The view from Belgrade
Dobro Dan!
Hello from Belgrade and from the Eurocafe, where we are typing this blog from! Wednesday of Eurovision week and what has happened so far?!
Well, the travel over from the UK to Belgrade is a story in itself! Paul and I were due to meet up in Frankfurt after taking different Lufthansa flights to Frankfurt. Paul was due to land in Frankfurt from London Heathrow 15 minutes before my Manchester flight landed. However, it seems that Heathrow's problems go further than terminal 5 and his flight was delayed just enough for him to get to the Frankfurt gate, just after they closed it. So there was little old me on the Frankfurt to Belgrade flight by myself wondering where Paul was!
After arriving in the hotel, a few hours later I was joined by Paul who looked like he was ready to go home already and was without luggage, which was still somewhere between London and Belgrade.
To cheer us all up, we have a UK TV star as one of the receptionists. Yes, Mr. Cheap as Chips, David Dickinson has given up being a TV star and is now working at the Hotel Slavija in Belgrade. Our mission, to get him to say "Cheap as chips" during our stay. Stay tuned for a photograph if we can find an occasion to take one.
As for Belgrade, impressions are mixed at the moment, especially as they don't appear to have made much of an effort in the city to encourage people to get involved in the Eurovision spirit. Most people are very welcoming and at the moment all the scare-mongering that was circulating prior to the event are just that - scare-mongering.
As for the venue, the Beograd Arena is certainly an impressive arena. From the photographs, it looks as if there is nothing around the arena, but that is very deceptive! There is nothing outside for the fans to do and nothing really inside! Once inside the arena, there is only official merchandise stalls, ad-hoc drink stalls and what I think is the usual drink stalls. No hot food is sold in the arena, but I suppose that could change for the final, but I will be amazed if it does.
We thought that Belgrade and Serbia would have been using the Eurovision as an opportunity to show what the Serbs as a nation can do and to really show that they can host well - along the lines of Helsinki last year. However, they've either forgotten about it or just can plainly not be bothered with it.
Hello from Belgrade and from the Eurocafe, where we are typing this blog from! Wednesday of Eurovision week and what has happened so far?!
Well, the travel over from the UK to Belgrade is a story in itself! Paul and I were due to meet up in Frankfurt after taking different Lufthansa flights to Frankfurt. Paul was due to land in Frankfurt from London Heathrow 15 minutes before my Manchester flight landed. However, it seems that Heathrow's problems go further than terminal 5 and his flight was delayed just enough for him to get to the Frankfurt gate, just after they closed it. So there was little old me on the Frankfurt to Belgrade flight by myself wondering where Paul was!
After arriving in the hotel, a few hours later I was joined by Paul who looked like he was ready to go home already and was without luggage, which was still somewhere between London and Belgrade.
To cheer us all up, we have a UK TV star as one of the receptionists. Yes, Mr. Cheap as Chips, David Dickinson has given up being a TV star and is now working at the Hotel Slavija in Belgrade. Our mission, to get him to say "Cheap as chips" during our stay. Stay tuned for a photograph if we can find an occasion to take one.
As for Belgrade, impressions are mixed at the moment, especially as they don't appear to have made much of an effort in the city to encourage people to get involved in the Eurovision spirit. Most people are very welcoming and at the moment all the scare-mongering that was circulating prior to the event are just that - scare-mongering.
As for the venue, the Beograd Arena is certainly an impressive arena. From the photographs, it looks as if there is nothing around the arena, but that is very deceptive! There is nothing outside for the fans to do and nothing really inside! Once inside the arena, there is only official merchandise stalls, ad-hoc drink stalls and what I think is the usual drink stalls. No hot food is sold in the arena, but I suppose that could change for the final, but I will be amazed if it does.
We thought that Belgrade and Serbia would have been using the Eurovision as an opportunity to show what the Serbs as a nation can do and to really show that they can host well - along the lines of Helsinki last year. However, they've either forgotten about it or just can plainly not be bothered with it.
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