More correctly ‘Beograd’. I happened (as they say) to be
there, just for one night and the following day, not long ago. It wasn’t
planned and I don’t know the city; as the Germans say ‘Ich weiß nur Bahnhof’,
and I had in fact at various times spent the odd hour between trains in Beograd
station, but not ventured further into the city.
After a night in the excellent, luxurious, but cheap Beograd
Astoria Hotel, I simply wandered aimlessly around, watching all the
interesting-looking people getting on and off the very frequent and efficient-looking
trams, drinking endless unwanted cups of coffee, and going back to the hotel to
sit in the comfortable baroquely-furnished lounge reading. Killing time, in
fact.
It’s only now, a month later, that I realize what I should
have done: regular readers (both of them) of this blog will know that the great
inventor Nikola Tesla (oh no; not him again) is one of my heroes. Although he
spent most of his life, and did his most interesting work, in America, Tesla
was a Serb, and Serbia is justly proud of him. There’s even a make of
television called a Tesla. There is a Tesla museum in Beograd, and having done
an internet search I find that it must be quite large, though even were it tiny
I could, and should, happily have spent the whole day there. ‘Next time,’ I
tell myself, but, realistically, unless I go specially, what are the chances of
my again ‘finding myself’ (as they say) in Beograd with a whole day to spare?
I know I’ve put it in the blog before, but here again is
probably the most famous photograph of Tesla: (It is in fact a double exposure;
not even our Nikola would be so foolhardy as to sit reading while million volt
discharges played about his head.)
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