Cars in Belgrade

Yesterday, as I was walking up my street from Greennet, the cafe where I have finally found good coffee beans for sale, I thought it might be fun to do an inventory of the cars parked on my block. Unfortunately as I played Simon (fiat, skoda, opel, fiat skoda, opel, hyundai...) the list got too long for me to remember. So this morning, I went back and made a short film, which is embedded in this post. You also get a quick look at the hotel where I stayed the first two weeks  I was here, and at one of the many streetcars that comprise the city's excellent public transportation network.

I was hoping to see a Yugo, the car that was supposed to herald the end of the North American auto industry back in the early eighties, but no luck, I did, however, run into one on my trip to the farmers market later in the morning (Watermelon!), and I snapped this picture.

It's funny. I was talking about the Yugo with some of my colleagues the other day, and the car has the same reputation locally. My IT expert told me this joke:

A guy walks into an auto shop. He says to the mechanic, "Can I get some new windshield wiper blades for my Yugo?" The mechanic looks at the car, thinks about it for a second, and then he says: "Deal."

That's gold, Jerry. Gold.