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Sex Travel / Brothels / Serbia Travel / Bulgaria Travel / → All Tags

Serbia Thinks They Have The Right Stuff For Sex Tourism

We really don't think traveling to any country just to visit their brothels is particularly cool, but we did learn something amazing about sex tourism this week: it's worth a lot of money.

According to some Serbian "experts," in quite-near-by Bulgaria, the semi-legalized prostitution industry (other experts say it's illegal, so we don't know who to believe) brings in €1.8 billion ($2.5 billion) a year – and that's a whopping 7.2% of the country's GDP. They don't say quite how much of that cash comes from tourists, but they sure imply that it's a lot.

These same experts are proposing that brothels get legalized in Serbia, so that the country can rake in all the profits of sex tourism. They make the case that "foreigners associated Serbia with pretty women in general," so it would be easy to promote it as a destination for, well, a bit of night-time fun. Call us prudes, but we'll stick to visiting Serbia for its retro communist supermarkets and Rocky Balboa statues.

Related Stories:
· Serbia Should Follow Bulgaria Prostitution, Sex Tourism Model [No Invite]
· Germany Cracking Down On Recession-Friendly Brothel "Flat Rates" [Jaunted]
· Sex Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: jotor]

Design Travel / Serbia Travel / Belgrade / Communist Travel / → All Tags

Belgrade Opens a Communist Supermarket Redux

Oh, goodie! Someone has resurrected the sparse and depressing concept of a Communist-era supermarket in Belgrade. Everyone, off to Serbia! Inside of what was the first discount supermarket in Communist Yugoslavia, a Belgrade design firm has arranged various relics of cold war life and reopened the space as a concept shop.

With repurposed refrigerators, a VW bus, whole hospital examination rooms, and even bathroom doors ripped from a derelict freight elevator, the ReMiks Supermarket reinterprets the ascetic aesthetics of the "Golden Years of Communism" in order to show off spectacularly designed consumer products for modern living. Cracked cement floors and white warehouse lights dominate the space, in order to serve as an "imperfect background for the educated consumers' perfect fetishes." Sounds naughty!

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Eurovision / Music / Serbia Travel / Videos / → All Tags

Eurovision's Over: Couldn't the Pirates Have Won?

We're shattered that Eurovision is over for another year, and it's lucky we had an extra long weekend so we could get over the disappointment of geriatric rapper 75 Cents and his crew not winning.

We did predict, though, that good-looking Russian candidate Dima Bilan had a good chance, and now we wish we'd put some money on it: He and his nation raced away with a more than 40 point victory over Ukraine.

We're also a bit disappointed that the Latvian entry slipped under our radar until grand final night, because we would have liked to show them some support. For reasons surely known only to them, they entered a pirate song! And we loved it. Roll on Eurovision 2009. We'll see ya in Moscow.

Related Stories:
· The Eurovision Grand Finale [Jaunted]
· Turkeys (And Singers) to Watch at Eurovision [Jaunted]

Eurovision / Music / Serbia Travel / Videos / → All Tags

Eurovision 2008: Grand Finale on Saturday

The excitement of Eurovision, coming out of Belgrade this year, is coming to climax tomorrow: The semi-finals are all over and we know that quite a few of our favorites have bitten the dust.

We were keen on the invented-language magic of Belgium, but the band Ishtar got knocked out. We've also made no secret of our crush on Ireland's turkey; he didn't make it either.

Depending on who you listen to, the favorites might now be Sweden's Charlotte Perrelli who's singing a song called "Hero," or it might be a 75-year-old Croatian rapper. The French are probably hoping, though, that their electro-pop singer doesn't win because it's a national scandal that he's singing in English.

We're of course behind the geriatric rapper 75 Cents. (Real name!)

Related Stories:
· Favourites Through to Eurovision Final [AFP]
· We Heart Dustin the Turkey [Jaunted]
· Eurovision 2008: Bringing Belgium Together [Jaunted]

[Photo: Eurovision]

Eurovision / Music / Serbia Travel / Videos / → All Tags

Eurovision 2008: Bringing Belgium Together

The semi-finals for oddly captivating song contest Eurovision happen tonight in Belgrade, and Belgian group Ishtar will be doing their track "O Julissi." Written in a made up language, composer Michel Vangheluwe says it was inspired by the happiness of childhood. But we suspect the song might have more than a little something to do with the constant tension between his homeland's French- and Flemish-speaking halves.

