It's particularly cruel to put a scale in the bathroom of a hotel room. It was the first thing I did of course, check my weight. It was upsetting to see that my weekly kung fu moves at home between the sofa and the table hadn't neutralised the rhubarb crumble pie and salty caramel ice-cream I have been eating with an increased frequency during the last months. It was a bit of a sad start of my stay in Belgrade: I had to say no to Börek and no to Serbian cheese. Subsequently, I felt the need to explain to everyone about my extra 5 kilo and I think I'm now known in Belgrade as the 5-kilo curator.
The first evening I attended a French dinner party. My French got a bit rusty but a charming Frenchman told me you can talk French by using only one word: "putain". If you're excited about something: "Putain!" If you disappointed about something: "Putain..." If you're wondering about something: "Putain?"
A Frenchwoman told me she was learning Serbian but only those words without vocals like "brzk", which means quick, or "smrt" which means death. It came as no surprise that she also turned out to be a fan of Erik Satie, who composed Nine Pieces for Young People using white-keys only.
Of course, I took the occasion to do some vaccination-tourism since Serbia is way ahead of Germany. On Saturday morning I accompanied D to get his second jab. Unfortunately, the possibility of foreigners to just walk in and get a vaccination had been restricted two weeks ago. It did give me the chance to visit New Belgrade. One apartment block stood out. D told me it is called the television building because of its peculiar windows. "I live in television," its inhabitants say.
I saw many poodles in Belgrade and I met one named Spotti. Spotti is a lap dog.
Early Saturday morning, I went to pick up my handmade hat at one of the old hat stores on a street called Balkanska. The hat wasn't in yet, said the saleswoman: "My boss is coming at 10. But his 10 is an 11."
Talking to the Goethe-Institute I came upon a new German word: "zusammendenken". To write "thinking together" in one word expresses adequately the activity.
Art director, artist and fashion designer Ljudmila Stratimirovic guided me through Belgrade. She always brought along the most beautiful flowers from her garden as a present for our hosts. Before I left, she also gave me a bouquet - symbolically, since I was leaving for the airport. I photographed it and am planning to print it out.
