Znak Pitanja

19-5-11 @ 10:48

Hotel Royal, Belgrade

Subject: 18-5-11

We met up with Katie in the lobby and took a brief tour of Kalemegdan.  The weather is still a little wet, but not bad at all.  The fortress is really cool here, and I plan to come back and photograph a lot of it.  There is also a military museum here.  Outside in the fortress is a display of tanks and artillery launchers, though we didn’t do much more than point them out. 

After leaving Kalemegdan, we walked a couple blocks to Znak Pitanja, or “Question Mark”, where we had dinner reservations for 7p.  Znak Pitanja is one of the oldest establishments in the city and has an interesting story behind its name.  Katie recounted for us how it used to be known as “The Place Across From the Cathedral” and was a really rowdy dive bar, maybe even engaging in prostitution.  The priest at the Cathedral didn’t like the fact that its named referenced the Cathedral and was therefore associated with it, for better or worse.  He feuded with the owner of the establishment over its name for a while before taking matters into his own hands.  One night, the priest snuck over and ripped the signage down off the wall.  In response, the owner put up a single “?” in its place.  It has been known as Znak Pitanja ever since.

The meal was absolutely wonderful.  Multiple delicious appetizers including stuffed peppers, kajmak, juicy tomatoes, and bread and the main dish consisted of sausages and stewed pork that was to die for.   To top it all off, there was beer and vilijamovka (pear rakija) throughout.

At some point, Yugi from Theatre DAH arrived and joined us, though he had already eaten.  Dennis also asked if there was music playing that night, but unfortunately that was only on Thursdays or Fridays.  However, were in luck.  A traditional Bulgarian chorus had stopped by Znak Pitanja for a drink after a concert they had performed.  Vlade, our waiter, asked them if they were interested in singing for us.  It was a great surprise.  I’ll post a link to the footage/audio that other recorded as soon as I can.  They asked afterwards for a reciprocal song, which we provided in the form of “My Little Sunshine.”  I’m still not sure how I feel about that… heh.

We ended up spending far too much money at the restaurant, so we’ll be cutting a Coe-funded meal out of the trip likely…but I think most of us are okay with that.  We had a great time together, and that’s what matters.

We went back to the Hotel afterwards…some of us more drunk than others, though Lucas took the crown.  Some went to bed while others sat with Yugi in the bar for awhile…or most of the night for Stacia, Jenna, Lynette, and me.  Pretty sure it was 4am when we finally called it quits and went to bed.