On the eve of his group's performance, Vangheluwe told the BBC:

Language nowadays can be a political issue, but it shouldn't. Music is something that brings people together and whatever language you sing in, you get the message and that's the most important thing.

As it happens, "O Julissi" isn't the first contest song featuring invented language. In 2003, another Belgian act, Urban Trad, took second place with "Sanomi." Check out that video after the jump.

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Eurovision / Music / Serbia Travel / → All Tags

Turkeys (and Singers) to Watch at Eurovision

The weirdness that is the Eurovision Song Contest is almost upon us. On Tuesday, the first semi-final will run, and the second one follows on Thursday, when the list of the 25 finalist countries will be ready.

The big event itself is on Saturday May 24, and if it's not screening on a TV near you, don't panic because you can watch online. And if you're living or vacationing in Europe, you can take part in the voting, too.

Eurovision--the contest that brought us ABBA--is full of controversy this year. You can't vote for your own country, but many believe some neighboring countries vote for each other regardless of the quality of the song, so this year they've split these neighbors over the two semi-finals to help fix this problem.

There's also the question of whether some nations are taking the contest seriously or not. While Russia is sending its serious singing sweetheart Dima Bilan, pictured, Ireland is sending a turkey. For us viewers, it's simply serious fun, so don't forget to tune in and see the Bosnian singer who takes his chicken on stage.

Related Stories:
· Eurovision 2008 [Official Site]
· We Heart Dustin the Turkey [Jaunted]
· Eurovision coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Eurovision]

Eurovision / Serbia Travel / Music / → All Tags

Eurovision 2008: Belgrade Promises Incredible Surprises

With less than a month to go until the big weekend of the Eurovision Song Contest, we hope you've got your tickets booked to Belgrade for May 24. We've got a real soft spot for Ireland's Dustin the Turkey (who's made it to the semi-finals), but nearly any of the semi-serious, semi-novelty acts could be the champion--depending on how incestuous the votes from neighboring countries turn out to be.

No matter which song wins, Serbia's capital Belgrade will be the big winner, with a heap of people realizing it might be a nice place to visit. They're going all out to impress with a record 70 tons of lighting and sound equipment at Belgrade Arena, and to finish off the evening there'll be an "incredible pyrotechnic surprise." Dustin the Turkey exploding? We'll soon find out!

Related Stories:
· Eurovision Song Contest [Official Site]
· Eurovision 2008: Adoptions, Garbage and Metal [Jaunted]
· We Heart Dustin the Turkey [Jaunted]
· Is Eurovision a Big Neighbors Scam? [Jaunted]

[Photo: Yogurinha Borova]

Eurovision / Serbia Travel / Videos / → All Tags

Eurovision 2008: Adoptions, Garbage and Metal

We wish we could time a trip to Europe each year to the various cities that play host to the quirky Eurovision song contest. The Serbian capital of Belgrade will host the 2008 Eurovision contest in May--the grand finale happens on May 24.

In the lead-up to Eurovision, individual European countries have been holding their own finals over the past couple of weeks, and they've produced some, well, interesting results. With Azerbaijan competing for the first time, their winning representatives Elnur and Samir went somewhat over the top in pledging to help the world if they win in Belgrade--Elnur even promised to adopt a child if he's crowned Eurovision king.

On the opposite side of Europe, former British garbage collector Andy Abraham won the right to represent Britain at Eurovision, and is determined to rescue Britain from its position as Eurovision laughing stock. And Finland is looking to repeat its 2006 victory by sending freaky metal act Teräsbetoni to Belgrade to do the soon-to-be-smash hit Missä Miehet Ratsastaa.

