainly the US and UK) bombed Belgrade in the 1990s. Some of the sites have been left as a reminder of the cost of a descent into ethnic madness.
I would hope that it won’t happen again but unfortunately I know it will.
Dr Martin James 