Jaunted

World Cup

Soccer Fans and Explosives: A Winning Combination?

May 1, 2006 at 11:15 AM | 0 Comments

With the World Cup approaching, there will be much discussion in the coming months equating the behavior of fans to their national stereotypes: the English are drunk and belligerent, the Brazilians are drunk and naked, the Italians are drunk and enthusiastic, and so on. While we don't buy into those kind of stereotypes--we went to a school that encouraged sensitivity--there has to be some kernel of truth in them. After all, there's a book about it, called How Soccer Explains the World, written by Franklin Foer, who currently edits the New Republic.

Keeping those things in mind, we present to you this clip of the 1991 European Championships semifinal, played at Red Star Belgrade's home stadium. Americans may think their fans are tough, but all they do is hurl abuse, possibly some beers, or disco records. These fans have organized chants and their own pyrotechnics. Hardly seems in the same category. In a related note, whipping a bunch of Serbs into a frenzy in the early 90s didn't end so well. Maybe keeping soccer fans drunk and happy instead of organized is the way to go after all.

Related Stories:
·   World Cup Coverage [Jaunted]

Belgrade

Serb Reverb

January 24, 2006 at 3:32 PM | 0 Comments

Fantastic article from the Weekend FT, debunking the New York Times fantasy soufflé on Belgrade's nightlife from last year.

Belgrade's tourism board was making a hard sell on Belgrade, designating it as a clubbing capital of Europe. Sounds great, especially the famed party boats down by the river, right?

Not exactly. The Serbs are not free of recent history just yet, for starters. Those boats are not that close to town--they overlook Novi Beograd, an entire city of housing projects on the other side of the river. Service is still old-school Slavic. And the secret clubs, are, naturally, hard to find, all the more so for anyone without a command of Cyrillic. Belgrade is a fun town, but it's not Ibiza on the Danube.

On the flip side, the Hotel Moskva (home of the hardest scrambled eggs I've ever encountered) got a bad rap from the Times--it's a quality destination, without a whiff of boutique hotel to it. Think gold brocade on the comforters and you wouldn't be far off.

[Belgrade image via RSEanes/Flickr]

Related Stories:
· Hotel Moskva Reviews [TripAdvisor]