an evening in the intercontinental, belgrade

after a grey and rainy day in belgrade (it was 29 celsius yesterday. mirjana blames the heat on global warming. she also blames the bulgarians for bringing the balkans into disrepute), a brown-beige evening in the intercontinental. my hotel room is so 1970s i feel like stuck in a starsky&hutch episode. my colleague terry calls it vintage and swears that this stuff would fetch *thousands* in london. but in london, anything is expensive that's older than new labour. they call it retro, i call it old-fashioned.
i'm watching fashion tv. we are all wearing butterflies on our faces and beehives on our heads next season. back to nature! my attention is drawn to the little rolls around my hips. once again i promise myself that next time i go on a business trip, i'll bring my running shoes. absolutely!
i may just go downstairs for a chat with radivoj from reception. he is guaranteed never ever to smile at a customer. it must be in his contract. unfortunately, this sort of natural unfriendliness (as opposed to trained friendliness) is perceived by westerners (which i'm not!) as *typical* eastern european. last night though, when i was seeking a restaurant tip and a taxi into town, stroppy radivoj got on my nerves.