Related Stories:
· Elnur Pledged to Adopt Child [Oiko Times]
· Andy Abraham Vows to Win Eurovision [Mirror]
· Nightmares of European Children [Jaunted]

Statues / Movies / Tourist Attractions / Monuments / → All Tags

The Serbian Statue Syndrome

Serbia really started getting in the Jaunted radar when they began to build statues in honor of Rocky Balboa and Samantha Fox (her monument was later abandoned when a Serbian audience started chanting to see her breasts during her concert). Now Serbia's obsession with statues is going even further, according to a recent NY Times report.

Apparently Tarzan--or more correctly, the actor who played Tarzan most famously, Johnny Weissmuller--was born in Medja in Serbia. And so the town of Medja is busily raising money to build a big bronze Tarzan. (Please don't tell them that Johnny Weissmuller's Wikipedia entry disputes his Serbian origin, saying it's more likely he was born in Romania).

Interestingly, it turns out there could be a serious sociological side to all Serbian statue madness. Experts say that Serbs are turning to Hollywood icons because they don't know who to honor from their own complicated history. Since they're not likely to work that out anytime soon, the crazy statues should keep coming, giving us more and more reasons to head to Serbia.

Related Stories:
· Balkans' Idolatry Delights Movie Fans and Pigeons [NY Times]
· Rocky Solution to Serbian Landslides [Jaunted]
· Move Over Rocky, Serbia's Got Another Idea [Jaunted]

[Photo of Philly's Rocky Statue: Damon Green]

German Tourists / → All Tags

German Tourists Beats Heatwave With Nudity

German tourists have a bit of a reputation for doing what they please while traveling--remember the Germans who hogged the poolside seats so much that someone made a bonfire with their towels?

This week in Serbia, a German tourist made the headlines again. With a summer heatwave sending temperatures well over the century, a German guy and his two Austrian pals decided to beat the heat by cycling naked.

Partway along their Danube River route, the police nabbed them and issued fines of 10,000 dinars ($175) each. Sure, the fine would've hurt, but what about the risks to their private parts while riding nude: sunburn, getting caught in the seat, not to mention plain humiliation? But that's German (and Austrian) tourists for you.

Related Stories:
· Bus Driver Burns Pool Towels [Jaunted]
· Tourists Fined For Cycling Nude in Heat Wave [MSNBC]
· Travel Stories in Serbia [Jaunted]


[Photo: the boy on the bike]

Statues / Tourist Attractions / → All Tags

Book Your Kryptonite Tour Now

Serbians must be breathing a sigh of relief at the news there is now a real reason for tourists to visit Serbia. With the scrapping of the Samantha Fox statue and the lack of world acclaim for the decision to build a Rocky Balboa statue in the village of Zitiste, things were looking shaking until the recent discovery of kryptonite on Serbian land.

Yep, that magical mineral previously thought to come from Superman's home planet has now been unearthed by mining giant Rio Tinto in Jadar, Serbia. It's actually a new mineral but coincidentally it matches exactly to the invented formula for Superman's kryptonite. Unfortunately, it's going to get named jadarite after the Serbian town, but we think there's definite potential for a big Superman statue now.

[Photo: Dan Coulter]

Related Stories:
· Serbia Doesn't Heart Sam Fox [Jaunted]
· Rocky Solution to Serbian Landslides [Jaunted]
· Kryptonite Discovered in Mine [BBC]

Statues / Tourist Attractions / Celebs / → All Tags

Serbia Doesn't Heart Sam Fox

It seemed like such a touching tribute: Serbia was ready to build a statue of Samantha Fox simply because she'd agreed to sing there (and they'd even decided on super-high-quality marble for her breasts).

But when Sam sang in the town of Cacak this week, she stormed off stage when they began a chant about wanting to see her breasts. Sam then ditched a ministerial dinner in her honor, and the ministers have now ditched plans for her memorial statue. Serbian media have taken a bit of fence-sitting attitude, but admitted this:

Local media said the hall she had played in had been only half full and the audience had made it clear they were not there to hear her sing.

Oh well, as far as we know the Rocky statue is still going ahead, so there's still a reason to visit Serbia.

[Photo: BBC]

Related Stories:
· Sam Fox Statue Scrapped [Ananova]
· Move Over Rocky, Serbia's Got Another Idea [Jaunted]
· Rocky Solution to Serbian Landslides [Jaunted]