Belgrade to Freiburg, Germany

Day 14, 2.28.2009 We woke up around 10:30 am and ate breakfast in the common room. The receptionist told us that there was a big soccer game between Belgrade and a big rival. He said opposing fans throw rocks at each other when they see each other on the streets. Sure enough, on our way to the airport on the shuttle we saw dozens and dozens of riot police deployed throughout public spaces in the city, especially at the train station where the other team would probably be arriving at. There was also a group of hooligans waiting at the station surrounded by the police. The shuttle bus showed some weird onboard entertainment, basically a slide show of various scenes at the airport and then volcanoes and the cosmos. We got lunch at the airport and the waiter asked where we were from. When we told him America, he said “Ahhh! Our enemies!”, but then laughed and was really nice to us. I experienced one last bit of Balkan inefficiency at the airport. I had to check my bag, which I had not indicated when I bought my ticket. Instead of paying at the ticket counter, they had to hold my boarding pass while I had to go to the bank in the airport to authorize a money order for the 10 Euro fee. The bank accepted Euros, but only bills. I had exactly 10 Euros, but apparently I needed about 10.20 Euros. The 20 cents had to be in the local currency. I tried to explain that I was told I could pay in Euros and that this didn’t make much sense, but he insisted I pay the 20 cents in the local currency, which I simply did not have. Eventually I had to bum it off a mother and daughter standing behind me in line, which was getting longer and longer. Finally, we got on the plane and flew back to Germany.