Belgrade, Serbia

A new country down! And boy, let me tell you--Serbia is awesome! It's nothing like what you hear or think on tv. Because we all know that the media (especially CNN) is always spot on about world news. Sure, there may have been several men walking around suspiciously in  track jackets carrying handguns, but the pros definitely outweighed the cons.

To begin with, there were castles in Belgrade. I never have been a tough cookie to please but when castles are involved, it's always easy for me to have fun. But before I get to that point, let me tell you about my journey crossing the Bulgarian-Serbian border.

Now I know that American's geography is a bit sketchy, so I'll give you a refresher course. You may remember Yugoslavia and how it got split up into many smaller countries. Well, in my job--I concentrate heavily on EU member countries or those who are applying to become EU members. Bulgaria is a current EU member (no clue how or why but that's besides the point) and Serbia is not. That being said, I'm American so it doesn't really apply to me because whenever a border patrol officer sees blue he immediately smiles and says in slavic English, "American blue, eh?!" This statement is me followed me laughing and acting like I've never heard that one before.

But being American and having that fancy, beautiful, work of art passport (you should really look close at the new American passports.. they're amazing! amazing quotes and sweet pictures) did not help me out this time. We didn't have the registration in our car so it looked like we literally stole the car. My reaction? Well, I pulled out a picture of our team with the Bulgarian Prime Minister and asked if I could call the American Embassy. Only problem was... we were already past the Bulgarian border into No Man's Land at the Serbian border. They didn't a rat's *cough* about me being American or who I'd met.

We had to turn back around and get our registration which was a hassle. But 5 hours later we made it to the great city of Belgrade, Serbia! Nice construction, clean streets, and new buildings all around the city facing the Danube river with a huge castle as its center. It's definitely in the top 65 European cities I've been in...

But things went well and had a nice drive back to post-communist Bulgaria which has a number of stray dogs and gypsies at every crossing. That being said, lunch never costs more than $4-$5 to get full and I can drive like a maniac and never get pulled over. So fun is had by all.

I updated a few pictures from Belgrade as well. Hope all is well your way.

Cheers.

Wyatt

Brussels, Belgium

From post-communism back to the European Union stomping grounds--that was my journey earlier this week. It's somewhat refreshing to go from a $3.50 cab ride across town in Bulgaria to a $55 cab ride half-way across Brussels. Needless to say, I'm glad I'm currently on assignment in a country where I can live like a king on the equivalent of a welfare check.

So, since my last post I have taken some more pictures throughout Bulgaria. I traveled all along the Black Sea up to Nessebar and Varna. The city of Varna is kind of like a communist San Francisco. It has the sea port feel but still the lingering sensation that something from behind is going to rob you. That something that comes up from behind you in San Francisco is completely different then that something that comes up from behind in Varna, but you get my point.

After working on the coast for less than a week, I traveled back to Sofia to start work up in the Bulgarian capital once again. Not many things have changed but it is getting a bit nippy outside. The leaves are starting the change which is nice, but the winters here in Sofia are said to be the most depressing thing ever. I hope to not be here during the first snow, but our project is off to a slow start so it's not looking good. I would prefer to spend my winter on assignment somewhere in Asia. I don't necessarily care if it's cold or warm--I just don't like communism and snow together. Why do you think Hitler failed to invade Moscow during the infamous Soviet winter? Sure, the snow is terrible; but add the even colder atmosphere of socialism and everyone freezes.

On a different note, I found out I will be spending Dec. 22nd through Jan. 4th in Brussels, Belgium. So anyone who is interested in a European winter vacation, be sure to hit me up. I'm not sure what Christmas or New Years day is like in Paris, London, or Amsterdam but I need to find out what city to spend what holiday. I'll have nice housing arrangements set up in Brussels but still would be good to branch out from the Flemish area.

Don't forget to check out the updated pictures! Hope to update more soon.

Cheers.

Wyatt